SEC commissioners say agency may move away from enforcement actions 

“We have a big toolkit,” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said earlier this month

article-image

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce | Permissionless II for Blockworks

share


This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.


Starting next year, the SEC will operate with a smaller team of commissioners while we wait for the Senate to approve President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees. 

SEC Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, both Republicans, are the only sitting commissioners who will remain with the agency after Inauguration Day. After SEC Chair Gary Gensler departs, how the agency approaches the crypto industry should see a big shift, according to Peirce. 

“We have a big toolkit,” Peirce said earlier this month during an appearance at the Blockchain Association Policy Summit. 

“We’ve always gravitated toward enforcement in this area as our tool of choice,” she added. “I think when you see new commission changes and the composition changes, then the mix of cases can change as well.”

The nature of federal agencies means that some — or most, in the SEC’s case — policy discussions happen behind closed doors, Uyeda added. 

“That’s why we have the Administrative Procedure Act, to allow the public to comment on regulation,” he said. “That’s our accountability for the American public to provide that transparency.” 

In cases where agency staff issue guidance that differs from SEC rules (for example SAB 121), there is no public comment period. 

In the case of SAB 121, both chambers of Congress elected to overturn the policy, which states that digital asset custodians should report a liability and “corresponding assets” on their balance sheets. President Biden ultimately vetoed the resolution, however. 

Uyeda looks forward to the agency providing more opportunities for public input. 

“Writing the shift is hard because we are pretty far down this road,” Peirce said. 

Addressing the crypto industry directly, she added, “this is going to require a lot of hard work from us and from you to get back on the right foot, but I think we can do it.”


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

REPORT_Template.png

Research

The Sonic blockchain is leveraging redesigned airdrop incentives and its FeeM program to propel DeFi activity and attract institutional capital, setting the stage for ecosystem growth. Within this environment, leading protocols Shadow Exchange and Silo are poised to asymmetrically benefit due to innovative features and favorable valuations, despite facing ecosystem dependency and competitive pressures. This positions them as compelling, potentially shorter-term, investment opportunities contingent on Sonic's sustained success.

article-image

Sponsored

WalletConnect is the default for secure, scalable onchain interaction — but this isn’t a peak, it’s the launchpad

article-image

Circle’s stock is expected to price at $31 and will go public on the NYSE Thursday

article-image

Solana’s most prolific token-launch tool might be prepping a token of its own

article-image

The tentative agreement China and the US penned last month appears to be in a precarious position

article-image

Fineqia’s Matteo Greco says Circle’s targeting a valuation in line with market expectations to avoid a post-launch drop like Coinbase

article-image

The President’s son reportedly said his family may pursue legal action