Hester Peirce
The private Christian university also appointed Gregory Jacob, who had been counsel to former Vice President Mike Pence and deputy assistant to Trump, as senior associate dean of the law school.
Peirce, designated as the leader of the SEC’s cryptocurrency task force in February 2025, was widely seen as an advocate for digital assets, often referred to as “crypto mom” by the cryptocurrency community for her advocacy for a clear regulatory environment for digital assets, rather than regulating through enforcement. Although her term expired in June 2025, commissioners are allowed to continue for an additional 18 months.
Earlier in her career, Peirce was senior counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. After leaving the Banking Committee staff, Peirce was a financial markets regulation research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. She also was counsel to SEC Chair Paul Atkins during his first term as SEC chair and was a staff member in the SEC’s Division of Investment Management.
Peirce earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Case Western Reserve University and a law degree from Yale Law School.
The five-commissioner SEC currently has just three members, all Republicans: Atkins, Peirce and Mark Uyeda. Trump has not nominated replacements for the two spots vacated by Democrats. An SEC rule adopted in 1995 allows the commission to conduct business with fewer than three commissioners.
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