SEC "Crypto Mom" Hester Peirce plans an exit after 2025

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce has no desire to stay on board after her term ends in 2025.

"Absolutely not," she said in the interview with Axios Pro Fintech Deals when asked if she'd like to stand for renomination.

Why it matters: Affectionately dubbed "Crypto Mom" by the web3 crowd, Peirce is seen as a long-time supporter who comes to bat for the often libertarian-leaning industry.

• When the SEC fined BlockFi $100 million and called for the company to register its high-yield product as a security last month, Peirce dissented.
• "Is the approach we are taking with crypto lending the best way to protect crypto lending customers? I do not think it is, so I respectfully dissent," she wrote.
• In February, Peirce warned that proposed SEC rules to reform government securities trading could impact DeFi protocols.

Context: Peirce is now the lone Republican appointee on the SEC after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a second term in 2020, making it a steep uphill battle to affect change internally.

• Still, she has seen value in staying inside the SEC, at least for now.
• "You can hear it in my voice and in my responses — I am quite frustrated by the lack of willingness to engage proactively with the community," she says. "But I think it is important to have people in government who are willing to try to push from within to have us take a more innovation-friendly approach."

So what comes after 2025? Many former regulators have gone on to lucrative positions in the private sector crypto. But Peirce says her plan is to return to Ohio.

• "I really think 2025 is back to Ohio," she says, adding jokingly: "I have a dream of becoming a beekeeper. I love it."

This all comes as SEC Democratic Commissioner Allison Lee said Tuesday she plans to leave after a successor is confirmed by the Senate.