SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, known as 'Crypto Mom' for her pro-crypto stance, is set to resign from the agency on October 2, 2026. Her departure will leave the commission with two remaining members.
In a speech at the SIFMA Digital Assets Conference on September 23, 2026, Peirce argued that financial privacy should be a fundamental right rather than a suspicious activity.
Peirce criticized current Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering frameworks, describing the scale of data collection as excessive surveillance that offers insufficient protection to individuals.
To address these concerns, she proposed adopting privacy-preserving technologies like zero-knowledge proofs. This approach would allow for compliance verification without requiring the disclosure of full personal data.
Peirce previously advocated for private transactions and self-custody of assets in remarks on August 4, 2025, linking financial privacy to Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.
