Hester Peirce's departure took effect Friday, leaving Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda. Comments on the agency's crypto-asset regulation are due Oct. 20.
Crypto · FinancialMarkets.com · October 2, 2026 · Tickers: COIN, HOOD, BTC
The Securities and Exchange Commission will write the next stage of crypto rules with two votes.
Commissioner Hester Peirce's departure took effect on Friday. Chairman Paul Atkins and Commissioner Mark Uyeda, the two remaining members, issued a statement on her departure on Oct. 1. Peirce had posted her resignation letter on Sept. 25. No successor has been named.
What a two-member commission means
The SEC is designed to have five commissioners. With two in office, every rule, enforcement decision and policy statement requires the agreement of Atkins and Uyeda, and there is no third commissioner to dissent or write a separate statement.
That matters for an agenda heavy on digital assets. The agency's proposed regulation of crypto assets is open for public comment until Oct. 20. After that, the commission can adopt a final rule on its own timetable.
Peirce's role
Peirce led the SEC's crypto task force, the group that took on much of the agency's public work on digital-asset policy. The rulemaking itself now rests with Atkins and Uyeda.
The legislative gap
The SEC's rulemaking has become the main route for crypto policy after the Clarity Act, the market-structure bill, failed a Senate cloture vote in September. Rules adopted by an agency can be changed by a later commission.
Oct. 20
The close of the comment period on the crypto-asset regulation is the next date. A nomination to fill any of the three empty seats, and the timing of a final rule, will show how long the two-member commission sets policy alone.