Crypto Mom: “Financial System Must Decentralize”

Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), believes that the financial system should be decentralized. “Centralization means that you are dealing with concentrated risks. Decentralization can actually add resilience and strength to the financial system,” says Hester Peirce.

Hester Peirce Fireside: What’s America’s Crypto Future?

Presented by @HesterPeirce the SEC Commissioner & moderator MacKenzie Sigalos from @CNBC

Watch the full video below 👇 pic.twitter.com/MEVnSXhA6L

— ETHDenver 🏔🦬🦄 (@EthereumDenver) March 1, 2024

‘Crypto-moeder’ Hester Peirce

Hester Peirce, a former lawyer, was brought into the SEC in 2018 by none other than Donald Trump. She has since been dubbed “Crypto Mom” by the community due to her support for the industry, which she often shows by speaking out against the over-regulation of digital assets.

This time Peirce spoke out about the plans to qualify network nodes, validators, non-custodial wallets, mining pools and blockchain software as financial institutions.

“That is problematic,” said Peirce, further indicating that it is currently very unclear who must register with the financial regulator.

“The entire concept of decentralization is diametrically opposed to what we are used to at the SEC,” Peirce makes clear.

The role of the SEC

According to Peirce, it is not the role of the SEC to become comfortable with crypto. “Our job is to find out where the financial legislation is trying to help people get information about investments and then let them make their own decisions,” Peirce said.

The SEC’s task is therefore primarily to inform and create transparency, not to determine what is and is not allowed. They must interpret the rules and then apply them to the industry.

Now, according to Peirce, the SEC is still playing too much of a policeman, while it considers it important that new projects are given the opportunity to grow and decentralize, without the risk of a lawsuit.

These are of course statements that are well received during an Ethereum conference, but it remains to be seen to what extent people within the SEC agree with them.