SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce teases a major pro-crypto regulatory pivot

As the Securities and Exchange Commission prepares for Chair Gary Gensler to exit the agency, a big pivot on crypto policy is brewing.

President Trump has tapped a pro-crypto replacement in Paul Atkins, and after anti-crypto Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw saw her window for renomination pass, only pro-crypto Republicans are expected to remain when the changing of the guard happens in January.

Speaking with Coinage in a new interview, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce revealed a bit more about how the SEC is prepared to flip from historically anti-crypto to decidedly pro-innovation in a way most investors may be underestimating . A seemingly refreshed Commissioner Peirce celebrated what she called both a time of "transition" and a time of "optimism."

"It's a time of transition for everyone in Washington right now, and I think that's the same at the SEC," Commissioner Peirce said. "There's still going to be a time of uncertainty because it will take some time before our new Chairman gets here, but there are some things we can do right out of the gate at least get processes started to make some changes."

Perhaps most notably, Commissioner Peirce expressed optimism at revisiting two major SEC decisions pertaining to crypto ETFs. As she had expressed last time she spoke with Coinage this summer , both in-kind redemptions and the ability for Ethereum ETFs to begin staking could be up for reconsideration. And unlike last time, when the likelihood was closer to zero of either happening under Chair Gensler, Commissioner Peirce expressed optimism over those changes in the new administration.

The original argument was that in-kind redemptions would prevent unnecessary conversions of the underlying asset in a crypto ETF to cash and could create efficiencies from tax and market perspectives. As for staking, the Ethereum ETFs have attracted more than $10 billion this year, while Bitcoin ETFs have attracted more than $120 billion in assets under management. ETF issuers aren't allowed to do anything beyond simply holding the crypto assets in custody. Exchange Traded Products in other jurisdictions, like Europe, have won the ability to stake the assets they hold in custody to earn additional yield .

"If it changes from a majority of Commissioners who don't want things to go through to a majority of Commissioners who do want things to go through, then yeah, it's easier," she said, noting that after Chair Gensler steps down on January 20, the road ahead on both points gets decisively more clear . "I imagine that that question is going to be posed to us early on," she said.