Crypto regulation at SEC, CFTC to come down to 3 commissioners following key resignation

Seven commissioner seats at the SEC and CFTC will be empty after Friday, leaving only a few leaders at financial regulators to oversee aspects of the $3 trillion crypto industry.

Two of the United States’ financial agencies tasked with overseeing and enforcing digital asset regulation will be down to just three commissioners after Friday, following the departure of a Republican member.

On Friday, Hester Peirce, who served as a commissioner with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for eight years, will leave the agency about two months before the end of the 18-month extension for her second term. The departure of Peirce, whom many in the industry knew as “Crypto Mom” for her views on digital assets, will mark only the second time in US history the agency has operated with two commissioners.

At the SEC, Chair Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda, both Republicans, will remain as the two final commissioners in a bipartisan panel expected to consist of five people. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), another federal regulator behind many aspects of crypto oversight and enforcement, has been led by Chair Michael Selig as the sole commissioner since December 2025, when acting chair Caroline Pham departed.

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