Update (Sept. 29, 8:45 pm UTC): This article has been updated to include a response from the CFTC.
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.
As US President, Donald Trump is the only person under federal law who can nominate replacements to fill the empty SEC and CFTC leadership seats. However, the White House has not announced any nominations or intention to nominate additional members to the financial agencies, all of whom were chosen by Trump with the exception of Uyeda, a Biden pick from 2022.
Related: Ex-SEC acting chair: Agency dropped crypto cases to avoid issues with credibility
Cointelegraph reached out to the SEC for comment on any potential nominations but did not receive an immediate response. A CFTC spokesperson said that Selig “welcomes new Commissioners to the CFTC upon their nomination and confirmation by the US Senate“ and the agency was “more than equipped to also oversee [its] part of the crypto market.”
A White House official said that Trump intended to nominate members to both agencies “in the near future.“ CNBC reported on Sept. 4 that White House officials had been vetting four candidates to fill the empty commissioner seats at the CFTC, but did not mention any names.
“Congress designed these boards and commissions to be bipartisan and gave them the authority to regulate some of the most vital and significant parts of American life,“ said Senate Democrats in a June letter to Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, referring to the SEC, CFTC and other departments. “But the Trump Administration appears intent on ensuring that it retains complete control over these agencies, with little interest in working in good faith with Congress.“
Three commissioners regulating crypto without CLARITY
Without full leadership, both financial agencies continue to advance crypto regulation through rulemaking rather than laws passed by Congress. Many in the industry had been pushing US lawmakers to pass the Digital Asset Clarity (CLARITY) Act earlier this month, but the bill failed in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The CLARITY Act was expected to give the CFTC more authority over digital asset regulation in roles now held by the SEC. Without the bill’s passage from Congress, both agencies have announced different ways of interpreting federal laws as applied to token issuers, from the SEC issuing staff guidance on investment contracts to the CFTC specifying how companies could use blockchain recordkeeping.
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