Thank You, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce!

In honor of Commissioner Peirce’s last day at the SEC, the DEF team wanted to take a moment to honor her legacy. Commissioner Peirce’s artfully-named speeches and thoughtfully-crafted dissents provide clear, compelling explanations on why decentralization matters and how innovation makes markets more resilient and accessible. 

Some of our favorite Commissioner Peirce moments:

When she explained the very spirit of DeFi… 

“At its core, DeFi, which blockchain technology enables, is about the freedom to transact with your peers without permission, interference, or intermediation.”

… and then outlined what DeFi actually is:

“DeFi is not a place people go to access services that someone else provides and controls; it is software code that people use to engage in the activity of transacting without a centralized intermediary. […] DeFi defies our traditional, permissioned world of intermediaries. It enables a person to engage with her peers through a protocol that is open to everybody on the same transparent terms: no need to get consent from any centralized gatekeeper. At its core, DeFi, which blockchain technology enables, is about the freedom to transact with your peers without permission, interference, or intermediation. And that is why DeFi resonates so deeply with the American spirit.”

— “DeFining the American Spirit,” June 2025

When she articulated the importance of privacy preserving tech and limits on third party liability for developers: 

“… we should welcome privacy-protecting technologies and safeguard the right of individuals to self-custody their crypto assets. And developers of open-source privacy software should not have to answer for the actions that other people take using the software they wrote.”

— “Peanut Butter & Watermelon,” August 2025

When she made us laugh by writing satirical dialogues, so we wouldn’t cry from the uncertainty and inconsistencies of SEC enforcement:

→ Cue “On Today’s Episode of As the Crypto World Turns: Statement on ShapeShift AG”

When she made it clear that Americans should have the ability to self-custody assets: 

“Finally, we should acknowledge and welcome the fact that blockchain technology empowers investors by allowing them to self-custody, trade, and otherwise engage with their assets without the use of any intermediary. Our regulatory framework should not stand in the way of these innovations by forcing intermediation.”

– “Lava and Lamps: Opening Remarks for Crypto Custody Roundtable,” April 2025

When she consistently stood firm on her principles, even when she stood alone in an administration that was deeply unfriendly to new technologies:

“Stagnation, centralization, expatriation, and extinction are the watchwords of this release. Rather than embracing the promise of new technology as we have done in the past, here we propose to embrace stagnation, force centralization, urge expatriation, and welcome extinction of new technology. Accordingly, I dissent.”

– “Rendering Innovation Kaput: Statement on Amending the Definition of Exchange,” April 2023

For years to come, people will be able to point to Commissioner Peirce as an example of what a principled, intellectually serious leader looks like. THANK YOU, Commissioner Peirce, for your innumerable service and contributions.