SEC Crypto Task Force Boss Says Memecoins Unlikely to Fall Under Regulator's Purview

Hester Peirce, the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Crypto Task Force, has said that memecoins are unlikely to fall under the regulator's jurisdiction.

In a Bloomberg interview, SEC Commissioner Peirce was whether memecoins like President Donald Trump's $TRUMP and his wife's $MELANIA will be within the watchdog's oversight.

"There are lots of people introducing meme coins right now," Peirce said. "But many of the meme coins out there probably do not have a home in the SEC under our current set of regulations." 

Separately, speaking at a Federalist Society panel, Peirce said it was a "little premature" for the SEC to start setting a crypto regulator agenda without a Senate-confirmed chair.

Last month, Trump appointed Mark Uyeda as the acting chair. Before his appointment as an SEC commissioner in June 2022, Uyeda built a career in public service and securities regulation. He served on the Senate Banking Committee under former U.S. Senator Pat Toomey and provided strategic counsel to California’s securities regulator during Arnold Schwarzenegger’s governorship.

“Acting Chairman Uyeda is doing a great job, and the agenda is working — we haven’t stopped working,” said Peirce.

Former SEC Commissioner Paul Atkins was nominated by Trump in December to take on the role of the agency's permanent chair. Uyeda, the SEC's crypto task force, which Peirce heads up.

“We assume that sometime soon, if Chairman Atkins is confirmed as chairman, he’ll come in and want to set his agenda,” Peirce added, stating that the SEC was "trying to figure out" a path for digital asset rulemaking.

Last week, the SEC said it was scaling back its crypto enforcement unit. Lawyers from the unit are reportedly being reassigned to other departments within the agency, with one top lawyer being moved out of enforcement.

This reassignment has been regarded as an unfair demotion, by some, potentially signaling internal disagreements about the agency’s direction on crypto regulation.