SEC Commissioner Hester ‘Crypto Mom’ Peirce Advocates Privacy-Preserving Tech

According to Bitcoin Magazine, outgoing Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce stated that regulators should rethink financial system monitoring to press for less personal data collection. Speaking at the SIFMA’s Digital Assets Conference in New York, Peirce criticized know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering rules, arguing that accumulating more data on law-abiding customers does not help find criminals and increases leak risks. Peirce, set to leave the SEC in November, pointed to cryptographic tools like zero-knowledge proofs and attribute-based credentials. These tools can confirm facts such as a person's age, accredited-investor status, or absence from sanctions lists without revealing underlying personal details. She also urged the SEC to let firms rely on identity checks performed by other regulated institutions instead of forcing every firm to collect and store sensitive information. Peirce was appointed to lead the Crypto Task Force in 2025. U.S. regulators are currently racing ahead with crypto rulemaking, while regulators state they want to create clear rules for the industry despite the Clarity Act being blocked.