SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce Calls For Crypto Regulations

Hester Peirce, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner, has called for cryptocurrency regulations amid the recent boom in institutional interest in Bitcoin.

Last week, electric vehicle giant Tesla disclosed that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin last month. With plans to accept it as a form of payment for its products.

Meanwhile, one of the oldest custody banks in BNY Melon has decided to offer crypto custody services. After receiving growing demand from its clients. Other companies like Mastercard, Uber and Twitter said they are open to adopting Bitcoin as well.

Peirce believes now is the right time to introduce crypto regulations. “It’s not only that there have been calls for clarity for some time and that a new administration brings the chance to take a fresh look, but it also is a moment where it seems others in the marketplace are also taking a fresh look,” she said in an interview with Reuters.

Peirce added: “That adds to the urgency of us taking some sort of action in this area to provide more clarity”.

Hester Peirce A Longtime Crypto Advocate

Peirce, a longtime crypto advocate, revealed that the SEC is exploring a wide range of issues. Such as market volatility, the part of retail brokers and how the post-trade market functioned.

“To see new investors participating in the markets is a good thing, and of course, we want them to be educated and skeptical,” she said.

Peirce’s comments don’t come as a surprise as the world has seen how a single individual investment could alter price of a cryptocurrency. After Tesla’s reported invested, BTC soared to new all-time highs and came close of breaching the $50,000 mark.

Apart from several multi-billion publically traded companies buying Bitcoin, Canada also launched North America’s first Bitcoin ETF. That’s despite the SEC not yet approving any of the applications filed by multiple companies to launch a Bitcoin backed ETF.

However, the slew of developments over the past week could force U.S. regulatory bodies to change their stance towards the crypto market. To regulate it in a way to compete with other North American and European counterparts.