Hester Peirce previously worked at Mercatus, where she studied crypto, before becoming an SEC commissioner.

Judged as of 2024-12-25. True: records show that Hester Peirce held a position at the Mercatus Center before becoming an SEC commissioner, and that while there she researched or wrote about cryptocurrency, bitcoin or digital currency. Mostly true: she worked at Mercatus before the SEC, and her work there touched crypto only within broader financial-regulation research (for example a co-authored piece or a small part of her portfolio). Mixed: she worked at Mercatus, but there is no evidence that crypto was any part of her work there. Mostly false: she was linked to Mercatus only loosely (for example as a non-employee affiliate) and did no crypto work there. False: she never worked at Mercatus before joining the SEC.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 SEC.gov | Hester M. Peirce U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

   “Prior to joining the SEC, Commissioner Peirce conducted research on the regulation of financial markets at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.”

2. E2 Robert Jackson and Hester Peirce Sworn In as SEC Commissioners U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · 11 January 2018

   “Commissioner Peirce comes to the SEC from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University where she served as a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Financial Markets Working Group.”

3. E3 Who Is Hester Peirce and Why Does the Community Call Her “Crypto Mom”? ForkLog · 2 December 2024

   “From 2012 to 2017 Peirce was a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, concentrating on financial markets and regulation.”

4. E4 Who Is Hester Peirce and Why Does the Community Call Her “Crypto Mom”? ForkLog · 2 December 2024

   “At the SEC, Peirce became known for a friendly stance toward digital assets.”

The SEC's official biography and its 2018 swearing-in press release show that Peirce came to the SEC from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. There she was a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Financial Markets Working Group, researching the regulation of financial markets (E1, E2). ForkLog places her at Mercatus from 2012 to 2017, focused on financial markets and regulation, and ties her crypto-friendly reputation to her time at the SEC (E3, E4). None of the evidence shows that crypto was part of her work at Mercatus, which fits the criteria's definition of "mixed."