Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and head of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, reaffirmed the right to self-custody and privacy of cryptocurrencies in financial transactions.
“I am a maximalist of freedom”, Peirce said Friday’s Rollup podcast, saying that self-custody of assets is a fundamental human right. She added:
“Why should I have to go through someone else to hold my assets? It perplexes me that in this country, so founded on liberty, that this is even a problem – of course people can hold their own assets.”
Peirce added that online financial privacy should be the norm. “There is now a presumption that if you want to keep your transactions private you are doing something wrong, but it should be the exact opposite presumption,” she said.
The comments came as Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Acta crypto market structure bill that includes provisions on self-custody, anti-money laundering (AML) regulationsand the taxonomy of assets, is postponed to 2026, according to to Senator Tim Scott.
Related: SEC to Host Roundtable on Privacy and Financial Oversight in December
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) Challenge Bitcoin’s Self-Custody Philosophy
Lots of big Bitcoin (BTC) whales and long-term holders are moving from self-custody to ETFs to enjoy the tax benefits and hassle-free management of owning crypto in an investment vehicle.
“We are seeing the first decline in self-custodial Bitcoin in 15 years,” Dr. Martin Hiesboeck, head of research at crypto exchange Uphold, said.
Hiesboeck attributed this change to the SEC approve creations and repurchases in kind for crypto ETFs in July, which allowed authorized holders to exchange crypto for ETF shares and vice versa without triggering a taxable event, unlike cash-settled ETFs.
“Moving away from the self-custody mantra ‘not your keys, not your coins’ is another nail in the coffin of the original crypto ethos,” Hiesboeck added.
In February, famous Bitcoin analyst and investor PlanB, the developer of BTC stock-to-flow modelannounced that he transferred his Bitcoin to ETFs to alleviate the “hassle” of managing private keys.
PlanB announcement has caused an uproar within the Bitcoin community as many have expressed concerns about custody being transferred to a third party. in conflict with the core values of Bitcoin.
Review: When Privacy and Anti-Money Laundering Laws Collide: The Impossible Choice of Crypto Projects
