Hester Peirce has criticised new crypto interface guidance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, warning it risks deepening uncertainty over whether wallets should be treated as broker-dealers.
The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets released interim guidance outlining how broker-dealer rules may apply to “covered user interfaces” that help users prepare and transmit blockchain transactions.
Peirce welcomed the attempt at clarity but cautioned that temporary staff guidance does not resolve fundamental legal ambiguity, urging formal rulemaking to modernise definitions in line with blockchain-based systems.
Under the framework, certain wallet-connected interfaces can avoid broker classification if they allow full user control, avoid trade solicitation, and rely on neutral routing and pricing mechanisms.
“Crypto is forcing the Commission to confront its inner demons that have driven it toward ever more expansive readings of the securities laws,”
Said Peirce.
The SEC said the guidance is temporary and could be withdrawn within five years if not formalised, as regulators continue to assess how securities laws apply to emerging digital asset technologies.
The framework seeks to distinguish neutral software providers from firms executing trades or holding funds, though industry participants say unclear definitions have long constrained innovation in self-custody and decentralised finance.