Hester Peirce, Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Head of the SEC's Crypto Task Force, reiterated the proper to crypto self-custody and privacy in financial transactions.
“I’m a freedom maximalist,” Peirce said on “The Rollup” podcast Friday, saying that self-management of assets is a basic human right. She added:
“Why should I even have to be forced to entrust another person with managing my wealth? It baffles me that this might even be an issue on this country that’s so based on freedom – in fact people can hold their very own wealth.” SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce discusses the proper to self-government and financial privacy. Source: The Rollup
Peirce added that financial privacy must be the usual online. “It has turn into an assumption that you simply are doing something mistaken if you ought to keep your transactions private, but it surely must be exactly the other,” she said.
The Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act, a law governing the structure of the crypto market that features self-custody, anti-money laundering (AML) and asset taxonomy provisions, has been delayed until 2026, in response to Senator Tim Scott.
Exchange traded funds (ETFs) challenge Bitcoin’s self-custody ethos
Many large Bitcoin (BTC) whales and long-term holders are switching from self-custody to ETFs to benefit from the tax advantages and hassle-free management of cryptocurrency ownership in an investment vehicle.
“We are experiencing the primary decline in self-custody Bitcoin in 15 years,” said Dr. Martin Hiesboeck, head of research on the crypto exchange Uphold.
Hiesboeck attributed the shift to the SEC in July approving the creation and redemption of in-kind cryptocurrency ETFs, allowing authorized holders to convert cryptocurrencies into ETF shares and vice versa without triggering a taxable event, unlike cash-settled ETFs.
“A move away from the self-governance mantra of 'Not your keys, not your coins' is one other nail within the coffin of the unique crypto spirit,” Hiesboeck added.
In February, well-known Bitcoin analyst and investor PlanB, the developer of the BTC stock-to-flow model, announced that it had transferred its Bitcoins into ETFs to cut back the “burden” of managing private keys.
PlanB's announcement sparked an outcry within the Bitcoin community, as many expressed concerns that handing over custody to a 3rd party can be contrary to Bitcoin's core values.
