Crypto Is Losing Two Top Washington Voices as Mersinger and Peirce Set Their Exits

Blockchain Association CEO Summer Mersinger will step down Oct. 16 and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce leaves Oct. 2. Both announced their exits 10 days after the Senate blocked the Clarity Act.

Crypto loses two top Washington voices as Mersinger and Peirce exit

Original Image Credits: Gage Skidmore / flickr.com

Posted September 25, 2026 at 8:17 pm EST.

The CEO of the crypto industry’s Blockchain Association and the SEC commissioner who leads the agency’s Crypto Task Force both made their exit dates public on Friday.

Summer Mersinger will step down as CEO of the Blockchain Association on Oct. 16 and stay on as an advisor through the end of the year, the trade group announced. Kristin Smith, who joined as the group’s first hire in 2018 and ran it until 2025, will return as interim CEO on Oct. 17. Smith is currently president of the association’s board.

The same day, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce posted her resignation letter to President Trump, which sets her last day as Oct. 2. Her plan to leave was not new: Regent University’s law school said in May that she would join its faculty in November. Once she goes, the SEC will be down to two commissioners, Chairman Paul Atkins and Mark Uyeda, according to the agency’s roster.