Trump Taps Steven Levine for SEC, Replacing Crypto Mom Peirce

President Donald Trump has put forward Steven Levine as the nominee to take over from Hester Peirce at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Republican attorney would occupy the post until June 5, 2030.

Peirce, often referred to as “Crypto Mom,” headed the SEC’s Crypto Task Force prior to departing the agency on October 2. Levine has not made many public remarks on digital asset regulation.

JUST IN: The White House nominations list is out.

It names Nathan Anonick and Matthew Rowland for the CFTC, and Kristin N. Johnson and Steven Levine for the SEC.

Levine would take Hester Peirce's seat. pic.twitter.com/8fc1KmWGFR

— BeInCrypto (@beincrypto) November 13, 2026

Steven Levine’s Road Runs Through Uyeda’s Office

In the absence of public comments, the SEC nominee’s professional background offers the most detailed view of his experience.

• Associate in the asset management group at law firm K&L Gates.
• Joined the SEC in 2020 as senior counsel in the Division of Investment Management.
• Counsel to Commissioner Mark Uyeda, then deputy chief of staff when Uyeda became acting chair in 2025.
• General counsel at the White House Council of Economic Advisers from February 2025.
• Senior counselor to the Labor Secretary since November 2026, according to his LinkedIn.

His involvement with crypto is visible in SEC meeting records. In December 2023, Levine met with Grayscale and Invesco-Galaxy regarding their applications for spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded product (ETP) listings.

Two months later, he accompanied Uyeda in a meeting with crypto firm Paradigm about SEC proposals on custody and exchange rules.

Those meetings indicate Levine handled cryptocurrency matters. The memos report the subjects covered but not his personal views.

A Familiar CFTC Voice Heads to the SEC

Levine is one of 4 nominees for the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) submitted to the Senate on November 12. The same list includes Democrat Kristin Johnson for the SEC position once held by Caroline Crenshaw.

President Joe Biden nominated Johnson to the CFTC, where she served from 2022 until September 2025.

In her departure address, she cautioned that prediction markets lacked safeguards and that regulators had only limited insight into them.

She also expressed serious worry about interference in the operations of independent agencies. At the same event, she stated the CFTC likely required commissioners from both Democrats and Republicans.

All four nominations now go to Senate committees, with the Banking Committee handling Levine and Johnson. Any nominations still pending when the current Congress finishes on January 3 are returned to the president.