SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of protecting financial privacy and the right to self-custody of crypto assets in the United States. She advocated for concrete measures to safeguard individuals' ability to communicate and transfer value privately, highlighting privacy as a fundamental aspect of human dignity and freedom. Peirce called for welcoming privacy-enhancing technologies and rethinking existing regulations such as the Bank Secrecy Act to better accommodate peer-to-peer transactions and private blockchain activity. Her remarks have been recognized as a clear defense of financial privacy in the crypto era, underscoring the need for the U.S. government and public to zealously guard these rights. The speech also sparked broader discussions about the implications of privacy protections in digital finance and the risks of regulatory overreach on developers and users of privacy tools.