Hester Peirce: Statement of Dissent on LBRY

Hester Peirce, a Securities and Exchange Commission commissioner, argues in a dissent that the Commission's enforcement case against LBRY, Inc. was misguided and disproportionate. She notes that LBRY lost in federal district court on whether its token sales were an unregistered securities offering, and that the company will now shut down rather than appeal. Peirce states that the court found no fraud allegations, that the Commission first sought $44 million before pairing its penalty request back to $111,614, and that the outcome forced entrepreneurs to abandon a functioning blockchain.