SEC Chair Paul Atkins is set to speak at the Bitcoin 2026 Conference in Las Vegas this April, marking a historic moment as he becomes the first SEC chair to join this significant Bitcoin event. The Bitcoin community is eager for this development, highlighting an ongoing trend toward regulatory engagement between governmental bodies and the crypto sector.
Scheduled for April 27-29 at The Venetian, this year's conference, organized by BTC Media, is expected to attract over 40,000 participants alongside an impressive lineup of 500 speakers. Key political figures, including CFTC Chair Mike Selig and Aleš Michl, Governor of the Czech National Bank, will share their insights, alongside notable industry leaders like Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy, Arthur Hayes from Maelstrom, and Caitlin Long, co-founder of Custodia Bank.
Since taking office in April 2025, Atkins has emphasized stronger regulatory dialogue with the cryptocurrency industry. His initiative, Project Crypto, launched in late 2025, aims to create regulatory frameworks for tokenized assets and decentralized finance, signaling a move towards a more structured environment for digital assets.
As part of ongoing regulatory efforts, the SEC and CFTC are set to collaborate on a joint event today to discuss regulatory harmonization in this sector. Both Atkins and Selig expressed their commitment to establishing clearer operational guidelines within the digital asset landscape.
Recent years have witnessed growing interest from government officials in Bitcoin conferences. The previous event in 2024 featured Donald Trump, who advocated for a national Bitcoin reserve and promised to cease federal interventions against the cryptocurrency industry. Vice President J.D. Vance also participated in that event, reflecting the increasing attention these conferences are receiving from high-profile political figures.