First Sitting SEC Chair Paul Atkins to Speak at Bitcoin 2026
SEC Chair Paul Atkins will speak at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas on April 27, the first sitting SEC chair to address the conference.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins will appear in a fireside chat at Bitcoin 2026 at the Venetian Resort in Las Vegas on April 27. He is the first sitting SEC chair to address the annual conference, which organizers expect will draw more than 40,000 attendees.
Atkins’ appearance comes after the SEC published a digital asset taxonomy and launched Project Crypto, a commission-wide effort to update securities rules for digital assets. The taxonomy divides crypto assets into five categories and states that four of the five do not meet the federal definition of a security. The agency has also proposed an innovation exemption intended to create a compliant pathway for firms to begin trading tokenized securities on-chain.
The SEC describes its ACT strategy — Advance, Clarify, Transform — as a shift from enforcement-led oversight toward rulemaking and clearer guidance. At the Economic Club of Washington on April 21, he said, “will not stand idly by and watch innovations develop overseas while our capital markets remain stagnant.”
Project Crypto sets out standards for token issuance, custody and trading oversight and includes proposals to offer clearer compliance paths for market participants. At a March DC Blockchain Summit, Atkins said, “the SEC’s persistent failure to provide clarity on this question is over.”
Atkins will share the stage at Bitcoin 2026 with Senator Cynthia Lummis, Michael Saylor, Arthur Hayes and Jack Dorsey. The conference program includes panels and sessions on bitcoin markets, custody, regulation and trading infrastructure.
The SEC says the taxonomy and Project Crypto are intended to reduce legal uncertainty for exchanges, custody providers and token issuers and to support efforts to move more token trading onto regulated platforms. The agency states its actions are designed to clarify when federal securities laws apply to digital assets and to set rules for on-chain trading and custody while maintaining investor protection standards.
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