SEC Chairman Paul Atkins will speak at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas this April, becoming the first SEC Chairman to attend the largest annual Bitcoin gathering.
WE ARE EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE SEC CHAIRMAN PAUL ATKINS AS 2026 BITCOIN PRESIDENT 🇺🇸
“(We) are working together to deliver on President Trump’s promise to make America the crypto capital of the world.” 👏 pic.twitter.com/M4FAkvNAXg
– The Bitcoin Conference (@TheBitcoinConf) January 29, 2026
The conference, hosted by BTC Media, is scheduled for April 27-29 at the Venetian and is expected to attract more than 40,000 attendees and 500 speakers.
Other prominent political figures who will deliver speeches at the event include Mike Selig, Chairman of the CFTC, and Aleš Michl, Governor of the Czech National Bank. Leading industry voices in attendance include Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy, Arthur Hayes of Maelstrom and Caitlin Long, Co-Founder of Custodia Bank, to name a few.
Atkins took office in April 2025 and has since moved closer to the crypto industry. In November 2025, it launched “Project Crypto,” an initiative focused on developing regulatory frameworks for tokenized assets and decentralized finance.
The SEC and CFTC will host a joint event on regulatory harmonization today, with Atkins and Selig signaling a push for clearer rules in the digital assets space.
Bitcoin conferences have attracted increasing attention from government officials in recent years.
Donald Trump spoke at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, where he pledged to establish a national Bitcoin reserve and end federal attacks on the crypto industry. Vice President JD Vance also joined the event last year.
