SEC Chair Atkins: existing securities law can no longer keep up with crypto.

Speaking at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas, SEC Chair Paul Atkins acknowledged directly that the agency's current legal framework is no longer fit for purpose — it cannot keep pace with the speed of crypto innovation. The admission from a sitting SEC chair carries weight: it signals the regulator is no longer defending the status quo but actively seeking a new statutory foundation.

Atkins pointed to joint work with the CFTC on new legislation designed to give both agencies greater regulatory flexibility. In the interim, the SEC is leaning on statutory rules and judicial precedents to maintain a degree of stability while the longer-term framework is built out.

He also noted that U.S. elections have proven to be a decisive variable in crypto policy, with regulators and legislators having undergone what he described as a complete shift in stance over the past decade — a tacit acknowledgment…