The 2026 Bitcoin Conference kicked off Monday with more than a dozen segments that were broadcast live from the Venetian Las Vegas. Guest speakers included Kalshi Head of Crypto John Wang, acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, and FBI Director Kash Patel.
During the 9-hour first day of the conference, Trump administration officials signaled that they are transitioning into a new era of cooperation with digital asset builders and coders. One in which the industry itself isn’t subjugated to blanket prosecutions as a result of actions perpetrated by third party bad actors.
“We’re not there to police [Bitcoin and the virtual asset community] in terms of regulation,” said the FBI Director at the 11:40 timestamp mark of the video segment – uploaded by the Bitcoin Magazine YouTube channel. “We’re there, as the Attorney General said, to simply find crime where it exists.”
Patel subsequently referenced an ongoing crackdown of “scam center compounds” located in Cambodia, Thailand, and Burma (19:35 timestamp). The former public defender informed segment moderator, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, that the FBI started coordinating “quietly” with those countries 11 months ago to disassemble said criminal operations.
An overriding theme of Monday’s conversation was that those who create products linked to virtual assets should no longer fear federal prosecution due to the actions of third party bad actors and criminals. The guests used Executive Order 14178 (January 2025), the DOJ’s April 2025 “Ending Regulation By Prosecution” memo, as well as their own Bitcoin origin stories to support the claim.
The nation’s top prosecutor, who initially invested in cryptocurrency a decade ago, says he is now “bitcoinless” due to a forced sale of his personal digital assets upon being nominated for Deputy Attorney General in November 2024.
READ: US Office of Government Ethics Advisory: Digital Asset Ownership (September 27, 2023)
In terms of future cooperation, the acting AG acknowledged that crypto technology builders and coders are justified in their wariness of willingly communicating with the federal government. The Biden-era “attacks on the industry” were “outrageous,” said Blanche at the 23-minute mark. “This comes from the heart. So I hope that, over time, the DOJ earns your trust… I do not want any platform to look at the Department of Justice or the FBI as somebody who’s going to just cause them a lot of problems.”
Day 1 of the 2026 Bitcoin Conference also featured a discussion with Kalshi Head of Crypto John Wang. The former University of Pennsylvania student praised Bitcoin during his segment, adding that BTC represents 90% of all crypto-based volume on the exchange.
Wang also stated that prediction markets grant traders the ability to achieve “precise exposure” on what has traditionally been a “bundle” digital asset. The individual “yes/no” options on a massive amount of markets allows users to trade on “what you actually believe.” Kalshi plans to launch crypto-based perpetual futures markets for US forecasters later this week.
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