They Said Nobody Was Coming to Bitcoin 2026. 35,000 People Disagreed.
They Said Nobody Was Coming to Bitcoin 2026.
35,000 People Disagreed.
Saylor sold out. Afroman packed the floor. The FUD merchants were wrong. Bitcoin is up 13% in April and heading back toward $80K.
April was a good month for crypto. Bitcoin finished the month up roughly 13%, recovering from the lows and closing out April with real momentum despite the macro headwinds. Rising oil prices, the Iran blockade, and a Federal Reserve that held rates steady while signaling higher for longer. Crypto held its own against all of it. That’s worth saying out loud.
Before the conference started, the FUD was loud. People were saying nobody was coming. Bear market, wrong year, wrong energy. They were wrong.
Bitcoin 2026 drew somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 people, right in line with last year when JD Vance headlined and the price was considerably higher. Michael Saylor returned and gave a standing-room only talk. Jack Mallers delivered one of the best keynotes of the conference. Mark Moss was on point. Eric Trump’s panel drew a massive crowd. And Afroman’s performance pulled just as many people as any suit on stage. The energy was there. The people were there. Anyone who told you otherwise wasn’t.
“This conference belongs to the Bitcoin natives. The suits are welcome guests, not the main event.”
The politicians showed up in force too. Acting AG Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel, SEC Chairman Paul Atkins, CFTC Chairman Mike Selig, Senator Lummis pushing the BITCOIN Act. Unprecedented. But here’s what was telling: the FBI Director’s panel was attended minimally compared to Saylor and Eric Trump. The Bitcoin community was polite about it, but they made clear who they came to see.
We covered the Clarity Act angle in depth with Charles Hoskinson last issue. If you missed it, read the full breakdown here. The short version: the regulatory picture is complicated and the turf wars are getting louder, not quieter, as the CFTC suing Wisconsin this week proved.
On the ground, the conversation that surprised me most was around quantum computing. I sat down with Krown Technologies, the official quantum wallet of Bitcoin 2026, live in the Lambo, and the Q-Day question is no longer theoretical. It’s a when, not an if. And most people’s wallets are nowhere near ready.
Meta launched stablecoin payouts for creators this week, a quiet but significant signal that stablecoins are becoming a payment rail, not just a trading instrument. Jerome Powell delivered his final FOMC press conference as Fed Chair with rates held at 3.50%-3.75% and said the Fed’s independence is “at risk.” US national debt surpassed US GDP for the first time since World War II. Pete Hegseth called Bitcoin a tool to project power. The S&P 500 closed at an all-time high of 7,200 with over $6 trillion added to US markets this month. These macro conditions historically favour hard assets, and the institutional floor under this market has not moved.
Note: next year Bitcoin 2027 moves to Nashville. Put it in the calendar. View and follow upcoming events at cryptocoinshow.com/crypto-events.
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Explore XYO Network →Ashton Addison joins Gavin Mehl for a live street interview on the promenade in Las Vegas during Bitcoin 2026. They cover the hottest topics at the conference, key takeaways from the Charles Hoskinson interview and what the Clarity Act means for the industry, plus a BSV chart breakdown.
Ashton Addison sits down with Krown Technologies, the official quantum wallet of Bitcoin 2026, live in the Lambo in Las Vegas. They break down how serious the quantum computing threat really is to Bitcoin and crypto wallets, whether people’s coins are safe today, when Q-Day could arrive, and how to prepare your holdings before it does.
Przemek Kowalczyk, Co-Founder and CEO of Ramp Network, joins Ashton Addison to break down why buying crypto is still harder than it should be, where users actually drop off, and what it takes to operate a global payments business across 150+ countries. They also cover Ramp’s just-announced multichain wallet and what stablecoins change about the entire on-ramp model.
Bitcoin is trading around $77,000 today, up roughly 13% in April and holding above the key $76,200 support level, the 23.6% Fibonacci retracement. The week dipped toward $75,000 mid-conference as oil surged and leveraged positions were flushed out, with over $110M in BTC liquidations accelerating the move. Buyers stepped back in and the structure held. Price is now consolidating in the $76,200 to $79,000 range, pressing up toward the $78,500 resistance zone where sellers have been active.
Bias: CAUTIOUSLY BULLISH. Bitcoin is stronger than ETH right now and the macro environment is improving. Institutional flows remain the floor. ETF inflows are steady and exchange reserves continue to fall as more BTC moves into cold storage. The Iran conflict and oil prices are the main overhang weighing on risk assets, but any easing of those tensions could give BTC a clean run at $80,000.
What I’m watching: A confirmed daily close above $78,500 opens the path toward $80,000 and beyond. Failure to hold $76,200 on a retest risks a move toward $73,500.
Signals powered by EngineeringRobo AI
ETH is underperforming Bitcoin meaningfully this week. BTC dominance has climbed to 58.1%, capital is rotating into Bitcoin as the defensive play while ETH consolidates. ETH attempted $2,400 twice and was rejected both times. The Ethereum Foundation selling 10,000 ETH to Bitmine for $22.9M is orderly and counter-cyclical by design. Tom Lee’s firm now holds over 5 million ETH as the largest corporate holder, a long-term bullish signal framed correctly. But short-term, ETH needs to find its footing.
Bias: NEUTRAL TO BULLISH, patient. The setup isn’t broken but ETH needs to outperform BTC on a percentage basis before getting aggressive. The $2,300 floor is what matters right now. Hold it and the structure stays intact.
What I’m watching: ETH/BTC ratio for confirmation alts are ready to participate. A clean hold and close above $2,400 with volume changes the picture quickly.
Signals powered by EngineeringRobo AI
- Bitcoin dips under $76,000 mid-week during Bitcoin 2026, recovers. Institutional floor held.
- CFTC sues the state of Wisconsin for encroaching on its authority over crypto prediction markets.
- Trump family’s World Liberty Financial partnered with a crypto project linked to alleged scam-ring operators sanctioned by the US, per WSJ.
- Treasury Secretary Bessent says the US is targeting Iran’s “access to crypto.”
- Federal Reserve holds rates at 3.50%-3.75%. Jerome Powell delivers his final FOMC press conference as Fed Chair. Says the Fed’s independence is “at risk.”
- Meta launches stablecoin payouts for creators. Major mainstream signal for stablecoin adoption.
- Elon Musk says most cryptocurrencies are “scams” during OpenAI court testimony. “Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams.”
- US national debt surpasses US GDP for the first time since World War II.
- US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says he is a “long enthusiast” of Bitcoin and agrees it is a tool to project power.
- S&P 500 hits new all-time high of 7,200. Over $6 trillion added to the US stock market this month.
- Senate unanimously passes resolution banning members from trading on prediction markets.
- Ethereum Foundation sells 10,000 ETH for $22.9M to Bitmine. Bitmine now the largest corporate ETH holder at 5M+ ETH.
- Citadel receives regulatory approval to operate in Dubai, UAE.
- UAE exits OPEC and OPEC+ after 59 years. Macro wildcard. Watch for knock-on effects on oil, dollar, and risk assets.
Bitcoin 2026 is done. The conference delivered. The FUD merchants were wrong. 30 to 40 thousand people showed up, Saylor sold out his talk, and Afroman drew as big a crowd as any politician on the schedule. The suits came, but this conference still belongs to the Bitcoin community. That’s not a small thing.
The conversations happening on the ground, quantum threats, stablecoin rails, the Clarity Act, institutional accumulation, are the ones that will shape the next cycle. The macro is supportive, BTC is stronger than ETH right now, and the chart is setting up for a move back into the channel.
The S&P at all-time highs with $6 trillion added to markets in April tells you risk appetite is real. That finds its way into crypto. It always does.
Next week we’re at Consensus Miami, May 5-7, doing interviews on the ground. If you’re there, come find us. And remember, next year it’s Nashville, not Vegas.
Watch the $78,500 level on Bitcoin. Everything else is noise until that resolves.
Heading to Consensus Miami, May 5–7?
We’ll be there doing interviews all week.