What I Learned At Bitcoin 2026

What a difference a year makes.

Last week, I attended the 2026 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas.

(And for those of you curious, in the photo with me is my good friend and former colleague E.B. Tucker. A familiar name for long-time Strategic Trader subscribers. You can follow him at The Tucker Letter.)

The first true Bitcoin conference was in 2011 with less than 100 attendees. Today, it’s exploded to around 30,000 people.

It’s the go-to event when it comes to all things bitcoin, blockchain and cryptocurrency.

While there, I got to talk with industry veterans and companies in the space.

I’ve found that attending these types of conferences is one of the best ways to get in front of the people at the heart of a specific industry. And I usually come away with some new knowledge and plenty of new connections.

This year was no different. But what was different was something that I noticed right away. Something that, in my experience, is a tell when it comes to investing in any asset class.

Last year’s conference was euphoric. Bitcoin had just smashed through the $100,000 barrier. And the crowd was giddy.

The venue was so packed, you almost couldn’t move around.

And the show floor itself had plenty to offer, from Steak ‘N Shake and its “cows”, to bitcoin mascots and even a President Trump sighting...

There was even a spaceship right in the middle of it all.

But even with all the fluff at last year’s conference, I’ve spoken before about how I believe bitcoin should be part of everyone’s portfolio over the long-term.

In fact, in what may be a controversial statement to some of you, I think accumulating bitcoin is a better bet today than buying physical gold.

It’s not that I hate gold. Far from it. But consider that with gold’s recent run over the past few years, it now has a market cap of about $35 trillion. That compares to the global stock market at around $140 trillion.

Where does bitcoin stand? It has a market cap of just $1.5 trillion.

That tells me there’s a far easier path for bitcoin to double or more than there is for gold.

Yet even still, it will have its moments. And last year’s conference looked like a sign of an incoming top.  Which is exactly what happened just months later.

After hitting a peak of just over $125,000, the price of bitcoin fell about 50% before hitting a recent bottom at $$63,000.

That kind of move is enough to make even the most upbeat bitcoin enthusiast lose faith.

But investing in anything requires patience. Especially if you’re looking for the kinds of asymmetric moves out of things like crypto. Or the warrants I recommend in Strategic Trader.   

Which is why despite the 50% drawdown, I was continuing to look for the right time to jump back into accumulation mode.

In fact, I told my Founding Members on our community Slack channel on April 14 that I was looking for bitcoin to signal a breakout over the $75,000 level.

Something that happened just a few days later.

After holding that level for several weeks, I believe the next target to be around $85,000 to $90,000.

Yet even with the current breakout, the mood at this year’s conference was nowhere near the same.

On my first day there, I could already tell this year was different. The crowds were…light.  

Checking in and walking around was a breeze.

And in the event hall itself, there were far fewer companies exhibiting. The tone was mute.

The spaceship that sat in the center of the exhibit hall was gone. The Steak ‘N Shake “cows” were nowhere to be found. And the Winklevoss twins – founders of Gemini – weren’t there doing photos with the crowd like last year.

To me, that type of action is a tell.

I’ve attendee conferences like this one for years. Whether it’s in the mining space. Or in the tech space – like CES, which I attend every January.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from these conferences – besides talking to industry participants – it’s that taking stock of the mood, the attendance and overall feeling of the crowd is a great way to know when it’s time to sell…or buy.

It’s classic sentiment trading. When euphoria is in the air, it’s probably a good time to take some money off the table. When it’s more somber, that’s usually a good sign to turn around and start buying.

That’s where I believe we are today with bitcoin. It’s time to start buying again looking for the next uptrend to take hold. Then eventually watch it smash through its previous all-time high.

And it’s not just looking at the chart itself. It’s also in talking with industry players, like several companies that are currently in the Strategic Trader portfolio. Companies that have warrants, giving us a chance to make a leveraged bet on bitcoin’s next push higher.

(And if you’re a current subscriber, keep an eye out for the May issue, which publishes on May 20. I’ll have more to say on our bitcoin-related portfolio companies after talking with them at the conference.)

At the end of the day, it’s this type of boots-on-the-ground research that I’ve found to be one of the best ways to learn more about a specific industry. And see how things change with the crowd over time.

So if you’re looking to buy bitcoin – whether it’s your first time or you’re a veteran – now may be your best chance before the next uptrend takes off.

Regards,

Editor, Strategic Trader

P.S. Keep an eye out for the next edition of Strategic Edge. I’ll talk a bit more about the fun side of the Bitcoin Conference and a little experiment I’ll be conducting over the next year.