Top Takeaways from the Bitcoin 2024 Conference in Nashville

The historic Bitcoin 2024 Conference wrapped up this past weekend in Nashville, TN with organizers announcing from the stage a record-setting crowd of more than 25,000 attendees; marking a significant boost from the roughly 800 participants at the first such conference in 2019 sponsored by Bitcoin Magazine according to Founder and CEO, David Bailey.

But it wasn’t just the numbers in the seats that made the event historic, it was the fact that for the first time ever the panel of more than 300 speakers included two U.S. presidential candidates, 10 U.S. senators, various congressional representatives, CEOs, and more. Speakers from the podium launched historic headline grabbing quotes and politically-charged promises to the crypto-loving audiences like candy-tossing float riders in a summertime parade progression.

For instance, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy both pledged that if elected they would respectively keep a stockpile of Bitcoin as a strategic financial resource for the nation; push to allow self-custody of digital assets; as well as advance crypto-friendly regulations to ensure technological innovation within the U.S. and the country’s leadership position regarding economic empowerment.

Not to be outdone, Trump also pledged that on his first day in office he would fire current SEC chair Gary Gensler – a promise that was so wildly well received it prompted Trump to repeat the pledge to even louder cheers.

The news kept coming as yesterday Wyoming Sen. – and ardent Bitcoin advocate – Cynthia Lummis announced her bill that would authorize the U.S. government to add to its existing stash of more than 200,000 Bitcoin by purchasing an additional 800,000 more of the digital asset. During the conference, Sen. Lummis said the intent would be to hold the Bitcoin for 20 years and then use a portion of that appreciated asset to pay down the national debt – which is approximately $35 trillion at the time of writing according to Statista.

If you’re trying to do the math, even if the price of each Bitcoin reached $100,000 per coin, having a million of them wouldn’t make a dent in the national debt. However, during the conference MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor predicted that his basecase price for a single Bitcoin in 20 years time could be $13 million, $3 million in a bear-case scenario, and $49 million in a bull-case scenario per coin as outlined in the chart below from his speech.

Michael Saylor, CEO, MicroStrategy Bitcoin 2024 Conference

While those lofty numbers and political promises are exciting for crypto fans to hear – they’re easy platitudes for politicians to push. It remains to be seen whether all their posturing and puffery were merely pandering or if these individuals have the determination and will to convert their promises into policy.

Perhaps the most provocative speaker of the entire three-day event was former U.S. citizen, NSA whistleblower and naturalized Russian resident since 2022, Edward Snowden. During his Friday talk via satellite he was cautiously optimistic that the crypto community had made significant advances and was gaining traction with wider adoption. But he warned that the historic flood of institutional money into recently approved Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs and political posing to secure votes – all run counter to the underlying libertarian philosophy of Bitcoin.

“Cast a vote but don’t join a cult,” said Snowden. “We can’t let them [institutional powers] reduce America to the ‘land of the fee and the home of the slave’.”