Bitcoin Amsterdam 2026: the debates to watch, from upgrades to 'Is maximalism over?'
The agenda for 5–6 November is out: 66 sessions on four stages. The panels on how Bitcoin should change, Bitcoin's first days, AI red teams, EU rules and self-custody, with Amsterdam and Moscow times.
Bitcoin Amsterdam takes place on 5–6 November 2026 at the SugarFactory venue. It is organised by BTC Inc, the company behind the big Bitcoin conference in the US. When we read the published agenda on 10 October, it listed 66 sessions on four stages, with about 130 named speakers and hosts. A few sessions are in Dutch.
Amsterdam is on CET (UTC+1) in November, so Moscow time is 2 hours ahead.
How should Bitcoin change, if at all?
5 Nov, 14:15 Amsterdam / 16:15 MSK, Orange Stage: "Building Consensus: Future of Bitcoin Upgrades", with Sjors Provoost (Bitcoin Core), Paul Sztorc (LayerTwo Labs), Rob Hamilton (AnchorWatch) and Vlad Costea.
The session description asks how the community can agree on changes when Bitcoin has become very large and hard to change. Right before it, at 14:00, Vlad Costea gives "A History of Bitcoin Forks". For a recent example of a failed rule change, read our BIP-110 post-mortem.
On 6 Nov at 14:30 / 16:30 Sjors Provoost and Aaron van Wirdum discuss Bitcoin Core 32 live on the Proof-of-Work Stage.
"Bitcoin monoculture is over"
5 Nov, 13:00 / 15:00, Treasury Stage: Dan Held, Cory Klippsten (Swan), Matyas Kuchar (BTC Prague), Fernando Nikolic and Victor (Satoshi Club) debate whether Bitcoin maximalism helped Bitcoin or pushed people away. The description asks "where principled conviction ends and counterproductive gatekeeping begins".
Bitcoin's first days
- 5 Nov, 10:15 / 12:15: "Why Bitcoin was NOT Started by a Three-Letter Agency", researcher Alex Waltz. He argues the evidence from Bitcoin's chaotic launch points to Satoshi acting alone.
- 5 Nov, 10:30 / 12:30: "Bitcoin's Earliest Moments And How It Could Have Failed", with Martti Malmi, one of the first people to work on Bitcoin with Satoshi, author Aaron van Wirdum and Alex Waltz.
Pair it with our story on Hashcash and the roots of proof of work.
AI as a security tool
5 Nov, 16:00 / 18:00, Treasury Stage: "Red Team Assemble: Saving Bitcoin Using Frontier Models", with Rob Hamilton, Talip (LX Research Labs) and Seth For Privacy (Cake Wallet). According to the description, security researchers use both US commercial and Chinese open-weight AI models to find bugs in open-source Bitcoin code, and some turn to Chinese models as access to US tools for security research gets restricted.
Europe's rules
| Amsterdam / MSK | Session |
|---|---|
| 5 Nov, 10:50 / 12:50 | "DAC8: Europe's War on Financial Privacy", Théo Mogenet (Bull Bitcoin). See our DAC8 explainer |
| 6 Nov, 10:30 / 12:30 | "How EU Overregulation Can Boost The Bitcoin Parallel Economy" |
| 6 Nov, 13:00 / 15:00 | "The MiCA Strategy: How to Play the Regulatory Game" |
Also on the agenda
| Amsterdam / MSK | Session |
|---|---|
| 5 Nov, 13:15 / 15:15 | Misha Komarov on Shielded Bitcoin |
| 6 Nov, 11:00 / 13:00 | "Who Controls the Mining Stack?" (see our mining piece) |
| 6 Nov, 12:00 / 14:00 | "Will Self-Custody Ever Be Safe?", with BitBox, BitVault, Nuri and Wesatoshis Labs |
| 6 Nov, 13:00 / 15:00 | Jack Mallers & Robert Breedlove fireside, The Deep |
Agendas change. Check the official page before you travel.
Add Bitcoin Amsterdam to your calendar, or browse all conferences on Events.
Sources
- Bitcoin Amsterdam: agenda bitcoin.amsterdam
- Bitcoin Amsterdam: home page bitcoin.amsterdam
Times are Lugano (CEST, UTC+2) and Moscow (UTC+3). Not investment advice.
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