• Day 1 — Getting a Feel for It
• Day 2 — Where It Actually Happened
  • The Morning (Open Source Area)
  • Books
  • Watching Jimmy
• Small but Important Moment
• Demoing Continuum
• Travel Back
• The Next Day
• Stepping Back
• Closing

Andrew G. Stanton - Saturday, May 2, 2026

This past week was different.

Less controlled.
More real.

The center of the week was Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas.

I went in not really knowing what to expect.

I brought a few copies of the book — just to see what would happen.

Not trying to push anything.

Just having them there.

§Day 1 — Getting a Feel for It

Up early — around 6:15.

Breakfast at the Pyramid Cafe at the Luxor — big burrito, two coffees.
Honestly really good, and it lasted most of the day.

Uber over to the Venetian.

Stayed until around 5:30.

A few things stood out right away.

The schedule felt looser this year.

Speakers running late — sometimes 15, even 30 minutes.

The overall tone also felt different.

Still a lot of energy.

But slightly more structured.
Slightly more commercial.

I spent time in the open source area.

That felt like the right place.

More grounded.

More real conversations.

Had a few early conversations.

Explained Continuum.

Mentioned SQLite.

Got a simple response back:

“That’s cool — some wallets use that too.”

Not hype.

Just recognition.

Didn’t sell any books that day.

Just had them with me.

§Day 2 — Where It Actually Happened

Second day felt different.

More focused.

Up around 6:30.

Quick breakfast at Starbucks — mocha + sandwich. Just enough.

Got to the conference before 8:30.

§The Morning (Open Source Area)

This was the most important part of the entire week.

One conversation after another.

• Joshua — first conversation of the day
  Really intrigued by Continuum. My first book purchase here at the conference. Especially the idea of using Nostr for authentication / sign-up

• Andrew (Stacks)
  Ended up buying a copy later

• Evan Kaloudis (Zeus)
  Talked both Tuesday and Wednesday
  Real builder conversation — grounded, direct
  Founder of Zeus wallet – gave a talk on onboarding Zeus later that morning.

• Jimmy Song
  Raising support for a new Bitcoin node project
  Selling Fiat Ruins Everything for $100 to fund the work

• Anthony
  Working on a quantum-resistant Bitcoin concept

• Zoe and her team
  Selling goods from Mexico — small operation, but real

That stretch of time mattered.

Not because of volume.

Because the conversations were real.

People understood what I was building.

Asked good questions.

Engaged with it.

§Books

Brought two paperback copies again.

Sold both.

• Joshua
• Andrew

That part still feels a bit surreal.

§Watching Jimmy

Spent time watching how Jimmy Song was operating.

Very direct.

Clear about what he was doing.

Clear about what he needed.

Selling books to fund development.

Pointing people to a GitHub repo.

Talking to developers.

No hesitation.

That stood out.

I sent him the PDF of my book via Wormhole.

Different approach.

But it made something obvious:

I can do the same thing.

§Small but Important Moment

Later that day, I was at the Bitcoin Store (BTC Media) picking up some merch.

While I was there, I asked about getting a booth next year.

Talked with Jake Fenton.

Nothing formal.

But enough to understand how it works.

That shifted something.

Not just attending.

Thinking about showing up differently next time.

§Demoing Continuum

I briefly met Paul Keating.

On Wednesday — after fixing a network issue the night before — I showed him Continuum.

Specifically, scheduling a post for later publishing.

His reaction:

“badass”

That was enough.

§Travel Back

Leaving was… typical.

Uber back.

TSA issues.

Had to check a bag because of a glass jar.

Thought I lost my passport card.

Paid $45 to proceed.

Then found it 20 minutes later.

Boarded the plane.

Sat for about 1.5 hours before takeoff.

Finally left around 9:30 PM

Got home around midnight.

§The Next Day

April 30.

Got sick in the early afternoon.

Had eaten some cake earlier — didn’t sit well.

And honestly, everything leading up to it probably contributed:

Long days
Travel
Delayed flight

It felt like everything just caught up.

The rest of the day was slow.

And the day after that as well.

Water. Light food. Rest.

§Stepping Back

Still thinking about how this is landing with people.

Same conclusion keeps coming up:

People don’t need more features.

They need clarity.

I also stepped back and looked at Continuum more objectively.

Opened it in a private browser.

Walked through it like someone else would.

And it’s solid.

• Release notes
• Concepts & FAQs
• Identity management
• Signing offline
• Local archive
• Export/import

All working. All local.

§Closing

This is what the work looks like right now.

And I’m going to keep showing up.

This will grow.

More people will see why this matters.