The best bitcoin analysts to follow in 2026. Lyn Alden, Nic Carter, Jeff Booth, Preston Pysh, Luke Gromen, Parker Lewis, and Adam Back — who to read and why.
Bitcoin generates enormous amounts of noise — price predictions, Twitter hot takes, sponsored influencer content, and perpetual bullishness from people with obvious financial incentives. Cutting through it to find research worth reading takes time most people don't have.
This list covers the analysts who have consistently produced high-quality bitcoin research — people who understand the macroeconomic context, the technology, and the investment thesis without being captured by hype. Their work will help you think about bitcoin more clearly, regardless of where the price goes next week.
Before the list, a filter. A good bitcoin analyst:
With that filter in mind, here are the analysts whose work consistently clears the bar.
Background: Founder of Lyn Alden Investment Strategy; electrical engineer turned macroeconomist
Lyn Alden produces some of the most thorough, well-cited research on bitcoin from a macroeconomic perspective. Her work connects bitcoin to broader monetary history, fiscal policy, and global liquidity cycles in a way that helps you understand why bitcoin might matter, not just that it does.
Her 2020 essay "Bitcoin: Addressing the Petrodollar Argument" and her ongoing monthly newsletter are essential reads for anyone who wants to understand how bitcoin fits into the global monetary system.
What you'll get: Long-form research reports (often 5,000+ words), monthly newsletter, Twitter threads on macro. She's not a price target person — she's a framework person. Read her to build the right mental model.
Best starting point: Her piece "7 Misconceptions About Bitcoin" or her book-length research reports available on her website.
Background: Co-founder of Castle Island Ventures; former analyst at Fidelity Investments
Nic Carter is one of the most intellectually rigorous voices in bitcoin research. He helped pioneer on-chain analytics as a field, co-founded Coin Metrics, and writes consistently about bitcoin's properties as money, its use in global commerce, and the regulatory landscape.
Carter is also willing to push back on ideas he disagrees with — including within the Bitcoin community — which makes his endorsements more meaningful.
What you'll get: Essays on Bitcoin's monetary properties, on-chain analytics, regulatory and policy analysis. His blog (medium.com/@nic__carter) has years of high-quality work on everything from Bitcoin's energy use to its role in emerging markets.
Best starting point: "Bitcoin Is Not Backed by Nothing" and "How to Scale Bitcoin (Without Changing a Thing)"
Background: Author of "The Price of Tomorrow"; serial entrepreneur
Jeff Booth approaches bitcoin from a technology-and-economics angle that most crypto analysts miss. His thesis, laid out in "The Price of Tomorrow," is that technology is fundamentally deflationary — it makes things cheaper over time — while central bank policy is inflationary by design. Bitcoin, in his view, is the resolution to that tension.
This is not typical financial analysis. Booth thinks in civilizational timescales. His work is valuable precisely because it asks bigger questions than "what's the price target."
What you'll get: Podcast appearances (he's a frequent guest on Bitcoin podcasts), Twitter threads, and his book. Not prolific, but the quality is consistently high.
Best starting point: "The Price of Tomorrow" (book) and his appearance on the What Bitcoin Did podcast.
Background: Co-host of The Investors Podcast and Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast; West Point graduate and finance author
Preston Pysh brings a traditional finance background to bitcoin analysis. He started as a Warren Buffett-style value investor and arrived at bitcoin through the lens of monetary policy — particularly the consequences of quantitative easing and near-zero interest rate policy.
His "Bitcoin Fundamentals" podcast is one of the best ongoing sources of bitcoin-specific analysis for people with finance backgrounds. He interviews serious researchers, economists, and practitioners rather than celebrities.
What you'll get: Regular podcast episodes with in-depth interviews, Twitter threads. Strong on understanding bitcoin as a response to broken monetary policy.
Best starting point: Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast, starting with any episode featuring Jeff Booth, Lyn Alden, or Luke Gromen.
Background: Founder of FFTT, LLC; macro analyst with 25 years of experience
Luke Gromen is primarily a macro analyst who has become increasingly bitcoin-focused as his research on US fiscal sustainability has evolved. He tracks the intersection of global dollar flows, Treasury markets, and the emerging multi-polar monetary order.
His key insight: the US government's debt trajectory is incompatible with sustained dollar strength, and the implications ripple across every asset class — including bitcoin. Gromen is not a bitcoin evangelist; he's a numbers-driven analyst who keeps arriving at the same conclusions.
What you'll get: FFTT newsletter (paid), podcast appearances, Twitter threads. Dense but rigorous.
Best starting point: His appearances on The Grant Williams Podcast or Real Vision Finance.
Background: Head of Business Development at Unchained; author of "Gradually, Then Suddenly"
Parker Lewis wrote one of the most comprehensive defenses of bitcoin as money in a series of essays called "Gradually, Then Suddenly." The series — published on the Unchained blog — addresses the common objections to bitcoin with rigorous logic and clear writing.
This isn't market analysis. It's foundational thinking for understanding why bitcoin works as a monetary system. If you have fundamental doubts about bitcoin's long-term viability, Lewis's work is the best place to address them systematically.
What you'll get: A complete series of essays (available for free) that build a comprehensive intellectual case for bitcoin as money. Essential reading for new HODLers.
Best starting point: "Gradually, Then Suddenly: An Introduction" — then read the whole series in order.
Background: CEO of Blockstream; inventor of Hashcash (cited in the Bitcoin whitepaper)
Adam Back is not a writer or podcaster — he's a cryptographer who has been building Bitcoin infrastructure since before most people knew what cryptocurrency was. His Hashcash proof-of-work system was directly cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin whitepaper.
Following Adam Back is valuable not for investment advice but for understanding Bitcoin's technical direction, what the development community is working on, and where the protocol is actually headed. He is one of the few people who can speak authoritatively on Bitcoin's technical properties.
What you'll get: Twitter/X commentary, conference talks, technical discussions. Lower frequency, higher signal.
Best starting point: Any conference talk where he discusses the history of proof-of-work and Bitcoin's design properties.
Alongside the signal, there is enormous noise. Be skeptical of:
Price target people: Anyone making precise 12-month price predictions is selling confidence they don't have. Bitcoin is too volatile and too dependent on macro conditions for specific price forecasts to be meaningful.
Sponsored content analysts: Many "analysts" are paid by projects they cover. Read disclosures carefully.
Yield farmers posing as bitcoin analysts: People promoting yield, DeFi, or "crypto" broadly often have financial incentives to conflate bitcoin with altcoins. The best bitcoin analysts tend to be bitcoin-specific.
Recency bias amplifiers: In bull markets, every analyst looks brilliant. Check whether the analyst you follow was still writing in 2022, when prices fell 75% and many capitulated.
The analysts above are your foundation. Here's how to build a sustainable research practice:
Who is the most credible bitcoin analyst? Lyn Alden consistently scores highest for rigor, intellectual honesty, and macro context. Her research cites sources, engages with counterarguments, and updates when new data changes the picture. She is the place most serious investors start.
Should I follow Michael Saylor for bitcoin analysis? Michael Saylor is valuable for understanding the corporate treasury thesis — he's executed it at enormous scale and articulates it clearly. But he is a bitcoin maximalist with billions of dollars in bitcoin holdings. Weight his analysis accordingly. He's an advocate, not a neutral analyst.
Are there good bitcoin YouTube channels? Quality varies enormously. In a world of thumbnails and engagement-optimized content, YouTube is the hardest platform to find signal. Prefer written research and long-form podcast interviews over short-form video.
Where can I find on-chain bitcoin data? Glassnode and Coin Metrics both offer on-chain analytics dashboards. Glassnode has the best free tier for individual investors. Understanding on-chain metrics (active addresses, miner behavior, exchange flows) is valuable context for any bitcoin investment thesis.
How much time should I spend on bitcoin research? Enough to understand your thesis clearly, then less than you think. Compulsive price-checking and constant information consumption doesn't improve returns. Most serious bitcoin holders read one good long-form piece per week and ignore daily noise.
Bitcoin has more serious, rigorous analysts than it did five years ago — a sign of the asset's maturation. The names above have earned credibility through consistent, well-reasoned work over multiple market cycles.
Start with Lyn Alden for the macro framework. Read Parker Lewis to build first-principles conviction. Follow Nic Carter for on-chain analysis and regulatory clarity. Add Preston Pysh and Jeff Booth for finance and technology context.
Then step back from the analysis and focus on executing a simple plan: accumulate, store in cold storage, and hold through the volatility.
For the individuals who have put their own wealth into bitcoin — including some of the analysts above — see our famous bitcoin holders tracker. And for the full case on why bitcoin has historically outperformed gold as a store of value, read our bitcoin vs gold comparison.
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