A short story...

Hot take (I assume): A sovereign wealth fund is v bad for free market capitalism.

Remember in April 2020 when the government gave everyone $1,200 to buy bitcoin at $6,800? That was fun.

Crypto has devolved to nothing more than memecoins and tokenized dollars. Bullish for bitcoin.

This is the chart of NVDA / BTC. Tell me what you see?

Gold's scarcity is physical. Fiat's scarcity is political. Bitcoin's scarcity is mathematical.

Alright @Bitcoin Golf Pro my friend, help me out. Sats will follow as a thank you!

The latest issue of FIRE BTC is out today: Exploring El Salvador 🇸🇻 The Central American country of El Salvador was once considered the murder capital of the world. In 2019, however, a new sheriff came to town. President Nayib Bukele rose to power and immediately cracked down on the gangs. And in 2021, El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender. The story of my recent trip to El Salvador began in June of 2024, when my colleagues and I wrote a short piece on the synergies between golf and bitcoin. Golf brought me to bitcoin country, and this week's FIRE BTC covers what I saw at Bitcoin Beach and how El Salvador may be a window to the future of bitcoin. Here's the link to the full piece. As always, don't forget to subscribe for my weekly(ish) views helping bitcoiners achieve FIRE and teaching FIRE practitioners about bitcoin.

🇸🇻 Exploring El Salvador

FIRE BTC Issue #16 - Observations from a trip to bitcoin country

21 Bitcoin + FIRE resolutions for 2025, from this week's issue of FIRE BTC: 1⃣ Review last year’s expenses 2⃣ Cut out wasted expenditures 3⃣ Increase your savings rate 4⃣ Increase your bitcoin allocation to savings 5⃣ Automate your savings through DCA 6⃣ Sell old stuff to stack more sats 7⃣ Get bitcoin rewards 8⃣ Get BTC-paid yield on cash 9⃣ Create a speculative attack 🔟 Learn to self-custody your bitcoin (if you haven’t already) 1⃣1⃣ Upgrade to multisig (if your bitcoin stack is big enough) 1⃣2⃣ Set up your estate plan 1⃣3⃣ Set up your bitcoin succession plan. 1⃣4⃣ Play with lightning 1⃣5⃣ Pay with lightning 1⃣6⃣ Model your aspirational lifestyle 1⃣7⃣ Exercise your spending muscles 1⃣8⃣ Get smart with credit cards 1⃣9⃣ Get off zero 2⃣0⃣ Get on zero 2⃣1⃣ Stack sats with your kids You can read the full issue with explainers for each item here:

2️⃣1️⃣ Resolutions for 2025

FIRE BTC Issue #15 - Bitcoin + FIRE goals for the new year

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Love this simple expected value calculation for the threat of quantum computing taking bitcoin to zero overnight from @TEN31 Suffice it to say: $100k is CHEAP. Here's the link to their post: https://ten31.vc/insights/quantum

Steepener intensifying

Time zones are crazy. Need Zealand is in 2025. The United States is in 2024. And gold holders are in 1898.

The dividend bros sacrifice total wealth for income. Don't be like the dividend bros. It may cost you years of financial independence. View quoted note →

FIRE BTC Issue 13 just dropped. Here's a short summary 👇 Many personal finance bros on X swear by dividend-paying stocks, claiming they offer hassle-free cash flow for financial independence. But while dividends can seem appealing, they may actually hinder your progress toward FIRE. Here’s why: Dividends don’t create new wealth—they simply shift value from the company to you. When a dividend is paid, the stock price drops by the same amount, leaving your total investment value unchanged. Worse, dividends in taxable accounts come with a tax burden, reducing the compounding power of your portfolio. This inefficiency often means dividend-focused strategies yield lower total returns compared to growth-oriented investments. For example, over the last five years, $SCHD (a dividend ETF) returned 69% compared to $VTI's 93%. That difference translates to years of additional saving needed to reach your FIRE number. And for those who criticize Bitcoin for not paying dividends: they’re missing the point. Bitcoin isn’t designed to throw off dividends—it’s like "cash money," offering returns through increased purchasing power over time. Whether through Bitcoin or growth-focused ETFs, you can create income by strategically selling small portions, benefiting from greater compounding and tax efficiency. The key to reaching FIRE isn’t how your returns are delivered but how they compound. Dividends may feel like an easy win, but they can come at the cost of longer timelines to financial independence. Focus on assets with higher total returns during the accumulation phase and let compounding do the heavy lifting. And, of course, for that purpose, bitcoin is the best. You can read the post at the link below, and don't forget to subscribe!

🧦 Coal in Your Stocking?

FIRE BTC Issue #13: Why dividends don't matter

🤑 Borrowing against your bitcoin? From today's issue of FIRE BTC, here are my abbreviated thoughts on leveraging your BTC stack 👇 When pursuing FIRE, we spend years stacking assets like stocks and bitcoin to reach a savings portfolio goal to sustain our ongoing expenses. Once obtained, the standard and most simple way to live off your portfolio is to sell these assets slowly, at about 4% per year (the 4% rule). Is there another option? Maybe. An exciting and interesting idea is to borrow against your bitcoin instead. Borrowing against the assets you own to buy more assets enables you to take advantage of unavoidable dollar debasement. Doing so allows you to access dollars now, while delaying the sale until the end of the loan term. The hope is that bitcoin’s value continues its relentless march higher, above and beyond the rate of fees and interest needed to service the loan. A few thoughts and best practices: 🔸 Before taking on any debt, make sure you have a plan for the interest payments. This could be from other income sources, selling a small portion of the bitcoin, or paying interest from the loan proceeds. 🔸 Just as important as paying the interest is being able to maintain the margin requirements for the loan. You don’t want to be a forced seller at a low price, so it’s imperative that you have a plan to maintain the collateral position of the loan during price drawdowns. 🔸 Look for fiat financing first. The fiat world is built on debt, and there are plenty of other options available for loans that will likely have better terms than a bitcoin-backed alternative. 🔸 Be conservative. Consider borrowing against your bitcoin only after its value is large enough where you only need to leverage a small portion of your overall stack to meet your needs. 🔸 Understand your counterparty risk. Borrowing against your bitcoin means giving up full control over it. Whether from malicious intent or mismanagement-turned-bankruptcy, many people have been burned because they did not understand the counterparty risk they were exposed to. 🔸 The banks are (probably) coming. When the banking industry comes to play, they will bring massive amounts of capital for lending against bitcoin, which should drive down rates and make loan terms more competitive. I’m an advocate for leveraging the fiat financial system to get wealthier more quickly. I believe bitcoin will usher in a world less reliant on debt. Until then, we might as well embrace it. Want to read the full post? You can find it here 👇

🤑 Borrowing Against Your Bitcoin

FIRE BTC Issue #12 - My thoughts on leveraging your BTC stack

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For both bitcoin and your FIRE journey, the first $100k is the hardest. Check out the latest issue of FIRE BTC, which just went out to subscribers.

✅ The First $100k is the Hardest

FIRE BTC Issue #11 - Gradually, then suddenly

Bitcoin fixes the infinite money glitch.

Bitcoin is in blue sky territory again. You need to make sure your bitcoin house is in order before this bull market kicks into high gear. Join us for a special online event this coming Tuesday to find out where bitcoin is going and what you can do to prepare. Reserve your spot 👇 https://unchained.com/webinar-sign-up-house-in-order

When bitcoin rips, I'm asked how to buy it. This week's issue of FIRE BTC explores my approach and what I tell my friends.

🧱 How to Buy Bitcoin

FIRE BTC Issue #10 - My approach and what I tell my friends

This week's issue of FIRE BTC explores how you can use a home mortgage to power up your FIRE journey.

💣 Speculative Attack

FIRE BTC Issue #9 - Taking advantage of debt in a fiat world