How to stop sitting on your stack, and start to slowly live on Bitcoin as it grows.
In the years of helping friends and family understand and use Bitcoin, it's become obvious to me in hindsight that using Bitcoin immediately is better than Hodling forever without ever using it. Reason being if you are a die hard HODLer then it HURTS to convert value out of Bitcoin. Like mental pain as you're going against consensus on what is best: continuing to HODL. But while HODLing for the future is ideal, if you never withdraw anything and you're struggling to cover life expenses then you have no immediate benefit from stacking. This may cause you to reduce your DCA amounts out of concern that you may need the cash more later and don't want to feel bad that you sold some of your stack. Thus HODL-ONLY mode may actual reduce how much you end up stacking over time.
Instead, by using it immediately and automatically there's no mental struggle and there's an obvious benefit to stacking while negligibly affecting the overall long term value growth.
How to live on Bitcoin today:
1: Stack an initial lump sum of Bitcoin, then steadily DCA over time to increase it. Whatever value you stack, when the cost per coin is close to the cost of production, will be returned to you (and used to cover living expenses) within 3 years, 5 at worst. The first year of stacking often matters more than all the others combined, as you may find that every year you need to save twice as much FIAT to stack the same amount of Satoshis as the year before. The beginning matters the most.
2: Don't just HODL forever and never benefit directly from it for years, start using it immediately. Anything you put into Bitcoin can support a steady expense of 1% a month while only reducing the ~3~ year multiplier of value from ~9x~ to ~7x~ (if entering at the bottom of the trend line, often close to the mining production cost). 6x would remain in the stack, while the original 1x investment amount is spent on life in that time.
To easily do this calculate 1/4% of your stack's spending power in FIAT or Precious Metal (whichever is easier), if you have Bitcoin worth 400 Oz of Silver than 1/4% would be 1 oz, vs if you have Bitcoin worth $200k 1/4% would be $500. However you do it, lock in the initial spend amount for the entire year and withdraw it from your stack every week automatically. This means if on Jan 1st 1/4% is $500 you stay at $500/wk all year even as the stack grows, and recalculate this amount in 52 weeks time.
3: Keep track of your stack value over time, if you enter when the cost per coin is close to the production cost (I find estimates by MacroMicro.me are helpful) it is highly likely you won't have to worry about suffering through a devastating bear market.
Note however if the total stack value falls by more than half the value it was when you calculated the monthly payment, you will want to adjust the weekly payment down to avoid spending too fast. Otherwise just leave the withdrawal amount alone and use the weekly stack withdrawal to cover a bill or other life expense and don't worry about it. With this immediate concrete benefit to your life and budget you may find you have a fire under your butt to increase the stack value as much as you can before the next recalculation so you have a higher usable amount each week.
Living on Bitcoin is the end goal, instead of going from never spending Bitcoin to spending it all the time and all over the place, potentially spending it too fast, this system of regularly growing withdrawals is like training wheels that slowly wean you off FIAT and onto a personal Bitcoin standard.
The most important thing is 1% a month usage is long term sustainable with Bitcoin, whether the future growth rate is 18%, 30%, 70%, or 109%. 1% a month never runs out. Bitcoin is engineered to make humanity value it and compete for it over time, forever increasing it's value against time and energy. Use it to make your life better TODAY, not only 10 years from now.
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Replies (12)
Did you come up with this yourself? AI help you with these calculations? This is such a unique take, definitely got me thinking and considering different possibilities. I don't completely understand to be honest, I'm dumber than you I think.
No AI was used, it's all my personal thoughts and cancellations made from my observations of the network over time. Personally I'm fully living on a Bitcoin standard using this system, paying bills and converting some value into precious metals as well as spending FIAT, and am teaching others to do the same.
Appreciate your comment and zap!
I wonder if this assessment, specifically considering the multiplier of value over time, takes into account the worthlessness of that fiat amount, like eventually $1M USD would be worth a loaf of bread. I dunno, it's so hard for me to understand bitcoin value long term.
Generally the USD roughly doubles in supply every decade, so the unit value will be halved in the same amount of time assuming no change in overall network value. Since the multiplier in the OP is related to USD, the 6x value still saved in 3 years is with dollars that are approximately 17% less valuable than at the start, meaning the value saved will actually be 5x the value at the start in real terms.
I expect Bitcoin to hit $1,000,000 each no later than August 2028, I could be wrong but that's my personal extrapolation. That would be the equivalent value of $830,000 today however, assuming the standard 7% a year USD supply increase.
It's difficult to be precise with FIAT values, but this is my best simple take on it.
Strong agree! We are spending sats every day and proud of it. Living our best lives on a Bitcoin standard. ๐ค
still digesting this but tangential question for now: why do you all-caps "fiat"?
can confirm this npub spends sats at @Whitepaper Books !!
IDK, habit I guess? My keyboard autocorrects to all caps FIAT so maybe I just got used to it being in all caps.
you do you
How do you spend sats if hardly anyone accepts them as form of payment? In my case it would be mostly for groceries, occasional household goods and the occasional train or plane ticket
You buy the best form of value that the merchant you're dealing with accepts.
If the person you need to pay accepts Goldbacks or Silver, buy those with Bitcoin and pay the merchant in what they accept.
Unfortunately a good number of merchants only accept fiat money, so just purchase the filthy fiat units they request while looking for a merchant that accepts Bitcoin directly.
Very informative thank you