Leaving The Legacy Financial System For Bitcoin With BTC Bap

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For this episode of Bitcoin Magazine’s “Meet The Taco Plebs,” I was joined by BTC Bap (@BTCBap) for another quality conversation with a pleb.

In this podcast episode, Bap shared his rabbit hole story and his journey coming to Bitcoin after hearing about it a couple of times. He, in particular, has an interesting background in traditional finance but after working there as a Bitcoiner for a while, he just couldn’t do it anymore. He needed to break free from the constraints of his old job and pursue his interest in Bitcoin, and he has done just that.

Bap explained that, while growing up, he had always been a pretty frugal dude, saving whatever he could. He even shared an interesting story about receiving bars of silver as a graduation gift for college! Later on, we discussed the unique saving strategies of Bitcoiners who put most of their incomes straight into BTC. I talked about how you can allocate 50 percent to 60 percent of your paycheck and Bitcoiners will say “What is that? An allocation for ants?” It’s funny to think that anyone outside of the Bitcoin space would think you’re crazy for saving that much but Bitcoiners know there is only 21 million bitcoin and everyone in the world is competing against each other for them. We have to stack as much as we can.

Bap explained that a beautiful thing about Bitcoin is that there are rules without rulers. The network is run on consensus, leaving no room or anyone to control it. I touched on the importance of how strong the network is against bad actors who have tried to control the space in the past couple of years. Many have tried to control it, all have failed. There are many great leaders in the Bitcoin space but as Bitcoiners have shown, if they try anything malicious, then Bitcoiners would wage war on them (and have before).

Below are some of Bap’s most interesting thoughts shared during the interview. And be sure to check out the full episode for more.

How Did You Find Bitcoin And Fall Down The Rabbit Hole?

I studied economics and monetary policy in college, and I managed high-net-worth investors’ funds through most of my twenties, so I was pretty familiar with the state of the economy, money and how the Federal Reserve manipulates trade with currency intervention.

I’d got my first coin in mid-2017, DCA’d a bit through the bear market years, but it wasn’t until March 2020 that my rabbit hole journey really began, as I left the financial industry for the pursuit of “something different.” I wasn’t sure at the time what that “different” would be, but as I began digging into resources like Gigi’s 21lessons.com, I found myself more and more fascinated by Bitcoin. I’d say my final descent of the “rabbit hole” journey began with Robert Breedlove’s “Number Zero” writing and “ended” with “Bitcoin American West” by Croesus, which I read sometime in early November 2020. I read so much between that time. That really completed my understanding and commitment to bitcoin and knew it was my direction forward afterward.

How Has Bitcoin Changed Your Life?

I’ve always been relatively frugal and saved money to direct toward investments, but now I really don’t spend money at all. I am so much more concerned with spending, realizing the compounding effect and opportunity cost Bitcoin presents. Now, it’s got to be something absolutely necessary or incredibly desired.

Bitcoin has helped me find relative consistency in a changing world. It feels like life is increasingly different from years past, and that things are speeding up each year.

Bitcoin is the ticking clock of certainty in a time of chaos. I’m also more transparent and direct with people now, as I realize that small talk wastes time, and time is energy, which is proof of work, which is bitcoin.

What is the most amazing thing about Bitcoin to you?

The concept of rules without a ruler. How everyone agrees to the same standard through behavioral incentives. Bitcoin is as much a form of money as it is a psychological experiment. It realigns incentives that instinctually feel right — that money should not lose value over time — and that risk-taking is scary.

The idea that I don’t have to “invest” my money to preserve purchasing power is profound. After working in the investment industry for as long as I did, it’s really made me rethink my beliefs on what “investing” is.