Getting back to Bitcoin basics, on today's show Trent and Dan get into a very important aspect of every's Bitcoin journey, which is mistakes.  We all make them.  Every Bitcoiner who has ever existed has made a number of dumb mistakes over the years, all of which lead you to having less Bitcoin that you otherwise would.

Especially if you are new to Bitcoin, learning about these mistakes - and how to avoid them - will be invaluable in helping you smartly grow your Bitcoin stack over time. 

This will be an ongoing conversation over multiple episodes as there are a near endless amount of common mistakes all people make.   Today we start with 3 of the most fundamental ones:

1. Not taking the time to understand Bitcoin.   This is the keystone mistake and in many ways all other mistakes fall downstream of this one.  Its crucially important, so take the time to study and really understand Bitcoin and what makes it so unique.  The more time you spend with Bitcoin the more likely you are to make smarter decisions going forward.  Put in the effort, its worth it.  You will spend 40,000 to 50,000 hours of your life working for money, don't you think its worth it to spend 100 hours to learn about how money works?
2. Sitting on sidelines.  So many people have little or no allocation to Bitcoin.  Trillions upon trillions of dollars sitting on sidelines.  Its natural for people to have hesitation or to hope for a big dip and a lower entry price.  All very natural and understandable.  But Bitcoin has an uncanny way of going up so fast and people remain on the sidelines.  Don't be one of those people.  Get in the game.  Learn about dollar cost averaging, which is one of the solutions to this problem.  And of course refer to #1 above and continue to learn about Bitcoin, it will make it easier to allocate smartly over time.
3. Thinking Bitcoin is a trade.  One of the most common misconceptions about Bitcoin is that it is a trade to make more dollars.  In reality its the opposite: dollars continue to go down in value (as governments continue to make more and more), while Bitcoin goes up in value over time.  If anything, dollars are the short term trade to acquire the best store of value in the world in Bitcoin.   Bitcoin is not a trade.  It is not investing.  It is saving part of your work and your value in the world into the hardest asset in world history with a fixed supply at the very beginning of its global adoption.  And any time you sell your Bitcoin for dollars, you have to understand the price of Bitcoin will be much, much higher in the future.  

Not financial advice, just two friends talking.  Everyone needs to do what's right for them.

In today's episode Dan and Greg reflect on the election, the first US election for the podcast and in many ways the first Bitcoin election.   

There were some clear winners and losers.  One winner is quite clearly Bitcoin.  A big loser is the media and its role in manipulating narratives to drive an agenda has never been more obvious.  The media, like the Fiat system in general, is the definition of trusted third parties with their own agendas, their only real incentives are driving outrage to produce more engagement.

Thinking like Bitcoiner helps you cut through the endless noise and see the real signal, whichever side of the political you are on.  

In the end, we cannot state this enough: elections come and go, but Bitcoin is forever.  

OK, the elections are over.  I know a lot of people are elated, a ton of people are in a state of shock and sadness and many other just happy for it to be over.   However you feel about it is completely valid.   Election results are never easy and this one in particular has been particularly polarizing.   The one thing I know for sure is we will move on and we will be OK.

In regards to Bitcoin, the election is incredibly positive.  Today I break down some of the ways the election will impact Bitcoin policy, adoption and price moving forward. 

Not just the presidency, but throughout the administration and Congress, we will have a pro-Bitcoin government for the very first time.

The future for Bitcoin is very, very bright.

In today's show, Trent and Dan put our relentlessly positive spin on the US election.

Spoiler alert: its going to be OK.  The United States, like Bitcoin, is anti-fragile and has faced much, much worse over the years. Bitcoin teaches you to always zoom out and take the long view.  Don't get distracted by the day to day volatility, over the long run it doesn't matter.

In particular, Bitcoin is going to be just fine no matter who wins.  Bitcoin doesn't know nor care who the president is.  There have been 3 US presidential elections in Bitcoin's history, here is the Bitcoin price at each one:

• 2012: Obama (Dem)  BTC: $12
• 2016: Trump (Rep)  BTC: $720
• 2020: Biden (Dem)  BTC: $14,900
• 2024:  ???   BTC: $68,000

Elections come and go, life will go on.  Focus on what what really matters.  

Dan and Greg look at the current Bitcoin halving cycle. 

• Where we are
• Comparison to the previous cycles
• Will they repeat? 
• Learning from cycle mistakes

More than anything, the cycles teach you to take the long view.  Lower your time preference.  Learn from your mistakes.

Your first cycle is your education.  Its your bootcamp.  You will come out the other side so much stronger and smarter about stacking the best asset in world history.  

Not financial advice, just two friends talking Bitcoin.  

Enjoy!

In Part 3, Trent and Dan go even deeper on great ways to stack, including easy ways to stack in the background without ever thinking about it.

1. First, set up your simple DCA.  There are lots of places to buy Bitcoin, we prefer Bitcoin-only services including:

• River
• Swan Bitcoin
• The Fold Card

2.  Start simple and continue to learn about Bitcoin. There is no substitute for time in the market, you will learn and get a lot smarter over time.

3. Consider earning Bitcoin on your cash savings at River.  This is a game-changing new product where you earn Bitcoin interest in your FDIC-insured bank account.

4. Look into the Fold Card and earn free Bitcoin on your everyday purchases.  This could be the biggest no-brainer in all of Bitcoin, you use your Fold Card on everyday purchases and earn free Bitcoin every day.  Fold has a number of other options like round-ups and recurring buys. 

5. Finally, make it a game.  Reduce stupid expenses on unnecessary crap.  Put some of that into Bitcoin.  Reward yourself instead of wasting money.  Its incredibly healthy and rewarding.

Nobody in world history has wished they has less Bitcoin.  
 

Not financial advice just random musings of some middle-aged guys.

Dan and Trent continue their discussion of smart stacking strategies, this time applying to 2 incredibly important metrics:

• Bitcoin 200 Week Moving Average 
• Market Value to Realized Value

You will never be able to perfectly time tops and bottoms.  Nobody can.  But by studying Bitcoin and applying metrics like these 2 above, you can get much, much better at knowing when to DCA into Bitcoin and when to DCA into cash and wait for better times to buy.  

Not financial advice, just ways to think about Bitcoin accumulation.

In today's show, Trent and Dan get into one of the most important ideas in Bitcoin: dollar cost averaging (DCA).  

How to effectively grow your Bitcoin stack over time.  

We get into simple and more advanced strategies and issues around them.

DCA is the way.

Well as if this year couldn't get more bananas, we have the US presidential election entering its final phase.  

Dan and Greg break it all down on part 4 of their Holy F*ing Crap series:

• Recent price action and current sentiment in the Bitcoin market
• What impact will the US presidential election have on Bitcoin?  Will it even matter long term?
• Recent election news and insights 
• Where do we go from here

If politics isn't your thing you may want to sit this one out.  If you can handle it, buckle up.  

Finally, the band back together - for the first time!  A three-way pod exactly a year in the making.   

Dan, Greg and Trent celebrate one year of One Way Ratchet.

• What have we learned
• Life lessons of doing a podcast
• What has worked, where can we improve
• Where do we go from here looking ahead to year two and beyond

You don't want to miss this one.