How do you feel about borrowing against your bitcoin? I’ve avoided it, not out of ignorance, but out of respect for the one thing I refuse to lose: my stack. The idea of watching it evaporate in a liquidation or getting rugged has always felt like the darkest timeline. The more I study it, the more the logic shifts. As a bitcoiner, a bitcoin backed loan makes more philosophical and financial sense than chasing some fiat lender’s approval. Still, if I can’t responsibly borrow against my stack to buy whatever I’ve got my eyes on, that might be the signal, not to overreach, but to stack harder and lower my time preference until I can. That discipline is probably better for my character than the purchase itself. The truth is: the longer I wait, the better the terms will likely become. Bitcoin hardens, markets mature, and the rates offered to strong hands will dwarf what a bank would give me today. There’s risk, of course. I’d never use a loan as leverage to stack more corn: that’s how people get chewed up…but as a tool? Used sparingly? For the rare opportunity that would be lost without it, or to bridge a gap in living standards without cannibalizing my stack? That starts to feel realistic. I don’t ever want to sell my corn when I could borrow against it at a cheaper cost than any fiat loan. In the right hands, bitcoin lets you stack your sats and, slowly, carefully, eat from the tree you planted without chopping it down. image

Replies (10)

Just like stacking sats, you need to stay humble when using your sats as collateral. Everyone has their own risk profile. But over leveraging never ends well. You need to have enough in reserve to keep the LTV reasonable if the price begins to fall.
Great point! I think best practice would be to borrow no more than 20-25% of your stack and put no more than 40-50% of your stack as collateral, if you can’t do it like that you probably need a bigger stack instead of a bigger loan!
Brian D. 's avatar
Brian D. 2 weeks ago
Really look forward to mailbag Mondays. Thank you Jack.