I have been an investor in Bitcoin for almost 13 years. It changed my life, my views on money and society, and on how I invest. But in the past year I sold almost all my BTC and I do not plan to hold any self-custodied crypto in the future anymore. This is not a rage-quit like some OGs have done in the past, but a practical move. I know I will likely get some criticism because of writing this, but it’s something I have thought long and hard about, and something I have finalised already.
With regards to this being a practical move, a large part of the proceeds actually went straight back into Bitcoin exposure through spot ETFs such as IBIT. The logic is simple: I can borrow against ETF shares easily and at better terms with my current, mostly non-EU, brokers. For me moving into IBIT has been cheaper and more straightforward than borrowing against self-custodied BTC. Yes, more banks now offer crypto-backed loans, I have talked to some of them and also used it with a Swiss bank. But in practice the rates, LTVs, operational friction and reporting still favor something like IBIT in my setup. I hate paperwork and I like clean statements, ETFs make that part easy.
The other reason is diversification. For more than a decade I was almost all-in on Bitcoin or Bitcoin related products. That worked really well, but it also boxed me in. The world is changing fast and I want a broader portfolio that can benefit from what I call ‘AI eating everything’.
So I shifted more into public equity. I wrote a bit about this in the summer of 2024 already, when I took a position in Tesla (the Tesla share price has roughly doubled since I wrote the post). I am still a huge believer in Tesla and it is now my biggest public equity position. But just having Tesla and IBIT is not enough diversification for me anymore, so I also started buying Google this year. Not just for their AI strategy (in my opinion they became the new leader of AI this year), but also because I want some exposure to Quantum Computing. Google is much further with QC than the general public realises. I am also invested in 2 nuclear fusion companies (both held privately), because I believe that fusion may change the future of energy and may help to mitigate climate change. Next to that I am invested in some Bitcoin and Ethereum Treasury Companies, leading ones that I believe will outperform their underlying assets (both private and public entities). This is not a complicated strategy, it is simply concentrated exposure to the platforms I think will matter most in the 2030s.
A third change is what I do with some of the gains. I started giving back more through charity. I prefer to do this quietly, either anonymously or through a company, so I will not go into detail here. I want to do more of this over the next couple of years, especially in education projects and in places where I spend a lot of my time. I will likely not talk about it much publicly, and please do not approach me with projects.
As I have said here before, I believe we are heading for a very difficult time, with most people losing their jobs because of AI over the next decade. AI is great for investors, but horrible for people making money from their labour. It’s not something we can stop, we are past the point of no return.
As much as I love AI, I also believe that we created a monster. A monster that we can’t control anymore. Governments won’t be able to help you if you lose your job or income, because their tax base will start to evaporate labour income goes down. Maybe the time of big governments ruling the world is over soon, but that’s a topic for another time. Whether that will happen or not, I think we may have to go back to a situation where the wealthy will have to give back to society in order to save it.
Am I still a Bitcoin believer? Absolutely. It will likely outperform almost any investment over the next 10-15 years. But the world around Bitcoin has changed: BTC is no longer just an outsider asset, it is now part of the financial system. You may not like that, but just like with AI you can’t stop it, so I adapt to it. To me that means keeping exposure to Bitcoin, using the rails and tooling that exist, and redeploying capital into areas with asymmetric upside outside of Bitcoin. It also means thinking more about impact than about pure maximalism.
As always, this is not investment advice, it is simply how I am positioning after 13 years in Bitcoin. I know I am not the only one. I know several of my ‘early-BTC’ friends have done similar things over the past 2 years since the BTC ETFs came out, switching to IBIT but also diversifying to other asset classes.