The Good Bitcoiner: A Checklist for Lowering Your Time Preference

For the last two years, I've had the privilege of visiting and working with Bitcoin communities across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Through my work at Satlantis, where we've helped host more than 1,500 Bitcoin events, I've spent countless hours talking with community leaders, entrepreneurs, sovereign individuals, developers, plebs, families and retirees. I've also had the opportunity to help grow one of the most active Bitcoin communities in Europe: Barcelona.

Along the way, I noticed something interesting.

The best Bitcoiners weren't necessarily the richest.

They weren't the most technical.

They weren't even the earliest adopters.

What they had in common was something else:

A low time preference.

Bitcoin starts by fixing your relationship with money.

But it rarely ends there.

Once you understand Bitcoin, you start questioning every other area of your life where you've been optimizing for the short term.

That's when I came up with the idea of The Good Bitcoiner.

Not as a rigid set of rules.

Not as a purity test.

But as a direction of travel.

A checklist of habits that move us toward a lower time preference and a better life.

You don't have to master all of them.

You just need to be moving in the right direction.

1. Stack First

The journey begins here.

Before Bitcoin, most of us lived in a world that rewarded consumption over saving.

Bitcoin flips the incentive structure.

When your money appreciates instead of depreciates, patience becomes rational.

You stop asking, "What can I buy today?"

And start asking, "What future can I build tomorrow?"

2. Play the Long Game

Most people think in weekends.

Governments think in election cycles.

Corporations think in quarters.

Bitcoiners learn to think in decades.

The future belongs to those who can delay gratification longer than everyone else.

Every meaningful achievement in life compounds.

• Health
• Knowledge
• Relationships
• Business
• Community

Bitcoin simply trains you to recognize that.

3. Build a Strong Body

Most people treat their body like a rental car.

Bitcoiners eventually realize it's their most important asset.

You can self-custody your sats.

You can secure your keys.

You can build wealth for decades.

But none of it matters if your health collapses along the way.

One thing I've noticed while traveling through Bitcoin communities around the world is that many Bitcoiners naturally drift toward healthier habits. They start exercising. They spend more time outdoors. They become more intentional about what they eat.

Maybe it's because Bitcoin teaches delayed gratification.

Maybe it's because once you stop thinking in quarters and start thinking in decades, your body becomes part of the equation.

As I like to say:

"My body is a temple."

And temples don't pay taxes 😉

A low time preference lifestyle means respecting your body enough not to poison it.

Smoking offers pleasure today and problems tomorrow.

Alcohol borrows happiness from the future.

Other drugs promise escape while stealing your energy, discipline and clarity.

The Good Bitcoiner understands that every decision compounds.

• Lift weights
• Find your sport and master it
• Touch grass
• Get sunlight
• Sleep well

Protect your health as carefully as you protect your seed phrase.

4. Eat Like You Give a Damn

A low time preference diet looks surprisingly similar to a low time preference investment strategy.

• Simple
• Unprocessed
• Boring
• Effective

Many Bitcoiners eventually gravitate toward meat, eggs, fruit and whole foods because they realize health compounds just like savings do.

Every meal is a vote for the person you'll become ten years from now.

5. Invest in Your Tribe

Bitcoin is often described as an individual journey.

In reality, it becomes meaningful through community.

• Family
• Friends
• Partners
• Local meetups

Strong human connections are one of the highest-return investments available.

The people around you shape your future more than any market ever will.

6. Stay Curious

Bitcoin humbles everyone.

No matter how much you know, there's always another rabbit hole.

• Economics
• History
• Energy
• Psychology
• Philosophy
• Technology

The Good Bitcoiner remains a student forever.

Curiosity is one of the few assets that appreciates with age.

7. Create More Than You Consume

Modern society turns people into consumers.

Bitcoin encourages production.

• Write
• Build
• Teach
• Organize
• Create businesses
• Create communities
• Create value

The world improves when more people move from consuming to producing.

8. Own Your Life

Self-custody is just the beginning.

The deeper lesson is responsibility.

The Good Bitcoiner seeks sovereignty in many areas of life:

• Money
• Communication
• Education
• Food
• Work
• Community

Not because independence is easy.

Because dependence is expensive.

The goal isn't isolation.

The goal is optionality.

9. Strengthen Your Local Network

Every strong Bitcoin community started with one person willing to organize the first meetup.

Communities don't magically appear.

They are built.

Patiently.

One conversation at a time.

One event at a time.

One newcomer at a time.

A Good Bitcoiner leaves their local community stronger than they found it.

10. Build for Future Generations

This may be the most important principle of all.

Bitcoin itself is an act of civilization.

Satoshi planted a tree.

Millions now enjoy its shade.

The Good Bitcoiner thinks beyond personal gain.

They invest in children.

In education.

In communities.

In institutions.

In ideas that may take decades to bear fruit.

Because lowering your time preference isn't about becoming wealthy.

It's about becoming the kind of person who can build a future worth inheriting.

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Bonus Principles

A few more habits I've repeatedly seen among the Bitcoiners I admire:

Touch Grass

Spend time in nature.

The real world is still more important than the digital one.

Read Books, Not Headlines

Books reward depth.

Headlines reward outrage.

Choose accordingly.

Learn Useful Skills

The more capable you become, the more resilient you become.

Keep Your Word

Reputation compounds.

Trust compounds.

Integrity compounds.

Choose Truth Over Comfort

Reality doesn't care about our feelings.

The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can improve it.

Take Responsibility

Victims wait.

Builders act.

Stay Humble

Bitcoin has humbled everyone eventually.

The market doesn't care about your ego.

Avoid Bad Debt

Future freedom is worth more than present consumption.

Protect Your Time

Sats can be earned back.

Time cannot.

Think Like an Owner

Take ownership of your decisions.

Take ownership of your mistakes.

Take ownership of your future.

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Nobody earns a perfect score.

The point isn't perfection.

The point is direction.

Bitcoin doesn't magically make people better.

But it gives people a reason to start thinking long term.

And when enough people start lowering their time preference, families improve.

Communities improve.

Civilizations improve.

Maybe that's what "Fix the money, fix the world" really means. 🤔