ETF

GrowingPainsIsGains

I look at the Debt to GDP ratio of major countries. The rapid erasure of jobs due to AI. And I DCA in everything related to AI. Stocks in AI. ETF’s with semi conductor. And guess what top preferred currency for AI was? Bitcoin. I highly recommend owning assets or a stake that produces wealth that scales with AI. Or be in a job that touches AI. No single moment in history has this scale of revolutionary leap that we have automation that can “think” for us.

ResponsibilitySad583

The 10% spike in September was due to ETF inflows driven by quarter-end rebalancing. Aside from the ETFs, retail buying was very minimal. There is no major movement in either direction.

DullTeaching3093

Not much else it can do right now with all this uncertainty floating around. The fact price didnt crash below 80K is something I guess but saying it held up feels like giving too much credit. ETF flows been weird lately and whole market just waiting for something to happen I think we gonna see more sideways movement before any real direction maybe couple weeks of boring candles. My portfolio is just sitting there doing nothing so I stopped checking it everyday

Romanizer

Turning the wheel on ETF shares appears to be very profitable. At least for BlackRock. Doesn't have the risk of liquidation and you can earn some fees on top of your holdings.

Savings-Leading4618

I mean, it's not bad advice. If you don't want to sell, why not consider moving your Bitcoin to a reputable exchange? I know this might be unpopular in Bitcoin circles, but I genuinely believe your heirs have a better chance of actually inheriting your Bitcoin if it's held on a reputable CEX or through an ETF than if you leave them some complicated multisig inheritance setup that they could easily screw up. And that's just one of the risks. How was your seed phrase generated? Hardware wallet? Software? What if a vulnerability is discovered years down the line, or the seed was generated using compromised or insufficient entropy? Imagine your children finally figuring out how to access your wallet, only to discover it's been drained. Then there's quantum computing. What happens if Bitcoin eventually needs a hard fork to become quantum-resistant, but you're seriously ill or otherwise unable to migrate your coins? Could your heirs end up inheriting coins that are vulnerable or potentially unspendable? And these are just a few examples. The list goes on. Of course, exchanges and ETFs come with their own risks. I'm not pretending otherwise. But after everything that's happened this year, I genuinely struggle to recommend self-custody to newcomers, especially when we're talking about inheritance. The whole point of leaving Bitcoin to your children is making sure they actually receive it, not leaving them a cryptographic puzzle they might fail to solve. At some point, we need to acknowledge that eliminating counterparty risk isn't necessarily worth introducing a whole new set of risks that ordinary people, let alone their heirs, may not be equipped to manage.

BergeracSuce

His premise is that bitcoin will not be a monetary standard. If you have to own it through ETF, then he's right lol.

Jarjabings

Ah bon laquelle ? Puisqu'elle peut sortir des ETF bitcoin spot à l'infini qui peuvent s'acheter ou se vendre en quelques secondes ( si fait par un humain ) ? Et il n'y a pas d'obligation pour les fonds ETF d'avoir un ratio 1:1. Même problème qu'avec l'or physique vs ETF

securityguardnard

# Bitcoin analysis as of Oct 18, 2026 Bitcoin is trading at about **$81,700**, roughly 35% below its all-time high of about $126,000 (Oct 6, 2025). |Window|Start price|Change to today|High|Low| |:-|:-|:-|:-|:-| |Since inception (Oct 2009)|\~$0.001\*|\~+8.2 billion %|\~$126,000|\~$0| |10 years (Oct 2016)|\~$640\*|\~+12,700% (\~62%/yr)|\~$126,000|\~$600\*| |5 years (Oct 2021)|\~$61,500\*|\~+33% (\~6%/yr)|\~$126,000|\~$15,500\*| |1 year (Oct 2025)|\~$108,000|**-24.5%**|\~$110,000\*|\~$57,800| |6 months (Apr 2026)|\~$75,500\*|**+8%**|\~$87,250|\~$57,800| |3 months (Jul 18)|\~$64,800|**+26%**|\~$87,250|\~$62,800| |1 month (Sep 18)|\~$80,000\*|**\~+2%**|\~$87,250|\~$80,300| |1 week (Oct 11)|\~$83,000|**-1.6%**|\~$84,100|\~$80,700| |Today|\~$81,400|**\~+0.2%**|\~$81,960|\~$80,655| \*Estimate or from my own memory rather than a source I checked today. See the caveats at the end. # What drove each window * **Since inception:** Bitcoin went from a tenth of a cent to six figures. The big steps were the 2011, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025 cycle peaks, each followed by a crash of 50% to 93%. Spot ETFs were approved in 2024. * **10 years:** This window includes most of the early-cycle gains. The growth rate has faded as the asset has grown. * **5 years:** You’d be up about 33%, or roughly 6% a year, even though the price is far above the 2021 low. The 2021 peak (\~$69k) was followed by a 2022 crash and then the 2025 high. * **1 year:** The decline reflects the post-peak correction. A Feb 2026 selloff took the price to about $63,000, with drivers cited including the U.S.–Iran crisis and money rotating from Bitcoin ETFs into AI stocks. The low came in June at about $57,800, when the price fell about 18% in the month and the Fear & Greed Index hit “Extreme Fear” (15). * **6 months:** The price rose from about $75,000 to a peak near $83,000 in May. It then dropped to the June low and recovered sharply. * **3 months:** This is the rebound. August gained about 25% and September about 8%, and sentiment moved from fear toward greed. * **1 month:** September’s rally topped out around $86,600 on Sep 21, after the Fed raised rates to 3.75–4.00% on Sep 16, and the price has chopped sideways since. Headwinds include August CPI at 3.4%, Brent crude near $103, and the failed CLARITY Act Senate vote. * **1 week:** The price slipped about 3% in the first part of the week. A weak September jobs report (+29k) briefly lifted it, but spot ETFs saw about $681 million in net outflows over Oct 5–9, and about $1 billion in profit-taking was reported around Oct 8. * **Today:** Very thin weekend trading, with about 657 BTC of volume on Kraken. Nothing is moving the price until US ETF flow data and futures markets reopen Monday. Upcoming catalysts are the FOMC decision on Oct 28 and Deribit options expiry on Oct 30. # Summary The longer trend is still strongly up, but returns have been shrinking cycle after cycle. The 1-year picture is negative because the price is still recovering from the October 2025 peak. Over the past 3 to 6 months it has rebounded about 26% from the summer lows and is now stuck in a range of roughly $80,000 to $87,000. Short-term direction depends on the Fed, inflation and oil, and ETF flows. Some analysts say Bitcoin has exited its bear market, citing a move back above its 365-day moving average. Others point out that the all-time high is still far away, and none of this is a forecast. This is analysis, not financial advice.

Lost-Do73

It’s more inportant where you keep your Bitcoin. Al the IOY bitcoin wil be gone because it is stolen from exchanges and from the ETF’s So only decent selfcustody will let you keep your Bitcoin. Your saved selfcustody Bitcoin will bring you wealth long term. But since $ are a digital ponzi sceme …. Nobody can pay with card. Cash is run out….. after 3 months without elektricity the debt is reset and the economy is back to 200 years before.

Practical-Smoke-9337

not your keys not your coins, that’s the whole thing ETF is just a paper promise, if the exchange get hacked or govt decide to freeze assets you got nothing. with self custody you actually own it, nobody can take it away but yeah for most people the convenience is worth the risk, just don’t be surprised if one day you can’t access your funds

Doctor_Fritz

Before that pump in BTC, Trump posted on his truth social shit that it was time to buy all the crypto. Shortly after there was an announcement of bond buybacks which pushed crypto up as well. It was the culmination of a ton of fomo after the trump post and a short squeeze all rolled into one. The price movement here is not systemic. The push up triggered more fomo from ETF buyers, puching the price a little higher. But then look at the current climate. Interest rates and inflation are soaring, making highly volatile tech holdings less interesting in favor of bonds. Yet, still crypto soared like this? It doesn't make sense. The S&P500 reached ATH at the behest of a handful of megacaps all tied to a circular self financing scheme leaning on AI infrastructure buildouts. The rest of the stocks on the US market are down 20% or so on average. Pumptober created an uptick for a bit but it seems to me that whales are now looking to unload their pumped up crypto onto unsuspecting bag holders after a few months of (relatively) sideways movement. I think it'll dump after the elections beginning November. this is my own opinion, not financial advice.

ItsPickles

People in bonds aren’t going to bitcoin. They will go to SPY or some dividend ETF

DeFiBandit

Pauline and Jacob would be in the ETF and have never heard of Binance. Thankfully scams don’t ever occur outside of crypto, right?

TheresNoSecondBest

Congrats on the move, it's never too late, [despite new people thinking otherwise](https://old.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/rskpuf/i_have_only_600_bitcoinsi_missed_the_bus/). ONLY INVEST MONEY YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE. Invest in your knowledge, learn about Bitcoin as much as you can. The Bitcoin Standard book is a must read. So is Broken Money by Lyn Alden. Also, **don't reply any DMs**, emails, private messages on other social media, promising to buy Bitcoin from them or get rich quick by investing into some website. They all are scammers. Even the hot Asian chick, he's a scammer too. **Price wise, nobody knows what the price will be tomorrow, next week or at the end of the year.** **Try "Bitcoin ONLY" strategy for at least the first 210,000 block cycle**, you'll sleep much better. Newcomers lose so much money, holding tokens just because someone on YT told them to. If you don't like losing money in [failed coins](https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/how-many-cryptocurrencies-failed), avoid. DCA is probably the best approach. Once a week works best for me, but I'm getting paid weekly. This [DCA calculator](https://21vox.com/dca-calculator) might help to decide what will work best for you. In a few years, even $10 dollars a month can make a massive difference. This [DCA blog](https://er-bybitcoin.com/) is pretty interesting too and compares buying bitcoin VS stocks. Now, don't buy some fake bitcoin at a spot ETF place or similar, **get the real thing** that you can withdraw anytime you want. Register at a proper exchange and buy real Bitcoin. Any of these will do [https://bitcoin-only.com/get-bitcoin](https://bitcoin-only.com/get-bitcoin) Install (or buy - in case you're getting Bitcoin in Thousands of $) one or more of these wallets. **Good wallet choices:** [https://blockstream.com/app/](https://blockstream.com/app/) \- Top Security Features, Open Source and Non-Custodial [https://bluewallet.io](https://bluewallet.io/) \- excellent, easy to use wallet, Open Source and Non-Custodial [https://www.sparrowwallet.com](https://www.sparrowwallet.com) - top desktop wallet [https://electrum.org](https://electrum.org/) \- Solid choice, Open Source and Non-Custodial, one of the oldest and most trusted Bitcoin Wallets. I prefer the desktop version but it works on mobile too. **Lightning wallets** to consider (cheaper and faster transactions, great for small amounts): [https://phoenix.acinq.co/](https://phoenix.acinq.co/) \- Phoenix - very good wallet, uses Tor for extra privacy, easy for anyone new [https://blixtwallet.github.io/](https://blixtwallet.github.io/) \- Blixt - great UI, fast and clean. The app runs a full LND node on your phone and you have the ability to easily open channels to whatever nodes you like. [https://zeusln.com/](https://zeusln.com/) Zeus - impressive wallet with many features, can even generate Nostr keys There are also custodial LN wallet but I would honestly avoid using them because you have to trust the wallet operator not to steal your money. Their only advantage is that they are incredibly easy to use, although it might cost you big one day. To keep up to date with spending wallets, visit r/TheLightningNetwork at least once a while and perhaps r/RGB in the future. **Hardware Wallets** (to store larger amounts): [Trezor](https://trezor.io/) \- Easy to use, no matter how new in Bitcoin you're. If you can afford it, opt for Safe 7 (**air-gapped**) and use the Bitcoin only firmware as it's safer than a multi coin software. [BitBox02](https://bitbox.swiss/bitbox02/bitcoin-only/) - another great little device, opt for the more secure Bitcoin ONLY version (less coins = less code = less chance for a hidden bug or a backdoor). Sadly, this device is **not air-gapped**. [Jade](https://blockstream.com/jade) - air gapped, fully open source, Bitcoin only, great features. There's a newer version called Jade Plus, it has much better camera and overall is a better build. I would go stateless instead of using their servers. You can even [build it on your own](https://github.com/Blockstream/jade/), if you feel adventurous. [Seedsigner](https://github.com/SeedSigner/seedsigner) - another DIY, fully open source, air gapped, Bitcoin only hardware wallet, not for you if you're just starting up but something to consider later. [Krux wallet](https://selfcustody.github.io/krux/) - one more DIY hardware device, I love this one for many reasons. Similar to Seedsigner, it's fully open source, air gapped, Bitcoin only hardware wallet, that is not for you right now if you're just starting up, but something to consider at a later stage and/or to up the security of your bitcoin. There's also Ledger, but I wouldn't recommend it as it's not fully open source, keep and already leaked customers' details, recently said they're capable of sending customers' keys out just with a firmware update, making is an expensive hot wallet. The opposite of what you want from a cold wallet. **Stay away**, save yourself a headache in the future. The same goes for many other hardware wallets that are too new or filled with too much of unnecessary shitcoin code. Stay away. There's also ColdCard, great features but recently had a massive duckup, I would wait until all of their code is fully open source, preferably rewritten by the community before touching it. Whatever wallet you'll decide to buy, purchase DIRECTLY from the manufacturer, no eBay, no Amazon. Make sure the device is NOT preset, and you will generate your own seed words. Write them down on any piece of paper as well as the receiving address. Now wipe the wallet and generate a new wallet. If the seed words are different from the first set, you're safe to use it. Find an option to set a passphrase and use it. This will boost the security to another level. Never store the seed words and passphrase together. Use a different medium if possible. If somebody finds both, they'll be able to steal your coin. This little device will hold the keys to your money, that's the reason why you have to be a bit more careful. Also, no worries, if it breaks, you can replace it - as long as you keep your seed words and passphrase(s) safe. Welcome to the rabbit hole and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions anytime during your Bitcoin journey. Also, [check the sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/about) that's filled with lots of great info and if you have any questions, visit r/BitcoinBeginners or r/Bitcoin and look for the answers.

Few-Sky-976

I'd put the $25K in a brokerage account (Schwab, Fidelity, WeBull, Robinhood) and buy the corresponding ETF for either ETH or Solana. Or both. The ETF tickers are: ETHA, GSOL. Wait a day or two as the market is headed down this week. The advantage of buying ETFs is no crypto tax reporting, no wallet security issues, no transfer losses, etc. As the ETFs are 1:1, it's so much easier. Cons: no staking options, or SOL rewards, but also you dont need crypto tax software to track the pesky rewards.

colemusic1

i wouldn’t exactly agree it has “all” the fundamental properties to hedge against inflation. Whether we see it this way or not, it is considered a risk asset. that doesn’t mean it’s risky per se, it means it’s a volatile asset that can have big swings. it’s not a broad index ETF where volatility is low, such that it moves at a slow yet steady pace upwards. With that said, it’s always worth an investment into it if you’re looking for a growth asset and are completely okay with accepting volatility and potentially large swings downwards, as well as upwards

fittes7

When u buy ETF you buy IOU, if u do not know what is it google it rather than act smart on the comments You buy a paper that says that somewhere over there someone has BTC 1:1 to this paper, and no one owes you anything incase something happens So you dont buy a bitcoin, you buy a paper that follows BTC price, so this is what I call rented. I own ETFs too

VettaQ

The version of this question that actually works is writing the invalidation down before you need it, with thresholds and a review date. Two separate lists help: position-level invalidation (a weekly close below a level you name in advance) and thesis-level invalidation (the one or two variables your reason for holding actually depends on - ETF flow regime, monetary conditions, an adoption metric - and what 'wrong' looks like in numbers). Without that, every new piece of evidence gets reinterpreted to fit the position you already have, which is the loop you described in your first sentence. On waiting for everything to agree: confirmation has a price. The cost of being early versus late is asymmetric and depends on horizon - a 200-day cross matters for a months-scale position, but on a multi-year horizon price structure is mostly noise and the thesis variables carry the signal. Fewer pre-committed triggers beat a dashboard of maybes.

Good-Mongoose-7129

Holding all your crypto in etf kinda defeats the purpose of having crypto from the get go. You need something outside of monetary system. ETF is convenient way if you want crypto in your 401k or IRA, but I wouldn’t hold all of your crypto in etf

Scared-Permit2587

ETF. Don't have to worry about partner throwing away a cold storage device.

SomewhereAny8427

ETF, for me Semiconductors displays good progress. or just conservative SnP

TheresNoSecondBest

Congrats on the move, it's never too late, [despite new people thinking otherwise](https://old.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/rskpuf/i_have_only_600_bitcoinsi_missed_the_bus/). ONLY INVEST MONEY YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE. Invest in your knowledge, learn about Bitcoin as much as you can. The Bitcoin Standard book is a must read. So is Broken Money by Lyn Alden. Also, **don't reply any DMs**, emails, private messages on other social media, promising to buy Bitcoin from them or get rich quick by investing into some website. They all are scammers. Even the hot Asian chick, he's a scammer too. **Price wise, nobody knows what the price will be tomorrow, next week or at the end of the year.** **Try "Bitcoin ONLY" strategy for at least the first 210,000 block cycle**, you'll sleep much better. Newcomers lose so much money, holding tokens just because someone on YT told them to. If you don't like losing money in [failed coins](https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/how-many-cryptocurrencies-failed), avoid. DCA is probably the best approach. Once a week works best for me, but I'm getting paid weekly. This [DCA calculator](https://21vox.com/dca-calculator) might help to decide what will work best for you. In a few years, even $10 dollars a month can make a massive difference. This [DCA blog](https://er-bybitcoin.com/) is pretty interesting too and compares buying bitcoin VS stocks. Now, don't buy some fake bitcoin at a spot ETF place or similar, **get the real thing** that you can withdraw anytime you want. Register at a proper exchange and buy real Bitcoin. Any of these will do [https://bitcoin-only.com/get-bitcoin](https://bitcoin-only.com/get-bitcoin) Install (or buy - in case you're getting Bitcoin in Thousands of $) one or more of these wallets. **Good wallet choices:** [https://blockstream.com/app/](https://blockstream.com/app/) \- Top Security Features, Open Source and Non-Custodial [https://bluewallet.io](https://bluewallet.io/) \- excellent, easy to use wallet, Open Source and Non-Custodial [https://www.sparrowwallet.com](https://www.sparrowwallet.com) - top desktop wallet [https://electrum.org](https://electrum.org/) \- Solid choice, Open Source and Non-Custodial, one of the oldest and most trusted Bitcoin Wallets. I prefer the desktop version but it works on mobile too. **Lightning wallets** to consider (cheaper and faster transactions, great for small amounts): [https://phoenix.acinq.co/](https://phoenix.acinq.co/) \- Phoenix - very good wallet, uses Tor for extra privacy, easy for anyone new [https://blixtwallet.github.io/](https://blixtwallet.github.io/) \- Blixt - great UI, fast and clean. The app runs a full LND node on your phone and you have the ability to easily open channels to whatever nodes you like. [https://zeusln.com/](https://zeusln.com/) Zeus - impressive wallet with many features, can even generate Nostr keys There are also custodial LN wallet but I would honestly avoid using them because you have to trust the wallet operator not to steal your money. Their only advantage is that they are incredibly easy to use, although it might cost you big one day. To keep up to date with spending wallets, visit r/TheLightningNetwork at least once a while and perhaps r/RGB in the future. **Hardware Wallets** (to store larger amounts): [Trezor](https://trezor.io/) \- Easy to use, no matter how new in Bitcoin you're. If you can afford it, opt for Safe 7 (**air-gapped**) and use the Bitcoin only firmware as it's safer than a multi coin software. [BitBox02](https://bitbox.swiss/bitbox02/bitcoin-only/) - another great little device, opt for the more secure Bitcoin ONLY version (less coins = less code = less chance for a hidden bug or a backdoor). Sadly, this device is **not air-gapped**. [Jade](https://blockstream.com/jade) - air gapped, fully open source, Bitcoin only, great features. There's a newer version called Jade Plus, it has much better camera and overall is a better build. I would go stateless instead of using their servers. You can even [build it on your own](https://github.com/Blockstream/jade/), if you feel adventurous. [Seedsigner](https://github.com/SeedSigner/seedsigner) - another DIY, fully open source, air gapped, Bitcoin only hardware wallet, not for you if you're just starting up but something to consider later. [Krux wallet](https://selfcustody.github.io/krux/) - one more DIY hardware device, I love this one for many reasons. Similar to Seedsigner, it's fully open source, air gapped, Bitcoin only hardware wallet, that is not for you right now if you're just starting up, but something to consider at a later stage and/or to up the security of your bitcoin. There's also Ledger, but I wouldn't recommend it as it's not fully open source, keep and already leaked customers' details, recently said they're capable of sending customers' keys out just with a firmware update, making is an expensive hot wallet. The opposite of what you want from a cold wallet. **Stay away**, save yourself a headache in the future. The same goes for many other hardware wallets that are too new or filled with too much of unnecessary shitcoin code. Stay away. There's also ColdCard, great features but recently had a massive duckup, I would wait until all of their code is fully open source, preferably rewritten by the community before touching it. Whatever wallet you'll decide to buy, purchase DIRECTLY from the manufacturer, no eBay, no Amazon. Make sure the device is NOT preset, and you will generate your own seed words. Write them down on any piece of paper as well as the receiving address. Now wipe the wallet and generate a new wallet. If the seed words are different from the first set, you're safe to use it. Find an option to set a passphrase and use it. This will boost the security to another level. Never store the seed words and passphrase together. Use a different medium if possible. If somebody finds both, they'll be able to steal your coin. This little device will hold the keys to your money, that's the reason why you have to be a bit more careful. Also, no worries, if it breaks, you can replace it - as long as you keep your seed words and passphrase(s) safe. Welcome to the rabbit hole and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions anytime during your Bitcoin journey. Also, [check the sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/about) that's filled with lots of great info and if you have any questions, visit r/BitcoinBeginners or r/Bitcoin and look for the answers.

mercuryy

You need to look at two things. Stablecoins are what's being adopted by finance, not blockchains per se. Blockchains exist since 18 years now, and they never had utility by themselves compared to other architectures, like databases. Financial institutions are centralised, they dont need any of the distributed features. Nothing blockchains are offering them is better, faster, cheaper, easier or more resillient than the systems they already have. They know all their business partners and dont need controllless consensus. Visa and MasterCard, as the most prominent example from recent history, created their own stablecoin. Their interest is in the coins for internal settlement, the focus of utility is absolutely not a blockchain behind it. The features that are being sought, the utility for them is that coin, not a chain. Thats an important difference. The other thing, we always see mostly two ways to profit from any adoption being touted. Either buying some token early hoping it takes off, or investing into infrastructure, whatever that means im the particular cases. There are players/coins like xrp and hype that are sitting on billions of their own supply selling those with just these promises. Not much different from most other heavily premined coins on pump dot fun tbh, but thats not the point. Hoping a coin might be adopted and be that scarce that anyone that bought it earlier will get rich is just short sighted. Because anyone looking to use a coin can see that plan from a mile away too. And thats nothing anyone looking for adoption is interested in. Imagine those little RFID tags on T-Shirts or food containers would suddenly cost spike from the usual cents to dozens or even hundreds of dollars. Would you actually expect any manufacturer to suddenly pay these prices, or just source another supplier, or even produce those things themselves? Before anything even comes near such a supply chain, such eventualities are handled in advance. Thats why, by definition, any coins or tokens that have any chances of being adopted will never suddenly "go to the moon". And there is nothing stopping anyone from creating their very own and personal coin and chain themselves. Ripple was neither big or special for creating their coins, any institution can and will do the same inside a work week if they want or need to. Which brings us to the other point, investing into infrastructure. There is no way any institution would be willing to give away any control over their infrastructure. Alone from being even legally or regulatory not allowed to. They could contract with ripple in that example, or anyone else, but as part of their due dilligence they will absolutely make sure that costs are fixed and the supply is stable. Therefore there is no chance as an outsider to profit from any infrastructure investments other than through the companies facilitating this. Because having control over your infrastructure is paramount in legal and regulatory environments, there can never be a public chain integrated here. No institution is going to underwrite the risk that, for example, the LOLcoin2 they adopted had sadly suffered a 51% attack that did a lot of damage they cant even repair because they dont control their own balances anymore. As i see it , the only way to profit from this is through the institutions and companies that take fees from all the gamblers that just blindly follow hypes. The ones running exchanges for the time being, and the ETF providers. Those are the only ones with a statistically fathomable chance of turning profits from all the trading.

PowerappsDev

I moved everything into a FTSE All-World ETF, spreading my money across over 3,000 companies worldwide. Crypto just feels too unpredictable for me these days, especially with a wife and kids. The ETF has a long history of growth despite occasional downturns, and it's had a strong year so far. I know there are risks too, but I'm investing for decades, not months. It simply fits my risk tolerance much better and lets me sleep better at night.

tekmiester

Ok, fair. First result means first "real" result. I couldn't imagine clicking on an ad if I was looking for research and opinions on something. I also couldn't imagine randomly investing in an ETF not through an existing brokerage platform. I guess some people interested in Bitcoin though aren't traditional investors and don't have the background. What you are saying is it's a standard investment scam and they just use Bitcoin as their entry point. They could be selling anything and operate the same scam.

daguito81

Let me preface by thanking you for the response and the effort. I’ve read some of these and they are really helpful and someone will be better off after reading your post But you’re kind of missing the point that me and many are making in this thread. If you need to read 3 books to kind to figure out how to safely use bitcoin. Then bitcoin will never be a mainstream cash alternative. Because it won’t be safe for the layman. I’m talking about the vast majority of people, not us technical people. The question was rhetorical in “what’s the manual” There isn’t. And if the solution is to go ETF then just get any security. If it has value because you want to invest and speculate that’s awesome. I sued Netscape navigator as well. I don’t agree with the “feeling”. I don’t remember people scamming left and right and rug pulls and such with the early days of the internet (at least as widespread) but maybe that was just me.

velospeed

You can borrow against your BTC. Can you borrow against your ETF shares?

__redruM

Yes, ETF funds. Maybe QQQ, or grab the SMH dip. Certainly start stacking VOO otherwise.

zomerbk

I’d separate flow from price impact: watch cumulative spot CVD or exchange net flows alongside ETF creations/redemptions, then see whether price holds without open interest and funding rebuilding. ETF flows alone miss buyers outside ETFs, and exchange-flow data is noisy, so no single metric settles it.

Downtown_Mode7405

Never invest what you can’t lose. You could also diversify. Half in a boring ETF. The other in BTC.

Tobias_CBC

Lower volatility can reduce short-term speculation, but it can also make Bitcoin easier for larger, longer-horizon investors to hold. The useful distinction is whether liquidity is leaving entirely or simply shifting from leveraged trading toward spot ownership. Which measure would change your view most: trading volume, long-term holders, or ETF flows?

BozEx_12

Yeah, exactly. Liquidations can give us a quick bounce but that doesnt mean buyers are back. I’d watch spot volume and ETF flows first. If price keeps going up without those improving, I’m not really convinced the demand is there yet.

jguest1105

You've actually named the strongest argument against just defaulting to the ETF: what happens if you die. An ETF solves that problem by keeping your Bitcoin in the regular financial system. Your spouse deals with a brokerage account, not a wallet. That's a real convenience, and I won't pretend otherwise. What you give up is ownership itself. With FBTC you hold a claim on Bitcoin held by someone else. You can't withdraw it, spend it, or move it if the fund's terms change or an account gets frozen. You also pay that 0.25% every year, forever, for the privilege. Self-custody flips the trade. Nobody can freeze or lend out your coins, and there's no annual drag. The risk you flagged is also real, but it's a planning problem, not a dead end. Written recovery instructions, a backup that survives fire, and a spouse who has actually walked through where everything is turns "gone forever" into a process your family can follow. Decide which one you're actually buying: exposure to the price, or Bitcoin itself. Most people never stop to make that assessment.

Optimistic-Pie123

I think the idea of self custody makes sense but I live in a country where it's cheaper to just buy Bitcoin-backed ETF:s or ETP:s and hold it in your trading account than buy it through a platform like Coinbase and then transfering it to a cold wallet, and honestly I'm still a bit trauamtized from the Coldcard wallet scandal.

PowerappsDev

Thanks, I appreciate your perspective! Crypto has become far too unpredictable for me. I was incredibly lucky to sell near the peak because we needed the money for a new car. Otherwise, I probably would have held on much longer and sold at a far worse price. Pure luck, not market timing. A World ETF simply fits my current risk tolerance

AcceptableJacket3947

ETF flows, inflation data, and market sentiment can influence Bitcoin's price, but predicting a market bottom remains difficult.

Typical-Argument6665

I'm bullish but if we slice clean through the 200-week moving average and stay there for more than a couple candles I'd have to step back. That level's held through every major wipeout so losing it would feel different. ETF flows and macro matter but they're more about timing than direction for me, I'm watching that weekly chart like it owes me money.

RetiredAvocado

You said the value of bitcoin will fall if more people will hold ETF.

AutoModerator

Post is by: Tobias_CBC and the url/text [ ](https://goo.gl/GP6ppk)is: /r/CryptoMarkets/comments/1x6i8xy/what_would_make_you_switch_from_bullish_to/ It’s easy to find evidence supporting whichever outlook you already have. I think the harder question is deciding beforehand what would make you reconsider. For those who are bullish: what would signal that this is more than a temporary pullback? For those who are bearish: what would convince you a recovery has real support? Would you put more weight on price making higher highs and higher lows, the 200-day moving average, ETF flows, or macro conditions? My view is that one indicator alone gives an incomplete picture, but waiting for everything to agree has its own drawbacks. What’s your current outlook, your time horizon, and the strongest piece of evidence that could change your mind? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CryptoMarkets) if you have any questions or concerns.*

TheresNoSecondBest

Congrats on the move, it's never too late, [despite new people thinking otherwise](https://old.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/rskpuf/i_have_only_600_bitcoinsi_missed_the_bus/). ONLY INVEST MONEY YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE. Invest in your knowledge, learn about Bitcoin as much as you can. The Bitcoin Standard book is a must read. So is Broken Money by Lyn Alden. Also, **don't reply any DMs**, emails, private messages on other social media, promising to buy Bitcoin from them or get rich quick by investing into some website. They all are scammers. Even the hot Asian chick, he's a scammer too. **Price wise, nobody knows what the price will be tomorrow, next week or at the end of the year.** **Try "Bitcoin ONLY" strategy for at least the first 210,000 block cycle**, you'll sleep much better. Newcomers lose so much money, holding tokens just because someone on YT told them to. If you don't like losing money in [failed coins](https://www.coingecko.com/research/publications/how-many-cryptocurrencies-failed), avoid. DCA is probably the best approach. Once a week works best for me, but I'm getting paid weekly. This [DCA calculator](https://21vox.com/dca-calculator) might help to decide what will work best for you. In a few years, even $10 dollars a month can make a massive difference. This [DCA blog](https://er-bybitcoin.com/) is pretty interesting too and compares buying bitcoin VS stocks. Now, don't buy some fake bitcoin at a spot ETF place or similar, **get the real thing** that you can withdraw anytime you want. Register at a proper exchange and buy real Bitcoin. Any of these will do [https://bitcoin-only.com/get-bitcoin](https://bitcoin-only.com/get-bitcoin) Install (or buy - in case you're getting Bitcoin in Thousands of $) one or more of these wallets. **Good wallet choices:** [https://blockstream.com/app/](https://blockstream.com/app/) \- Top Security Features, Open Source and Non-Custodial [https://bluewallet.io](https://bluewallet.io/) \- excellent, easy to use wallet, Open Source and Non-Custodial [https://www.sparrowwallet.com](https://www.sparrowwallet.com) - top desktop wallet [https://electrum.org](https://electrum.org/) \- Solid choice, Open Source and Non-Custodial, one of the oldest and most trusted Bitcoin Wallets. I prefer the desktop version but it works on mobile too. **Lightning wallets** to consider (cheaper and faster transactions, great for small amounts): [https://phoenix.acinq.co/](https://phoenix.acinq.co/) \- Phoenix - very good wallet, uses Tor for extra privacy, easy for anyone new [https://blixtwallet.github.io/](https://blixtwallet.github.io/) \- Blixt - great UI, fast and clean. The app runs a full LND node on your phone and you have the ability to easily open channels to whatever nodes you like. [https://zeusln.com/](https://zeusln.com/) Zeus - impressive wallet with many features, can even generate Nostr keys There are also custodial LN wallet but I would honestly avoid using them because you have to trust the wallet operator not to steal your money. Their only advantage is that they are incredibly easy to use, although it might cost you big one day. To keep up to date with spending wallets, visit r/TheLightningNetwork at least once a while and perhaps r/RGB in the future. **Hardware Wallets** (to store larger amounts): [Trezor](https://trezor.io/) \- Easy to use, no matter how new in Bitcoin you're. If you can afford it, opt for Safe 7 (**air-gapped**) and use the Bitcoin only firmware as it's safer than a multi coin software. [BitBox02](https://bitbox.swiss/bitbox02/bitcoin-only/) - another great little device, opt for the more secure Bitcoin ONLY version (less coins = less code = less chance for a hidden bug or a backdoor). Sadly, this device is **not air-gapped**. [Jade](https://blockstream.com/jade) - air gapped, fully open source, Bitcoin only, great features. There's a newer version called Jade Plus, it has much better camera and overall is a better build. I would go stateless instead of using their servers. You can even [build it on your own](https://github.com/Blockstream/jade/), if you feel adventurous. [Seedsigner](https://github.com/SeedSigner/seedsigner) - another DIY, fully open source, air gapped, Bitcoin only hardware wallet, not for you if you're just starting up but something to consider later. [Krux wallet](https://selfcustody.github.io/krux/) - one more DIY hardware device, I love this one for many reasons. Similar to Seedsigner, it's fully open source, air gapped, Bitcoin only hardware wallet, that is not for you right now if you're just starting up, but something to consider at a later stage and/or to up the security of your bitcoin. There's also Ledger, but I wouldn't recommend it as it's not fully open source, keep and already leaked customers' details, recently said they're capable of sending customers' keys out just with a firmware update, making is an expensive hot wallet. The opposite of what you want from a cold wallet. **Stay away**, save yourself a headache in the future. The same goes for many other hardware wallets that are too new or filled with too much of unnecessary shitcoin code. Stay away. There's also ColdCard, great features but recently had a massive duckup, I would wait until all of their code is fully open source, preferably rewritten by the community before touching it. Whatever wallet you'll decide to buy, purchase DIRECTLY from the manufacturer, no eBay, no Amazon. Make sure the device is NOT preset, and you will generate your own seed words. Write them down on any piece of paper as well as the receiving address. Now wipe the wallet and generate a new wallet. If the seed words are different from the first set, you're safe to use it. Find an option to set a passphrase and use it. This will boost the security to another level. Never store the seed words and passphrase together. Use a different medium if possible. If somebody finds both, they'll be able to steal your coin. This little device will hold the keys to your money, that's the reason why you have to be a bit more careful. Also, no worries, if it breaks, you can replace it - as long as you keep your seed words and passphrase(s) safe. Welcome to the rabbit hole and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions anytime during your Bitcoin journey. Also, [check the sidebar](https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/about) that's filled with lots of great info and if you have any questions, visit r/BitcoinBeginners or r/Bitcoin and look for the answers.

VoDoka

What is suddenly with all this drama posting when we see 2% price swings? This is crypto, not some ETF?

OkSeries5363

That’s only true for Bitcoin Futures ETFs, which deal in paper contracts. Modern Spot Bitcoin ETFs are backed 1:1 by actual Bitcoin held securely by a custodian Even better, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) in Australia that I use isnt just a regular spot ETF, it uses a unique bare trust structure. This allows investors to utilize an in kind redemption pathway. So you can choose to redeem your units this way, you can literally withdraw the actual, underlying physical Bitcoin directly into your own cryptocurrency wallet. Its fundamentally backed by the real asset, not just USD returns.

ZuccemSuccem

How? I never understand how people lose money day trading. Even if you enter at a very bad time, you wait long enough for it to turn green again (ideally wait until it pays the equivalent inflation loss + any taxes accrued). The only way I can see people losing all their money is either leveraging themselves, taking loans to gamble, or just constantly trying to time the market and losing money constantly to brokerage. Please for fucksake do not invest, you do not have the mental fortitude to watch red candles. Just put your money in a long term bank account to offset inflation and be happy, or dump everything in an ETF and don’t touch it for 20 years.

AutoModerator

Post is by: TheDTYP and the url/text [ ](https://goo.gl/GP6ppk)is: /r/CryptoMarkets/comments/1x6abl8/do_you_think_its_the_right_time_to_buy_more_btc/ I'm not buying the "wait for the October bottom" thing anymore. Four-year-cycle folks circle October as the low, and people on reddit keep arguing about whether there's another leg down, but I've already been buying as if it keeps going. It was chopping around 80k for a bit. ETF flows bounce around, hot CPI pushes Fed hike odds up and you get a short dump, but the spot floor near 80k is still holding. I care more about the longer stuff: post-halving rhythm, spot channels still open, buyers showing up on dips. Waiting for a perfect low is too mystical for a beginner like me. I've been DCAing a bit of spot BTC on moomoo. I also bought some BTC upside event contracts on moomoo's prediction markets, same direction, small size. Not because I was hedging doubt. I think it still goes higher and I wanted both ways of saying that. Are you still waiting on an October bottom, or are you already buying for upside? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CryptoMarkets) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Flat-Aerie-8083

Because you eventually have to sell an ETF. With actual bitcoin you can borrow against it - tax free. And keep your bitcoin.

Basic-Nobody-Too

ETF is more for exposure and trusting someone to custody the property. When you self custody you are sovereign and can move around the world and conduct transactions as you need.

tekmiester

So you are saying people don't take the time to Google "best Bitcoin ETFs" before investing large sums? Also, if an ETF is s scam, how does it but get kicked off the exchange? If you have an article, I'd love to read it.

nada_sagrado

When was the last time you bought stuff/paid for something with a fraction of an ETF? Seems complicated.

Hitachi22

Litecoin had its chance to remain relevant but they screwed that up. Now it's just another shitcoin sitting at all time lows on the ratio. It never pumps when everything else is but sure does dump with everything.  The Litecoin ETF has been live for a year and barely has $10 Million inflows. The worst crypto ETF ever launched. Zero demand. It's headed to zero on the ratio over the long run.

bdjc_ink

So this thread made me try to imagine El Salvador using ETF proxies as legal tender alongside bitcoin🤣🤣🤣

rolo951

When has buying an ETF ever been "not though

RetiredAvocado

People buy an ETF because it buys the thing in it. ETF operator buys the bitcoin.

usedmattress85

I mean to use an ETF to hold your BTC. Because you can hold a BTC ETF inside of a Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA) which makes all the Cap gains completely tax free. You can’t hold self-custody BTC inside a TFSA. So if you’re a Canadian and you have room in your TFSA, it’s crazy to me to hold BTC any other way other than an ETF

RareVibeDelight

An ETF gives you exposure to Bitcoin’s price. Self-custody gives you control over your Bitcoin. If you believe in financial sovereignty, self-custody matters. Run your own node and verify, don’t trust. That’s what Bitcoin sovereignty is about. Not your keys, not your coins. 🧡🚀

m4rM2oFnYTW

It's not really specific to self-custody though. My point was that you could still be robbed even if it's in an ETF or brokerage or bank account. What's more important is operational security and maintaining a low profile and having a backup plan.

KazeFantasia

Buying ETF is ok until it’s not

joefunk76

The ETF is an IOU for bitcoin’s USD returns, not one for actual bitcoin. They never owe you bitcoin.

TheCurlyHomeCook

However, if it was in an ETF then suddenly that's not the case as it's Fiat. So yes exchange doesn't help as much but the question about not having self custody in order to be safe is a good one.

dmoneymma

The even more average Joe will buy an ETF

PowerappsDev

Not a panic sell. I've thought this through for a while. My risk tolerance has changed, and a World ETF simply fits my long-term goals better

Character-Most1941

Sounds like the 200 day SMA. It would have sold you out in December 2025 and buy back in September 2026. It’s an extremely effective way to compound, and even more so if you leverage. I use this strategy on the 2x bitcoin ETF and it’s amazing

rocket_beer

OP u/FeeParking4506 ETFs are not BITCOIN An ETF is a fiat-to-fiat transaction. At no point do you, the purchaser, ever hold any Bitcoin, at all.

AidenTai

Not in this environment. Look at \*why\* we jumped. Money was flowing in week after week (check ETFs as a proxy if you like). Shorting was popular, and structurally that meant there was a lot of hidden buying pressure locked in. What about now? Open interest is falling, shorts while present aren't at levels sufficient to really pull us to new highs even if we liquidated everything close by. And importantly, sell pressure has been overcoming buying pressure, absorbing any spikes up and indicators like the Coinbase premium, futures volume, options trading and ratio, and ETF flows have all been at weak or outright negative levels. Can this change suddenly? Sure, given the right trigger. But the trend on 'normal' days is entirely different from what it was near 60. We are weak and remaining neutral to showing further weakness, while selling off any movements up even as our highs and lows each get lower. In this environment, even if we don't see a correction, we'll need ranging/consolidation to find more buyers. We don't have anything positive that would suggest hitting 100k by Christmas, other than the fact that weeks ago we were looking really good and were in a position to have seen 100k in 2026 had those trends/numbers continued.

LowKeyOutrageous7468

You give an ETF money. They buy bitcoin. You get shares. They can change the rules whenever it’s convenient. And very few allow you to redeem shares for bitcoin. You do not own the underlying assets and have no control on what the company decides to do with it.

Vipu2

Security is about 50-50 depending how skills you are handling BTC and all its technicalities. But freedom to transact is 100% on self storages side. You could live in Russia or whatever other country and suddenly you dont have access to your ETF anymore for reason X or Y. When you want to do something with your "stack" of ETF BTC you will be asked many questions and take long time to do it. Want to buy something without your ID:s attached to it like VPN? Cant do that with ETF BTC

izkornator

I feel for you. Proper self custody almost requires you to have a certain amount of IT knowledge yourself or by proxy with a very trusted party (son, relative, ...) A badly set up self custody solution is perhaps worse from a custody point of view than owning ETF shares in your stock account. This much I am prepared to admit. The Bitcoin ETFs are mildly poisonous to the overall ethos of Bitcoin though. Not personal security of custody but the overall network. I would not be so sure that Blackrock or Fidelity have any consideration for the best interests of the Bitcoin network in their operational strategies. I have often wondered if Blackrock (for e.g.) is really selling BTC into the market when there is a drawdown on the ETF shares. They are in a perfect place to snag BTC on the discount side of the market each time, and sell it back to ETF share buyers when demand returns. Not exactly moral behaviour IMHO but if I were them and discounted all my morals, I would do the same, or even hold onto them to co-opt the whole network gradually.

ResponseActive7860

Governments can shut down trading, it happened during WW2, in that case your ETF are frozen. They cannot freeze your wallet.

Evening-Money1865

They used to say the same about the gold ETF a couples of years ago, and it’s still running smoothly in the long run everyone will switch to centralized markets to be able to store their cryptos safely

InjectiveRocky

If you only want price exposure, an ETF makes sense. Actual BTC gives you control over your coins and lets you use them on the network, but that also means taking responsibility for security and backups.

Evening-Money1865

Fidelity has been on the market for almost 100 years I think you have better odds of losing your crypto if you self -custody for sure, it’s not just hacks that gives you risks, also a house fire could make you lose everything, etc, you need to have multiple backups or you can get screwed idk I agree with OP it’s a better option ETF’s even having them in a broker like Binance the odds of something happening are low and at least if something happens you get someone to blame.

Professional_Toe4515

Spot Bitcoin ETF net expense ratios typically range from 0.14% to 1.50% annually.

OrangePillar

I’m using bitcoin for spending. Can’t do that with an ETF. I could use an exchange wallet for that, but I use self custody because I value my privacy.

Porcellanidae

The ETF or ETP is just exposure to the price, it is not like owning actual Bitcoin

Express-Cartoonist39

Cause a self hosted wallet is decentralized, the ETF is centralized. If you aint figured that out you dont slightly understand what bitcoin is about.

2xfun

The ETF is an IOU … if you don’t get that you don’t understand bitcoin 

agnosticgnome

Hey guys. I'm just a regular dude with a lot of knowledge in computers. I do run on Linux and all kind of stuff. I'm manage networks, built dozens of computers, can debug mostly everything. Thing is, I never trusted whatever method to hold on your coins. Granted, I did not research extensively or never messed with wallets. So many horror stories, hack and what not. If I was forced to do so, I would go offline of course because but even then it's choose your poising. Major sites will always have better security than me but too much control over my shit. Offline, well... there's solid risks too. Yeah it's cool and all if you have 20K worth of BTC but large fortunes? Fuck all of this. So there's ETF and that's about it. So that's a major problem impossible to fix and then you go full circle and create BTC banks with regulations. I'm just telling what I think because people like me, we represent the mass. So that's why BTC is never going mainstream.

Feralz2

This is not a problem for mass adoption, just no one bothers to make it easier than it is because people in this space are at least a little technical like most BTC holders, those who arent, they just buy the ETF. Things will get better, this is not a technology limitation, this is more of a UI problem that no one bothers to solve because the masses are not here yet, so its a catch 22, in any case, it will just get better. Dont forget 15 years ago you needed to be highly technical or need a CS degree just to send btc, how far have we come.

AutoModerator

Post is by: Tobias_CBC and the url/text [ ](https://goo.gl/GP6ppk)is: /r/CBCCrypto/comments/1x5p53f/what_makes_you_trust_a_bitcoin_recovery_after_a/ A bounce can look convincing on the chart, but deciding whether it has real support is another question. Do you look for Bitcoin to reclaim its 50-day or 200-day simple moving average (SMA), put in a higher low, or recover with stronger trading volume? Or do macro conditions and ETF flows matter more to you? I find moving averages useful for putting price into context, but I wouldn’t treat crossing one line as enough evidence on its own. They reflect past prices, and the market can move back and forth across them. Equally, waiting for several signals to agree means accepting that part of the recovery may already have happened. **What’s your strongest sign that a bounce is becoming a sustained recovery, and what would make you distrust it?** Interested in how people approach this across different time horizons. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/CryptoMarkets) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Puzzleheaded_Card_71

The ETF suggestion is a good one if your family isn’t hardcore self custody people. It’s easy to move, custody by a trusted third party, and can be added into their existing accounts easily.

SoftCheeseBurger

Why does he have no clue for suggesting an ETF? Seems fine to me, even more fine with all this ledger shit going on.

shpeucher

Wouldn’t you just use a will with a dead man switch that triggers on passing to hand down the seed? Also the guy who suggests the ETF isn’t brain dead. It’s a good suggesting but just doesn’t suit your needs. But there’s going to be a big market demand for the ETF’s especially with all the recent hardware device fiascos

Yodel_And_Hodl_Mode

> A huge chunk of the bitcoin thesis is "It's not regulated, so the government can't stop you or steal from you..." except now you have an ETF which is the complete opposite, and that's just irony over irony over irony Just focus on whether or not Bitcoin has value to you. If it does, invest accordingly. If not, don't, and no worries. Only you can decide how to spend your money. I think we're still in the early days of Bitcoin's development, and that's a good thing. The development I've seen just over the past year has been amazing. I'm old enough to remember the early days of the internet going mainstream. Back when Netscape Navigator was a thing. Bitcoin today reminds me of that era, in a good way. As the world gets more scary, I think there's more value in holding Bitcoin. But that's just my opinion. > what's on the "bitcoin manual" so to speak. **Great question!** I wish there was a great How To manual for the basics. I keep meaning to write a few articles on how to get started, to help newcomers... but it's a challenging task and I'm in the middle of other projects. I'll give you three questions. The first two are technical, but written for everybody. The third is fun and absolutely free. **The Bitcoin Standard,** by Saifedean Ammous. It's a great book, and a great place to start. **The Internet of Money,** by Andreas Antonopoulos. It is a three-volume series, and each volume is very highly recommended for anyone interested in the philosophy and mechanics of Bitcoin. It's more thought provoking. There's an essay from Volume Two, titled The Five Pillars of Open Blockchain, which explains the principles that make Bitcoin resilient and trustworthy. The five pillars are: openness, public verification, neutrality, borderless operation, and resistance to censorship. OH! And the guy who wrote those (Andreas Antonopoulos) has an amazing youtube channel. Seriously top notch stuff about securing Bitcoin. Zero cool-bro gadget speak. Real security, often focussing on how average folks can do it right. Andreas is awesome. I don't know him, but his channel was a guide for me when I was getting started. And, the third recommendation... **[Five Dollar Wrench](https://hetobe.substack.com/p/table-of-contents),** by me. It's a novel about a Bitcoin thief, which I've published online, totally free. The point of the novel is to encourage Bitcoin holders to think about how they secure their seed phrases by telling the story of a woman who robs people by searching their homes to find them.

daguito81

So the best practice for the vast majority of people. Which would ironically make it "THE" best practice in generalist terms. Like what's on the "bitcoin manual" so to speak. I'm not saying you personally need to buy ETFs, but the fact that for the majority of people (vast majority are not tech savyy or going to have studies in cryptography, etc.) the option is to buy a regulated security is just bonkers. A huge chunk of the bitcoin thesis is "It's not regulated, so the government can't stop you or steal from you..." except now you have an ETF which is the complete opposite, and that's just irony over irony over irony

Expo24816

What has better than a 100% + CAGR ? What is safer than something that has almost perfect properties? As long as you buy an ETF or know what you're doing it's safe in terms of not losing it, and if you're talking about safe in terms of price action then BTC has been an extremely safe long term hold.

Lehcen

I’m 40 and I thought I’d never ever forget my 25th passphrase. Guess what after 4 years I forgot it! The fact that you can’t store it digitally and can’t write it somewhere because you could lose it or someone gets a hold of it, the only solution I had was to memorize it. It took me 3 weeks to vaguely remember it and with the help of btc recover I was able to gain my coins. So I understand if someone doesn’t want to deal with that stress anymore and is happy with ETF.

GettingFasterDude

Good that you've found the best solution for you. I used to be 100% self custody. Due to recent events I've decided to diversify my custody: 1/3 in cold storage, 1/3 held by Fidelity Crypto and 1/3 in an ETF. That's what I feel most comfortable with at this time, based on my personal situation.

Yodel_And_Hodl_Mode

> But I find it hilarious how the new “best practice for normies” is basically buying ETF The new best practice isn't to buy an ETF. Buying an ETF is the best option for those who aren't willing or able to do the work required to do self custody right. And I don't view that as a bad thing. I think it's great that there are options for others, even if I wouldn't choose those options for myself.

kallaloostx

I do a little of everything. I self custody, some in a hot wallet. Have shares in MSTR and will put some into an ETF soon. I have half in self and the other half split between the others.

JunoKat

only allow purchasing of ETN and ETP after passing a few test, no ETF allowed so I didn’t buy or own any ETF, I couldn’t

JunoKat

I bought ETN/ETP, not ETF, the UK doesn’t allow ETF yet.

chirpier

Here's my scheduled hourly Claude task: Measure current Bitcoin news sentiment and record it in ChirrOp. Steps: 1. Use the WebSearch tool to find the latest Bitcoin news. Query for something like "bitcoin news today <current date>" (include today's date). If needed, run a second query such as "bitcoin latest news" to gather enough material. Collect the 10 most recent distinct headlines/articles about Bitcoin (ignore duplicates and non-Bitcoin items). Do NOT use reddit.com or x.com/twitter.com — they are blocked. 2. Assess overall sentiment of those \~10 headlines toward Bitcoin (price outlook, adoption, regulation tone). Produce a single integer score from -100 to +100: +100 = uniformly positive, -100 = uniformly negative, 0 = neutral/mixed. Interpolate proportionally (e.g. 7 positive, 3 negative ≈ +40). 3. Send the score to ChirrOp using the chirrop MCP server's send\_logs tool with: agent "cowork.news", event "bitcoin.sentiment.score", value = the integer score, meta = { "headlines\_sampled": <count>, "summary": "<one-sentence sentiment summary>" }. (Event ID eea95d7b-1f80-4308-9b0e-ab30e24bc869 already exists.) 4. Confirm the log was accepted (sent:1, failed:0). If send\_logs fails, retry once. Output: one short line stating the score, e.g. "Bitcoin sentiment: -35 (bearish — geopolitical tensions, ETF outflows). Sent to ChirrOp.

georgejetsonn

> in terms of Bitcoin as it was intended (peer to peer money) the ETF is worthless By that argument, so is putting your life savings into BTC, as it was not originally designed as a store of value. People will use Bitcoin by whatever the flavor of the year narrative is

riscten

Sticking your life savings in a Ledger was NEVER best practice. Especially not around here. I have no idea why some are claiming that. Probably a bunch of centralized exchange and ETF shills.

Suspicious-Local-901

Huge cojones to post this on a Bitcoin sub. But you do have a point, somewhat. In terms of investing into Bitcoin, you could assume it’s okay to buy the ETF. But in terms of Bitcoin as it was intended (peer to peer money) the ETF is worthless.

MajesticBread9147

I keep getting this on my feed. As somebody out of the loop, why not just buy a Bitcoin ETF if you have a large amount of Bitcoin? I assume those are insured against stuff like this.

gordonfr_

One should look into tax situation too. In my country, it is more tax efficient to hold and sell BTC, Tax will matter if dreams here come true. But yeah, with all that regulation now, ETF is the future.

things_U_choose_2_b

We had no idea how good we had it, back in the day. I remember making bank (at least, what was bank to me) mining ETF off a single GPU. I had about 6 months of good times before the wider world caught on and it became 'barely profitable' seemingly overnight.

sigh_duck

Honestly, I don't blame you. I just dont want to go through the rigmaroll of selling my BTC, fiat conversion and then ETF purchase. If only I could do it with a native BTC deposit straight to the ETF provider.

RateMyWallets

"I'll just move to an ETF or leave it on Coinbase" is the wrong lesson from this. A tampered device is a physical risk, and you can engineer around it. An ETF or exchange balance is counterparty risk, and you can't. Not your keys, not your Bitcoin. The real lesson is that single-vendor trust is a vulnerability. Large stack? Run 2-of-3 multisig with each key on a different brand (Trezor, BitBox02, Coldcard, whatever), coordinated through Sparrow. Now a compromised warehouse, bad firmware, or weak entropy at one vendor gets an attacker exactly one key and nothing they can spend. Smaller stack? Buy direct from the manufacturer, verify firmware, use a passphrase. A bad distributor is a reason to diversify your vendors, not to hand your keys back to a bank.

awesomemc1

To be fair, I think for ledger, while they are a legitimate company, reselling their products can be profitable for them for a business but a nightmare scenario as what we have see. Scammers using a legitimate product to insert their own suspicious activity inside of the legitimate product is just oof..tough. And how easy to get drained if you not know what did you install, etc. while it’s your responsibility but if it’s a hand of a legitimate company, yeah, I can see why people are skeptical about hardware wallets. Ledger probably need to fix their reselling process after all. But I kind of think that ETF is a safe scenario for people to store without any wallet. While you can not own bitcoin yourself in an etf, it kind of give you access to mind free money as etf would act as a middlemen to earn money from just hosting stocks.