Wake Up, America: Bitcoin or Bust

America is broken. The left blames the right. The right blames the left. The bitcoiners blame the money. In case you’re wondering, the bitcoiners are correct.

Bitcoin was created as freedom money — a tool to preserve independence in a world where freedom is disappearing. But today, Bitcoin is under threat.

This is your wake-up call.

The crossroads at hand

Bitcoin has passed the legitimacy test. Institutions are piling in. ETFs are trading. Retail FOMO is coming.

But most people’s first step into Bitcoin won’t be real bitcoin. It will be an ETF or a custodial account — what I call captured bitcoin.

This is important to distinguish because the majority of bitcoin’s value isn’t just in “number go up” (AKA NGU). It’s in its freedom properties. The ability to move, verify, and protect your money without permission. When you buy an ETF or leave coins on an exchange, you keep the scarcity (your investment might still rise in price), but you give up the freedom properties.

That’s 80% of Bitcoin’s value proposition; lost.

What Makes Bitcoin Different

Bitcoin is not just an investment. It is sound money. And sound money is defined by five key principles:

Scarcity → protects value
Divisibility → makes it usable
Authentication → verifies it’s real
Verification → prevents fraud
Durability → ensures it lasts

Look closely and you’ll see two categories here:

NGU (number go up; value preservation) → scarcity.
Freedom → everything else.

And that’s the point: Bitcoin is 20% “investment” and 80% ability to use your money when and how you want to (freedom technology).

When you buy captured bitcoin, you’re throwing away that freedom. You’re reducing bitcoin to just another speculative asset. And that’s not what Satoshi had in mind.

Are you a real bitcoiner?

Maybe you’re thinking: “But I always withdraw my coins and I self-custody, so I’m fine.”

And first off, good for you. That’s infinitely better than leaving them on an exchange. But here’s the hard truth: even if you withdraw your coins immediately, by using custodial platforms in the first place, you are feeding a system that undermines Bitcoin’s mission.

We need to recognize that if we want a self-sovereign future, our behavior has to align with that vision. Which means:

Move to a self-custody platform. Don’t settle for platforms that put custody first and sovereignty second.
Onboard friends to a self-custody platform. Don’t let your friends fall into the custody trap as you orange pill them.
Demand more from your favorite platforms. If they don’t prioritize your independence, they don’t deserve your business.

Every dollar you spend is a signal. Every (real) bitcoin transaction is a vote. If your bitcoin transactions don’t automatically end with TXID, you are voting for a very sad future.

Well, Bitcoin Well

This is why I started Bitcoin Well. Not only to make self-custody possible, but to make it the default.

Buy bitcoin → directly to your personal bitcoin wallet
Sell bitcoin → send from your personal bitcoin wallet and receive dollars in your bank account

That’s it. It’s very simple. Not a lot of “bells and whistles”. Just you and your bitcoin wallet embarking on your bitcoin journey.

And if Bitcoin Well disappeared tomorrow? Not a single customer would lose a single sat. No bankruptcy courts. No auditors. No counterparty risk.

Sadly, no other bitcoin platform in America can make that claim.

Our mission is simple: enable independence by merging the benefits of Bitcoin with the convenience of modern banking. We will not quit until you can replace your bank with Bitcoin Well. Until you can replace your bank with your personal bitcoin wallet.

Bitcoin is freedom. America is built on freedom. But freedom is not guaranteed and it must be protected.

The next step is simple:
👉 Move to a self-custody platform.
👉 Demand sovereignty from the businesses you support.
👉 Stop settling for captured Bitcoin.

If this resonates, I invite you to join us at Bitcoin Well. Use code BLOG at signup for 500 Bitcoin Well Points. Redeem them for merch or play the Wishing Well for a chance at 1,000,000 sats… delivered straight to your personal wallet, of course!

We’re building Bitcoin Well to embrace the future we know is better for humanity. But it only works if you join us. The choice is yours.

Stay sovereign,

Adam

PS - if you are wondering why I bounced around between a capitalized and lower case “bitcoin”, good for you! We use uppercase Bitcoin when we’re discussing the network, and lowercase “bitcoin” when discussing the token we buy and sell. Sadly, there are no bitcoin platforms in America that send your bitcoin to the Bitcoin network by default; except Bitcoin Well.