Bitcoin Self-Custody in UK Pensions 🧵

If you believe self-custody Bitcoin is the optimal asset, what can you do with capital TRAPPED in a UK pension system?

Before 2021, UK pensions could access Bitcoin through derivative instruments in SIPPs. Then January 6, 2021: FCA banned crypto derivatives for retail investors.

The SSAS Solution 🔑

Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS) = the ONLY pension vehicle allowing direct Bitcoin investment with self-custody in post-2021 UK.

Why SSAS works:

✅ You become trustee with direct investment control

✅ Direct Bitcoin investment (not derivatives)

✅ Avoids FCA ban entirely

✅ Established legal framework

Pension Scheme Comparison:

SIPP: Bitcoin banned (derivatives), no self-custody

Workplace Pension: No Bitcoin access, no self-custody

SSAS: Direct Bitcoin investment, self-custody achievable

Trade-offs: SSAS has higher costs & complexity, but offers full control.

How to Execute: The 7-Step Process

Phase 1: SSAS Setup

1. Create limited company & business bank account

2. Establish SSAS with experienced administrator

3. Complete HMRC compliance procedures

Phase 2: Bitcoin Acquisition

4. Transfer existing pension funds into SSAS

5. Set up account with FCA-regulated crypto exchange

6. Purchase Bitcoin on behalf of pension scheme

7. Create self-custody deed & transfer to hardware wallet

Critical Success Factors

📋 Document everything for compliance

🏦 Use FCA-regulated exchanges only

👥 Work with experienced pension administrator

⚖️ Maintain trustee obligations throughout

The Bottom Line

SSAS isn't for everyone - it's complex and expensive. But if you have significant pension capital and believe in Bitcoin self-custody, it's currently the ONLY compliant path in the UK.

Self-custody doesn't remove fiduciary responsibilities. You're still a trustee with legal obligations.

But you achieve something impossible elsewhere: true Bitcoin sovereignty within your pension.

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*Not financial advice. Consult qualified professionals.*

Bitcoin wealth levels and primary focus:

Stage 1: You have less than $1 million worth of BTC

Primary focus: Capital Accumulation

Get to $1 million worth of BTC as quickly as you can.

Today that's 8.69 BTC.

Soon it will be 6.15 BTC.

Then 1 BTC.

Stay laser-focused on your business until you bank your first 7 figures.

Do not waste your finite time and attention thinking about trading in and out of assets at this level.

You should be stack-only.

Focus on being useful to others like the robots are coming for your job.

Because they are.

Don't think the path you're on will get you where you need to go?

Then change your path.

Channel your efforts into opportunities with uncapped upside and use various forms of leverage (personal brand, AI tools, code, relationships) for non-linear growth.

Just remember: Working harder isn't the answer. You can accelerate your capital accumulation if you work smart.

Just make sure your upside isn't capped.

One unit of input should lead to multiple units of output.

And your work should ideally compound like your assets.

Where to start?

Helping other people make more money in their business is a good rule of thumb.

E.g. AI is a new tool that few people know how to use effectively.

So help them leverage AI in their business.

There's a million niches within that one obvious idea.

You can figure it out and make anything happen.

If you want to.

Stage 2: You have between $1-$5 million worth of BTC.

Primary focus: Capital Allocation & Preservation

At this point you should increasingly focus on your own investor psychology, mindset, and risk management.

You have some momentum at this stage.

Keep it rolling.

Keep stacking Bitcoin and milking your personal cashflow.

But realize that you're closing in on escape velocity.

And your main job is to not screw it up.

BTC's 40-50% CAGR means you're looking at adding $400-$500K to your net worth on autopilot.

When taking taxes into consideration, that's like earning close to $1 million per year in income and saving all your after tax income.

Something that very few people ever manage to do.

This is the point where your BTC starts to make money faster than you likely can through your own effort.

Which means you should shift a portion of your time into mastering your investing psychology.

You need to be mentally prepared for likely market scenarios.

You need to have a plan.

You need to know yourself, and know how you'll react when volatility strikes.

Do you need a cash pile that helps you sleep at night?

How long of a runway do you need to not panic sell the next dip?

These are questions you must address.

You're on your way to generational wealth.

And you cannot afford to screw up at this stage.

Stage 3: >$5 million in BTC. Escape velocity.

Focus on Time Allocation.

Many people in the fiat world don't see $5 million as "enough" to retire.

But that's because inflation is usually outpacing the returns of their "safe" investment portfolio.

But if you have $5 million in BTC, you're adding ~$2 million to your net worth each year, and it's compounding (as long as you have a long time horizon).

You can spend $20K-$25K a month and still watch your wealth accelerate.

At this point, you should take a minute to recognize that the future is uncertain.

AI and robotics will soon change everything as we know it.

And you will never have as much time as you do now.

At this point, you need to be deliberate with how you allocate your time.

Imagine you only had 5 years left to live; would you be spending your days as you are now?

What would you change?

You've essentially solved the money problem.

Now your focus should be on how to live well in a way that doesn't require extreme extravagance.

That way when you get to $100 million net worth in the next decade you know how to enjoy your good fortune without relying on ever more money to do so.

Find activities that you enjoy and that you can compound over the long-term.

Do things that make you feel alive and don't lead to a "hangover" later.

Prioritize your health and family.

Congratulations, you've won the money game.

And your reward is that now you get to pick a new game to play.

Choose your next adventure wisely.

Some personal reflection on this:

I got into Bitcoin shortly after Michael Saylor became a public figure, so like autumn 2020 time frame. Initially I just dabbled with some shitty Swedish ETP products. But as you do you fall down the rabbit hole and Bitcoin takes over more and more of your life and time. 😅

Early 2021 I bought a Coldcard and transferred my life savings to it.

2021 I was also moving to Switzerland - It was a busy time for me. June 2021 I sold an apartment and plowed all of the proceeds sans some moving expenses into Bitcoin.

Late 2021 turned out to be the cycle top - I sold basically nothing at all and kept stacking relentlessly throughout the 2022-2023 bear market. I also grew my income a lot by relocating abroad, so I was saving something like 2x the amount of money I was previously in absolute terms, and kept a 40-50% savings rate throughout.

Especially good in retrospect was Nov-Dec 2022 - Here the pico-bottom of the bear market ($16.5 k) lined up with my year end bonus at my job. I bought just about one whole coin in those two months.

November 2023 was the first time since the previous bull market that I was outside loss territory on my BTC. I kept stacking.

Just 6 months later I had doubled my total investment. (> 100% ROI). Late last year I had trebled it (> 200% ROI).

Now after a bit more than one cycle stacking sats I basically became financially independent. I could if I wanted to retire right now and just life off my Bitcoin appreciating in value.

I decided to take my foot of the gas about stacking and start spending more on the present instead of the future. I'm reducing my working hours and consuming more.

Since I already have a phat stack, it's basically appreciating in fiat value faster than I can add to it by saving. I've hit the point of diminishing returns for stacking sats.

My main takeaway from this journey was that the consistent stacking in the bear was what really made my fortune. Almost ALL of the positive ROI happened in the last two years, but then the price teleported from sub $30 k to ca $120 k. If I hadn't already owned a ton I'd have missed out on most of the gains.

Time in the market beats timing the market.

Sneak Peek 🫣 here’s a look at my fight night clothes for my next Boxing fight.

Notice any familiar logos?!

Just departing the ferry back in the UK. There are loads of people milling around waiting for the decks to open.

Dude in a HODL hat locks eyes from across the room. I'm wearing a UASF hat.

We exchanged small backwards nods and wry smiles.

GM ☀️

nostr:npub1qny3tkh0acurzla8x3zy4nhrjz5zd8l9sy9jys09umwng00manysew95gx keeps referring to The Mandibles. I finally got down to reading it. Holy shit!!! I am not prepared. None of you are prepared!!!

Latest update 31st July on the YouGov poll.

'I have personally bought cryptocurrency' up 2% in 6 months, up 1% from 12 months ago.

Interesting to see how this changes over the next 12 months.

More wrestling as I get set for my MMA return

Seeing lots of people saying the UK is "lost" because people are being prosecuted for posts on social media, therefore USA is better and the UK is cucked.

I'm not defending the state, but in the US, it's illegal to incite murder too.

"It is a felony under federal law to intentionally “solicit, command, induce, or otherwise endeavor to persuade” another person to engage in a crime of violence against a person or property. "

The US has one of the most propagandised populations. At least in China and North Korea, they know it.

Growing up in the '90s I remember being told a few things about migration, which was just getting started in large numbers:

1. We only let in as many as we can assimilate and will stop if it gets out of hand.

2. We only let in people whose life is in real danger in their home countries.

3. They will need to adapt to our customs, not the other way around.

4. Second generation migrants are very well integrated, third generation are basically Lutheran liberals.

5. Migrants want to be like us and if they don't it's because we're still a bit racist.

This all seemed very reasonable. Voters bought it too, because they kept voting in favor of these policies. Only the truly far right warned that it wouldn't work out that way, but they were literal Nazis (that word used to mean something). Besides, the outcome was anyway future us' problem.

But in the '00s, the story slowly began to change. It was no longer about assimilation but multiculturalism, and how great it is. And frankly, this also sounded quite reasonable to me:

1. Diversity is great, just look at the food options.

2. It doesn't matter how or why they came, they are here now.

3. If you don't like their customs you're just being islamophobic.

4. Some migrants are integrating really well, just look at this anecdote.

5. Everyone should be proud of their own culture, except us (lest you're racist)

In hindsight, there was some apathy in this change. Less than a conscious shift in narrative, we collectively rationalized what had already come to pass. So while voters showed increased concern, they stuck with the parties and policies that got them there.

Then some really bad things started to happen. Murders over caricatures. A wave of terrorist attacks. A dramatic rise in rapes. Regular bombings in peaceful places. Racially motivated grooming. Exploding social expenditures. Gangs and stabbings.

But most concerning it became taboo to suggest that any of this had any connection to migrants. And they kept coming in ever larger numbers. Many seeking family reunification, bringing even more. Past us miscalculated.

By the '10s, this last fact brought a true racial element to the situation, as the change became so visible on the streets that the echoes of the promises from the '90s seemed to some as a cruel trick.

Old conspiracy theories about some great replacement were thus granted subtle credence, making the unreasonable reasonable.

Tragically, this trapped large numbers of migrants who worked hard to integrate and build a better life here in a web of general suspicion. Increasing suspicion harmed integration exacerbating issues increasing suspicion.

And continuing in the '20s, new migrants kept coming much faster than we could break this vicious cycle, fertilizing the seed of conflict we see budding this summer.

So what now? Pray the seed never blooms and go in peace.

There is no way to return to the past without a fundamental break with the core of our own culture - rule of law, basic liberties, human rights. And then what would it all be for. Besides, the past had plenty of forgotten flaws. Careful what you wish for.

But it also seems unlikely we will be able to move into the future without challenging many of the same values. People are being arrested as you read this for speaking their mind in the UK. Many more are afraid to speak their mind. Perhaps for the best.

Because in the end we will have to live together. And remember that the vast majority of us still do so in harmony. So let's not harbor any fantasies about the past, even if we don't know what to do about the future (other than make babies and stack sats).

To quote the Bible: "Don't be afraid". There must be love.

I don't have any better answers, nor did I write this to offer any. I just wanted to share how I've truly experienced these changes as part of the "native" European generation that grew up with them. I don't know any other world.

At best it's valuable context, at worst I hope some can relate.