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Is it time to explore the "mid time preference" persona?
5347 sats \ 4 comments \ @vindard 31 Oct 2022 bitcoin freebie
We came up with this idea when trying to figure out some of the messaging around our new StackorSpend project.
The idea is a little tongue-in-cheek, but pretty much it's that there are clear expectations around what makes up high and low time preference persons in bitcoin, but there's a gap for folks who don't fall cleanly into either category.
There's also that time preference can be a mindset, but also a set of actions driven by real-world constraints. Someone can potentially have a low time preference mindset, but be forced to act in high time preference ways.
There's also an element of "journey", where someone could be in-process in moving from high time preference to low, but there's likely distinct steps along the way in that journey.
I'm really curious about the general direction of this idea more than the actual name. What do you think?
We wrote a little more about the idea here: Introducing the "mid-time preference" persona
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200 sats \ 0 replies \ @Derpitor 31 Oct 2022
In order for bitcoin to succeed we need people to spend AND save.
A mid time preference could be in regards to stacking sats now, and spending and taking profits during a bull market. Reaping some rewards when prices are high and stacking when prices are low. Now obviously not everyone can do this, but this could be an ideal scenario for bitcoiners if they have the means to do it.
Not only would this have the benefit of creating a circular economy with bitcoin with proper inflows and outflows of money coming in and out of the system, but this can also help to redistribute the wealth and help bitcoin become more of a fair system. People with lots of bitcoin can sell off some and lower the amount they have and give opportunities for plebs to stack a bit more. The more distribution the better the network becomes.
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125 sats \ 1 reply \ @F 31 Oct 2022
the general direction of the idea is that bitcoin thinking = low time preference and fiat thinking = high time preference.
Most of the world is on the fiat standard and has a high time preference, (need money now. must spend money on useless crap now before money is worth less) while if the world were on a bitcoin standard, most would have a low time preference (save money. money worth more later. delay spending unless for survival)
I think the low time preference bitcoin standard seems like the better option
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299 sats \ 0 replies \ @vindard OP 31 Oct 2022 freebie
Yes I think you're right, thinking can only be high or low.
I guess this idea would be more focused on behaviour (expressed actions) vs. mindset then. E.g.:
  • high time preference behaviour would be being forced to not save either because you don't have extra income, or don't have access to good savings facilities
  • low time preference behaviour would be being able to stash away bitcoin for many years in cold storage
Mid time preference behaviour could then be something like being able to carry additional income from month-to-month as bitcoin and being able to choose when to spend from that stash.
I think it's generally interesting to frame a set of habits/behaviours that can eventually get you to acting in a low time preference manner, because not everyone can get there from day 1 practically.
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100 sats \ 0 replies \ @031ef7d322 31 Oct 2022
I don’t have strong opinions on actionable recommendations, but this is definitely an area that needs more exploration. The real world is rarely as straightforward as binary decision making.
One example is someone working at a startup, building equity in the form of stock options. It makes sense to save in a better store of value than USD, so accumulate by DCA is straightforward there. If the startup does well, there may come a time to exercise the options and turn them into shares of the company. This could easily cost 6-figures USD, but the potential gains could be an order of magnitude or more.
One option is to market sell the amount of BTC estimated to cover the strike price and taxes (for both the options gain and BTC sale) but that could easily cost far more than a less naive strategy.
Obviously many factors are involved… current BTC price, recent market activity and sentiment, current stock price, expectation of when a liquidation event is likely to occur, etc
So yes, save in Bitcoin, but eventually spending at least part of that savings is the ultimate plan. Sounds like you’re working on how to analyze this aspect of Bitcoin investing, and I look forward to your results!
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