Hynek Jína – Living on Bitcoin

My message is simple: use Bitcoin everywhere you can. Earn in it, save in it, think in it — and most importantly, pay with it. I shared this on the BTC Prague stage because paying is the part that doesn’t get enough attention, and I think that’s a problem.

Why Paying with Bitcoin Actually Matters

There are two reasons I keep coming back to. First, when you pay with Bitcoin, you don’t need to hold fiat — and fiat sucks, we all know that. Every day you hold fiat, you’re losing purchasing power. Second, and this one is more uncomfortable: if we don’t use Bitcoin peer-to-peer, we might lose the ability to do so later.

If most people only touch Bitcoin through exchanges, banks, and other gatekeepers, those gatekeepers will set the conditions. They can raise fees, restrict access, and slowly turn Bitcoin into something permissioned. And a permissioned Bitcoin is a Bitcoin that has lost its core value.

The “Bitcoin Is Not for Paying” Narrative Is Nonsense

I see it everywhere — people wearing Bitcoin ties, stacking sats, bullish on the price, and then paying for their coffee in dollars. The idea seems to be: sit on Bitcoin for ten years, get rich, job done. But what do you actually do after those ten years if you never built the network to use it freely?

Warren Buffett once said something that sounds like an attack on Bitcoin but is actually just true: if all Bitcoin were held by one person, it would have zero value. The value comes from the network of people who can interact with it. Every transaction you make is a node in that network.

Minority Influence and Your Personal Network

When I used to offer someone a choice — Revolut or Bitcoin — they’d always pick Revolut. But when I started saying “I only accept Bitcoin for this,” something different happened. People figured it out, found it easier than expected, and next time it was even smoother. That’s minority influence. A small, consistent group changes behavior around them.

You don’t need a merchant directory to live on Bitcoin. Build your own proxy network — friends, family, colleagues who will exchange for you when a shop doesn’t accept it directly. The more of these people you have, the more liquid and resilient your personal Bitcoin economy becomes.

My grandpa used to say: even a loss is a business. You don’t need to profit on every transaction. Sometimes what you gain is reputation, trust, and a stronger network — and that compounds over time.

Be Brave, Be the Beacon

If you’ve been in Bitcoin long enough, you know more than most people around you. Use that. Push your friends toward self-custody — even if they don’t understand why yet. A friend once handed me a Trezor and said “if you’re serious, you need this, you’ll understand later.” He was right. I’m grateful. Your friends will be too.

If there’s no Bitcoin community in your area, start one. It doesn’t take much — just show up and say “let’s grab a beer and talk Bitcoin.” Be the lighthouse. Use your Trezor. Pay in Bitcoin whenever you can. Stay ungovernable, keep Bitcoin permissionless, and build the network one transaction at a time.