Hack Forums
Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Printable Version

+- Hack Forums (https://hackforums.net)
+-- Forum: Money (https://hackforums.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=241)
+--- Forum: Crypto Currency (https://hackforums.net/forumdisplay.php?fid=380)
+--- Thread: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment (/showthread.php?tid=6319198)



Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Omniscient - Feb 5, 2026

I was thinking a couple nights ago what if someone had 50,000 BTC back when it was in the pennies stage.

The idea is you'd sell at every $1, $10, $100 and so on incremental 10x mark. I plugged this scenario into AI.

Essentially you'd have nearly $100m in cash and still $75m in BTC value.

Crazy right?


AI Quote: Let’s do it cleanly and mechanically, step by step. No assumptions, no hand-waving.

You start with 50,000 BTC in 2011.

Each time the price increases by 10×, you sell half of whatever BTC you have left.


## Step-by-step breakdown

### 1️⃣ At $1
BTC before sale: 50,000
Sell half: 25,000 BTC Cash received: 25,000 × $1 = $25,000
BTC remaining: 25,000


### 2️⃣ At $10
Sell half of 25,000 = 12,500 BTC
Cash received: 12,500 × $10 = $125,000 BTC remaining: 12,500


### 3️⃣ At $100

Sell half of 12,500 = 6,250 BTC Cash received: 6,250 × $100 = $625,000
BTC remaining: 6,250


### 4️⃣ At $1,000
Sell half of 6,250 = 3,125 BTC
Cash received: 3,125 × $1,000 = $3,125,000 BTC remaining: 3,125


### 5️⃣ At $10,000

Sell half of 3,125 = 1,562.5 BTC Cash received: 1,562.5 × $10,000 = $15,625,000
BTC remaining: 1,562.5


### 6️⃣ At $100,000
Sell half of 1,562.5 = 781.25 BTC
Cash received: 781.25 × $100,000 = $78,125,000 BTC remaining: 781.25 BTC


## 💰 Total cash accumulated

Add it all up:

$25,000 $125,000
$625,000 $3,125,000
$15,625,000 $78,125,000

### 👉 Total cash = $97,650,000


## 🪙 BTC still held at $100,000

781.25 BTC remaining Value at $100,000/BTC:

$78,125,000


## 📊 Final position at $100,000 BTC
Cash: $97,650,000
BTC: 781.25 BTC BTC value: $78,125,000

### 🔥 Total net worth:

> $175,775,000


## Key insight (why this strategy is powerful)

You never run out of BTC You de-risk early
You still benefit massively from long-term upside This is essentially a logarithmic DCA-out strategy, which is mathematically optimal for extreme exponential assets

If you want, I can:

Show what happens if you sell ⅓ instead of ½ Plot this as a curve
Compare this to HODL vs all-in sell
* Show tax-optimized variants of this strategy

Just tell me.






RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - flyingduck - Feb 5, 2026

(Feb 5, 2026 12:37 PM)Omniscient Wrote:  I was thinking a couple nights ago what if someone had 50,000 BTC back when it was in the pennies stage.

The idea is you'd sell at every $1, $10, $100 and so on incremental 10x mark. I plugged this scenario into AI.

Essentially you'd have nearly $100m in cash and still $75m in BTC value.

Crazy right?


AI Quote: Let’s do it cleanly and mechanically, step by step. No assumptions, no hand-waving.

You start with 50,000 BTC in 2011.

Each time the price increases by 10×, you sell half of whatever BTC you have left.


## Step-by-step breakdown

### 1️⃣ At $1
BTC before sale: 50,000
Sell half: 25,000 BTC Cash received: 25,000 × $1 = $25,000
BTC remaining: 25,000


### 2️⃣ At $10
Sell half of 25,000 = 12,500 BTC
Cash received: 12,500 × $10 = $125,000 BTC remaining: 12,500


### 3️⃣ At $100

Sell half of 12,500 = 6,250 BTC Cash received: 6,250 × $100 = $625,000
BTC remaining: 6,250


### 4️⃣ At $1,000
Sell half of 6,250 = 3,125 BTC
Cash received: 3,125 × $1,000 = $3,125,000 BTC remaining: 3,125


### 5️⃣ At $10,000

Sell half of 3,125 = 1,562.5 BTC Cash received: 1,562.5 × $10,000 = $15,625,000
BTC remaining: 1,562.5


### 6️⃣ At $100,000
Sell half of 1,562.5 = 781.25 BTC
Cash received: 781.25 × $100,000 = $78,125,000 BTC remaining: 781.25 BTC


## 💰 Total cash accumulated

Add it all up:

$25,000 $125,000
$625,000 $3,125,000
$15,625,000 $78,125,000

### 👉 Total cash = $97,650,000


## 🪙 BTC still held at $100,000

781.25 BTC remaining Value at $100,000/BTC:

$78,125,000


## 📊 Final position at $100,000 BTC
Cash: $97,650,000
BTC: 781.25 BTC BTC value: $78,125,000

### 🔥 Total net worth:

> $175,775,000


## Key insight (why this strategy is powerful)

You never run out of BTC You de-risk early
You still benefit massively from long-term upside This is essentially a logarithmic DCA-out strategy, which is mathematically optimal for extreme exponential assets

If you want, I can:

Show what happens if you sell ⅓ instead of ½ Plot this as a curve
Compare this to HODL vs all-in sell
* Show tax-optimized variants of this strategy

Just tell me.




a basic but very wise strategy to risk trading. i have a similar concept with different exit points :)


RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Game - Feb 5, 2026

That’s smart and avoids some risk along the journey. I like the thought behind it & it means you get to enjoy it while it grows at the same time.

The reward of holding though, is $5,000,000,000 in BTC. (With the calc of 50,000 x $100,000)

Not many would be strong enough to hold on to that amount for that length of time with how volatile it’s been throughout it’s tenure.


RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Mewtwo - Feb 5, 2026

(Feb 5, 2026 02:04 PM)Game Wrote:  That’s smart and avoids some risk along the journey. I like the thought behind it & it means you get to enjoy it while it grows at the same time.

The reward of holding though, is $5,000,000,000 in BTC. (With the calc of 50,000 x $100,000)

Not many would be strong enough to hold on to that amount for that length of time with how volatile it’s been throughout it’s tenure.

Exactly what your point is. I don’t think anyone would ever think BTC would cross $1000, or $100, if bought in the pennies. You’re better off having someone knock you out when you buy the BTC and remember 15 years later that it’s on your old PC somehow


RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Aeowulf - Feb 5, 2026

Man, if I could go back and do it all again, I'd have bet the house on it. Then bought dozens of houses with it.

I knew about it earlier than most.... and didn't mess with it, like an idiot.


RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Noble - Feb 5, 2026

(Feb 5, 2026 08:39 PM)Aeowulf Wrote:  Man, if I could go back and do it all again, I'd have bet the house on it. Then bought dozens of houses with it.

I knew about it earlier than most.... and didn't mess with it, like an idiot.

You say that now because of how BTC moved. Back then, you had no clue what BTC would do, so you didn't take on the risk in investing heavily in it.


RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Hackers - Feb 5, 2026

This is a good way to look at it because it's much more realistic to do it this way either by choice or circumstance than it is to hold onto all of it for all of this time.


RE: Selling 50,000 BTC Thought Experiment - Aeowulf - Feb 6, 2026

(Feb 5, 2026 08:43 PM)Noble Wrote:  You say that now because of how BTC moved. Back then, you had no clue what BTC would do, so you didn't take on the risk in investing heavily in it.

I know, I know. Hindsight and all. But man wouldn't that have been fun?

Omni's having a thought experiment, let me have mine. 🤣