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Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
I barely knew my grandma, but she left me $85,000 when she died. I was able to take 2 years off work and build my dream business.
Rasheda Williams' paternal grandmother was always very private. When she died, her grandmother revealed her extended family and left most of her money to Williams. The $85,000 from inheritance and life insurance allowed Williams to take two years off work. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Rasheda Williams, founder of Empowered Flower Girl. It has been edited for length and clarity. It's hard to describe my relationship with my grandmother, Marguerite. You might say it was interesting. Marguerite was my dad's mother. After my parents divorced, my dad moved to another state, but Marguerite always came to events like graduation and birthdays. In that way, we were close. But our relationship felt very surface-level. She showed up for my milestones, but I never really knew her. She was very private and kept me at a distance. I took her to a doctor's appointment once and asked a few questions. She shot me a look that said, "Mind your own business." That was how she was — always keeping people at arm's length. My dad died before his mother, so as Marguerite got older, I was her only living relative — or so I thought. When she was in her late 70s, I began to notice her house was in disarray, and she was struggling with hoarding. I encouraged her to move, but she refused. She was very stubborn. My grandma left me a note and all her important documents In 2015, when I was 34, I wasn't able to get a hold of Marguerite. I called the police to do a wellness check, and they found that she had died at home. The situation was a bit mysterious: She had written me a note referring to "the key to everything." A folder with her bank and insurance information was nearby. I assumed that was the key she was referring to. When I opened that folder, I saw Marguerite had about $55,000 in the bank. I was stunned. I couldn't believe my grandma had that much money while living the way she was. Marguerite's official cause of death was a heart attack. I'll never know if the note was there because she had a premonition that she was going to die. No matter what, I believe it was divine timing for both of us. I quit my job and lived off my inheritance for two years Between the money in Marguerite's accounts and life insurance policies, I received an inheritance of about $85,000. At the time, I was making about $53,000 a year working in communications for a university, so this was a lot of money for me. I knew immediately I wanted to leave my job. I wasn't fulfilled at work. I had a side project, Empowered Flower Girl, that addresses bullying in young people. That was my life's work, but it was always on the back burner because of my job. It took a year for Marguerite's estate to move through probate court. During that year, I made a strategic plan for my life. It wasn't too different from the marketing plans I was used to making at work. I would quit my day job and write a book for Empowered Flower Girl—something I'd been putting off for years. Once I received the money, I put about $15,000 into emergency savings. I used the remaining $70,000 to live off of for the next two years. Although that wasn't a ton of money, I was still able to treat myself to some things, including a trip to the Caribbean. I wrote my book, began speaking professionally, and advanced Empowered Flower Girl. After two years, I started picking up freelance work. I felt my career was much more aligned with my purpose. I was living for a living, and no longer dreading going to work. I later learned about a family I didn't know existed It turns out, however, that the biggest catalyst for change after Marguerite's death wasn't the money she left me: It was the realization of a family secret. When I went through her papers, I learned about my grandmother's stepdaughter, whom I never knew existed. I also learned that Marguerite had cousins and extended family I had never known. Finding that family helped me feel whole. I fostered relationships with them and deepened relationships with my friends. Marguerite's death was a wake-up call for me. Although she was in her 80s when she died, her death reinforced to me that life is short. I want to spend my time with the people and projects that are most important to me. Thanks to my grandmother, I am able to do that. Read the original article on Business Insider Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Do I have to pay my student loans if I'm unemployed?
You still need to make payments or make alternative arrangements with your lender while unemployed. If you make no payments, your loans will eventually go into default. Forbearance, deferment and alternative payment plans are some of the options available if you're unemployed and cannot make loan payments. The options available differ based on whether you have federal or private student loans. If you're unemployed and have student loans, you may be wondering what to do about your monthly payments. You're still need to make your student loan payments unless you request a specific form of relief from your lender. In other words, your student loans don't automatically go into deferment or forbearance once you become unemployed. Lenders that do offer periods of forbearance typically limit those periods to a few months at a time and a few years total over the life of your loan, so depending on whether you've taken advantage of one before, the option may not be available. In such cases, you would need to continue paying your loans while unemployed. Major changes are here to come for the federal student loan program. See how these changes may affect you. Learn more There are a number of things that can happen if you don't pay your student loans while you're unemployed. Consequences differ depending on how long you don't pay and your situation. Here's what could happen: Your loans become delinquent: This happens if you are a few days late on your payment, and your loans remain that way until you pay the past-due amount or change your payment plan. Your loans go into default: If you continue to make no payments, your loans will officially go into default; this happens after 270 days of nonpayment for most federal student loans, and typically after 90 days of nonpayment for private loans. You'll owe late fees: In the short term, late payments mean getting hit with late fees. These may vary depending on your lender and loan servicer. Your credit score suffers: Loan servicers report late payments and defaults to the credit bureaus, which means that your credit score will start to drop. You'll struggle to get a loan in the future: Your credit score taking a nose dive hurts your chances of borrowing in the future, whether it's applying for a credit card, an auto loan or a mortgage. You may lose future earnings: You could lose out on earnings until your loan is paid. For instance, your tax refund, federal benefit payments and wages could all be garnished to pay off your outstanding student loan debt — so it's important to get ahead of your student loans before you hit that default stage. Stressed about the Big Beautiful Bill and what it means for your student loans? Afraid of going into default? See how the bill will affect borrowers in states with the highest number of student loan delinquencies. Learn more If you're unemployed and looking for ways to adjust your student loan payments, you have a few options, but they depend on whether you have federal or private student loans. Unlike private student loans, federal student loans offer standardized benefits. Because of the OBBBA, some of these options will be phased out by next year and will have updates about them instead: Income-driven repayment plans base your monthly payments on your income and household size. The downside is that you would be placed on a new repayment plan lasting 20 or 25 years. Currently the income-based repayment plan (IBR) may be your best option. With the passage of OBBBA, only two repayment options will be available for students who take out federal loans on or after July 1, 2026: a standard repayment plan or the new income-based repayment plan called the Repayment Assistance Program (RAP). Other existing repayment plans, such as the income-contingent repayment plan (ICR) and the graduated repayment plan, will be discontinued. If you are under the SAVE plan, your interest will start to accrue in August. Bankrate's take: IBR will be available until RAP can officially be rolled out, so if you are on a plan that will be discontinued, you will need to switch out – at least to IBR – by July 1, 2028. OBBBA has slashed unemployment and economic hardship deferment, which would have allowed you to pause your payments for up to three years. For students whose loans will be disbursed after July 1, 2027, these reasons will no longer be a valid for deferment. Until then, you'll need to be receiving unemployment benefits or be unable to find full-time employment to fulfill this deferment qualification. You can complete an unemployment deferment form to apply. The questionnaire will let you know if you're eligible for deferment or not. You'll send this form, along with any relevant documentation, to your loan servicer. Bankrate's take: If you plan to apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) or IBR, know that applying for deferment can impact your eligibility. Another option is forbearance. Like deferment, forbearance is typically limited to a few months at a time, so it's not a good long-term option. Interest typically accrues during forbearance, but for most loan types, the interest won't be capitalized. Instead, it will be rolled into your regular monthly payments once forbearance ends. The one exception is FFEL Program loans. These are not managed by the Department of Education, so they work differently. If you don't pay the interest during forbearance, it will capitalize when forbearance ends. The process of applying for forbearance is very similar to deferment. Fill out the appropriate form based on the type of forbearance you want to apply for. Provide the form and any supporting documents to your loan servicer. Keep in mind: Remember to keep paying your loans until you are granted forbearance. Missed payments can impact your loan status and eligibility for forbearance. Your loan servicer gets to decide if it will give you general forbearance. You can apply for general forbearance with any of these loan types: Direct Loans (OBBBA will eliminate graduate PLUS loans) Federal Family Education (FFEL) Program loans Perkins Loans If you qualify for mandatory forbearance, your service is required to give it to you. Reasons to qualify for mandatory forbearance include: Americorps service Department of Defense Student Loan Repayment Program Medical or Dental Internship or Residency National Guard Duty Student Loan Debt Burden Teacher Loan Forgiveness Changes to forbearance Note that the OBBBA has reduced forbearance from 12 to nine months. You can reapply if the need occurs and you are eligible. Generally, periods of forbearance don't count towards PSLF or IDR, but there are some exceptions. Check with your servicer to understand the specifics of each forbearance option. Under the OBBBA, the graduated repayment plan will eventually be eliminated on July 1, 2026. If you are currently on the plan, this will continue to be available after the date, but one important thing to keep in mind is that if you borrow more federal money after the aforementioned deadline, you will lose access to the graduated repayment plan. Private student loan lenders all set their own options for lowering student loan payments, so the programs available depend on your lender, but you may find options for the following: Most lenders offer deferment or forbearance to pause your loan payments for a few months at a time. Most lenders cap these programs at 12 or 24 months over the life of your loan. Interest may or may not accrue – this varies by lender. Talk to your lender about the details of their deferment or forbearance options. For deferment, the application process depends on your lender. Many will have instructions for applying on their websites or in your online account, though you'll likely have to call your lender to find out your options. If you're struggling with student loan payments and your lender doesn't offer deferment, you may choose to refinance instead. In this case, you'll still be on the hook for student loan payments, but you may be able to negotiate a lower monthly bill. If you aren't sure what your lender offers, it's worth asking. Many lenders would rather work with you on a compromise than see you default on your loans, so give your lender a call to see what options are available. Thinking of refinancing your student loan and want to shop around for the best rate? Take a look at Bankrate's picks of top refinance lenders. Learn more If you're unemployed and having trouble repaying your student loans, contact your lender or loan servicer immediately to see if it offers deferment, forbearance or unemployment protection. Continue paying your student loans until your lender approves you for forbearance or another alternative repayment option to avoid negative consequences, like late fees and severe harm to your credit.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
This Investing Expert Says Bonds Are Back — and Easier Than Ever
Bonds can be boring. But bonds are a lifeline for most investors and retirees who want less drama in their investment accounts. Read More: Find Out: Investing in bonds has changed over the years, and in J. David Stein's recent podcast, he outlined how bond investing has evolved, and why it's easier than ever to add bonds to your portfolio. Here's what you need to know. Bonds are a fixed-income investment that offer regular interest payments and a (potential) modest return on investment. Bonds are loans to government or private entities that pay a fixed or variable interest rate. When you invest in an individual bond, you are lending money to a business or government entity that agrees to pay back your principal investment, along with interest payments. In general, bonds are seen as reliable fixed-income investments due to the fixed interest payments and low volatility. And bonds help investors diversify outside of the stock market when building a retirement portfolio. Check Out: There are several ways to invest in bonds. You can purchase bonds by opening up a brokerage account (or individual retirement account) at a broker that supports bonds. Not all investing apps let you buy bonds, but most major brokers do (such as Vanguard, Schwab and Fidelity). You can find a bond that you want to purchase, open a brokerage account or IRA, and then invest in that bond. There are several types of bonds you can invest in. Here are a few of the most popular ways to invest in bonds: U.S. Treasurys: U.S. Treasurys are a short-term or long-term loan to the U.S. government. Treasury bonds are 20- or 30-year bonds that pay a fixed interest payment every six months. Corporate bonds: Corporate bonds are loans to businesses that can pay higher rates, but they also come at a higher risk of default. These bonds are available in various durations and amounts. Bond mutual funds: Bond mutual funds are professionally managed funds that hold various types of bonds based on a specific investment strategy. Bond mutual funds allow you to hold a wide range of bonds within a single fund. Bond index funds: Bond index funds are passively managed funds that hold a selection of bonds that are part of a bond index. These funds have low fees and can hold thousands of bonds within a single fund. In the recent 'Money For the Rest Of Us' podcast, Stein detailed the history of investing in bonds, and how it used to be much more difficult to access bonds. 'Bonds were generally illiquid. They traded over the phone with dealers,' Stein said. 'They didn't trade on an exchange like stocks.' But now it's become much easier to purchase bonds without needing to manually make trades or call your broker. And while you can buy individual bonds (like U.S. Treasury bonds), an easy way to add bonds to your portfolio is through bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 'So we have seen the rise of bond ETFs … Now there are over $2 trillion just in the U.S. invested in bonds via exchange-traded funds,' Stein said. According to Stein, ETFs have made 'bonds easier, cheaper, and more accessible than ever.' You can find bond ETFs, like Vanguard's Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF (BND), at most brokers. And since they are ETFs, you can buy and sell them with no fees with most brokers as well. Bonds are a staple in most retirement portfolios due to their low volatility and regular coupon payments to provide retirees fixed income. But bonds are a 'lower risk, lower return' type of investment and may not grow your portfolio as well as investing in the stock market. If you're wondering how to add bonds to your portfolio, what asset allocation you should choose and how bonds fit in your financial goals, it can be a good idea to meet with a licensed financial planner to create a financial plan. More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 The New Retirement Problem Boomers Are Facing Mark Cuban Says Trump's Executive Order To Lower Medication Costs Has a 'Real Shot' -- Here's Why This article originally appeared on This Investing Expert Says Bonds Are Back — and Easier Than Ever Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Forbes
10-06-2025
- Business
- Forbes
The Bitcoin Corporate Treasury Playbook -For Financial Leaders
Bitcoin treasuries have proliferated in 2025. Bitcoin corporate treasuries (BCTs) have proliferated in 2025. Companies can see the dollar weakening, global tensions rising, and monetary policy growing increasingly unpredictable. There are a broad range of bitcoin corporate treasury company types, from pure play acquisition vehicles to operating companies focused on wholly different industries. Beyond this, there are public and private companies with different financial tools available to them. Within the public domain, there is further delineation between market participants, depending on the liquidity of their stock and the accompanying derivatives market. Further, companies have different strategies for differentiation, risk tolerance, and messaging. All of these factors and more play a role in the tactical decisions made by BCTs. Define Goals Make USD or BTC? First, a company must know if their true goal is to accumulate USD or BTC. If USD, then the firm will approach trading and retention of the BTC differently. This could include a willingness to hedge downside and to sell BTC during certain market events. In addition, the use of btc-secured loans may also change in their appeal. The risk of liquidation into USD changes depending on this goal. Further, the dollar value of a public company's stock will likely also be strongly effected by adopting a BTC treasury. The aggressiveness of selling shares for equity holders may also be a function of which asset you choose to measure wealth with. Grow mNAV or BPS or something else? Pioneered by Strategy, a number of companies have started to share their holdings with metrics like mNAV and bitcoin per share. These are ways of expressing the degree of leverage and bitcoin exposure a company offers. In our opinion, this metric is somewhat misleading as shareholders do not have a direct claim on bitcoin held in a corporate treasury, but nevertheless, it is common practice. There is no right goal here. Largely, these metrics are a marketing exercise used to differentiate from competitors. As such, a company needs to determine what metrics it thinks matter most for its investor base. There are a slew of other metrics that could be a focus. This is all new and room exists for innovation. Metaplanet provides clear reporting info on their website. Risk Tolerance Corporate treasury leaders need to also understand how much risk they can tolerate. Volatility is a feature of bitcoin. This can lead to rapid gains as measured in USD, but also drawdowns. Companies moving in this direction need to understand how variation in price can affect the ability to meet operational expenses. The volatility will also filter into the share price of public companies. Are shareholders ready for this kind of experience? Are the leaders of the company confident in their position during uncertainty? Current Financial Position The answer to this question may largely come down to the financial strength of the company. Its much easier to have conviction when you rest on solid financial footing. Cash On Hand Does the company intend to retain some USD? How much of existing cash are they looking to convert? Revenue This may be a function of the amount of revenue the company produces. One of the challenges of bitcoin is that it has no cash flow, like gold. As such, paying expenses will require other income streams, a sale of bitcoin, or intelligent trading to put the bitcoin to work. Is there some strategy in place for converting income to bitcoin? Having clear policy will result in better decision making during times of market uncertainty. Profitability The sad truth is that most companies that have transitioned to btc treasuries have done so because their main business was failing. If you look at the historic income of companies like Strategy, GameStop, and Metaplanet, you will find declining returns that led to a sharp pivot. While this may work for early adopters with strong conviction, the time for this may have already passed. Companies taking this approach will benefit from either a strong core business that can provide a foundation for growth, a differentiated approach to accumulating BTC (like Nakamoto or Strive), or both. Alternatively, companies can be very lean, focusing purely on financial engineering to accumulating more btc by accessing capital in public markets. BTC on Hand Another determinant of treasury strategy stems from the current BTC position of the firm. Companies already holding substantial BTC can branch out to more diversified offerings. Most obviously, Strategy has rolled out a number of debt and convert instruments that address different aspects of capital markets investors. Effectively, this is a way of selling volatility across different risk appetites to the market. In addition, btc-secured loans can be another tool for those already holding btc. Miners often take these loans to finance additional growth and to make additional btc acquisitions. Private or Public Private companies and public ones have different considerations and opportunities for a btc treasury. Most simply, private companies have greater freedom and ease to adopt bitcoin into their finances while public ones often have greater access to capital markets but greater disclosure requirements. If Private Cap Table The ability for a private company to hold btc will come down to control. If ownership is highly concentrated, then the company can do whatever the majority owners and board dictate. Go Public Plans? Does the company intend to go public at some point in the future? This will require diligent financial records and a clear history of any btc purchases prior to going public. Debt Available? Lastly, private companies tend to have less access to scalable debt instruments. Nevertheless, it is possible to sell convertible notes or take out lines of credit. It's important to make sure a company does not agree to unserviceable debt that could jeopardize the long term health of the company. If Public Public companies have the most tools at their disposal to execute on a scalable btc treasury approach. Trading Vol The lifeblood of these strategies stems from speculation on the stock. The market cap of the company can exceed the book value of the bitcoin on its balance sheet. This occurs via a combination of speculation of future growth, pure marketing hype, and other income sources of the business that justify a higher valuation. This volatility allows for the company to sell both equity and debt into the market. Derivatives Market The ultimate goal of a pubco btc company should be to produce a robust derivatives market. With sufficient volume, a slew of additional strategies become available that offer low risk participation for institutional investors. For fixed income and private credit firms, a derivatives market allows them to purchase debt in a company and capture the delta using short futures and options positions to offset their long exposure. This is a powerful combination at the heart of Strategy's fundraising success with 0% debt. Convertible Debt? Even without this derivatives market, convertible debt sales will be attractive to some investors. This offers buyers optionality, with debt available that still offers potential upside. Without derivatives markets, it will be more difficult to find 0% debt. Effectively, this debt is like a future at the money sale of equity, with dilution occurring to shareholders if the stock is successful. Companies with strong income will be more able to sell debt since their ability to service the debt will be greater. ATM Strategy Lastly, companies can simply sell more shares into the market for USD they can use to purchase BTC. This is another method of capitalizing on speculation and volatility. Companies engaging in this approach need to keep a close eye on their target mNAV. Overselling will kill momentum of the stock and break trust with committed shareholders. The sale of shares can be done methodically, looking at metrics like trading volume and market book depth to assess how much to sell and when. Additional Strategies Additional creative strategies have started to emerge for companies to enter into the space. This is a natural progression as companies compete for mindshare and investment. Leaders would be wise to not make overly risky decisions that will fail during an inevitable pull back in btc price. Jurisdictional Arbitrage - Nakamoto Nakamoto recently raised $710MM for their SPAC. The company aims to launch more pubcos across the world to run the 'Strategy' strategy of bitcoin treasury adoption. The firm has been heavily involved with Metaplanet and already owns several other listed companies. This allows the company to offer centralized services with greater efficiency. Most importantly, they can tap into foreign capital markets that may have limits on their ability to access other btc treasury plays. Activist Takeovers - Strive Strive is an asset manager that raised $750MM for bitcoin 'alpha strategies.' Though their full plans are not yet public, the company intends to take over companies with stocks trading below the value of their balance sheet and pivot them into btc treasury companies, stripping away other business functions and, at the minimum, capturing the delta between their assets and share price. In addition, the company will engage in more aggressive trading strategies Multi-Product Tranches - Strategy As discussed before, Strategy has rolled out several variations of debt and equity exposure on their stock. These independent ticker symbols offer investors different types of risk exposure and protections that meet different flavors of investment. They have coupled this with ATM shares to build a fundraising juggernaut. Their robust derivatives market and investor base allows them to create these more granular products. Active Management - MARA Wisely, MARA has started to put their bitcoin to work. They announced last year a lending program to generate income. In addition, they announced in May a partnership with Two Prime, my company, to generate yield via derivatives trading as well. In concert, this allows MARA to generate additional income from their assets with measured risk. Hedging Though not popular in speculative circles, companies could consider responsibly hedging their position. Though this has the potential to cap upside, it can be a method of accumulating btc in a downturn and of staying in business while others perish. There is likely an investor type that wants more risk-managed exposure to bitcoin with controlled downside beta. Lending Two flavors of lending are available. Like MARA, firms can lend out their btc unsecured for a yield. In addition, firms can use BTC as collateral to take out USD loans. This can reduce the tax burden of selling BTC. The cash can be used for a broad array of purposes, including buying more BTC. That being said, leveraged exposure to BTC is usually more efficiently achieved through futures markets. Risk-Defined Asset Management Uniquely, Deribit offers derivatives markets with BTC available as margin. This means that BTC holders can trade options and futures contracts while still holding the BTC. Profits are paid out as BTC as well. Firms like mine Two Prime, with experience trading volatility, can produce high-sharpe returns while using defined-risk trades. Others offering derivatives products include NYDIG and Wave Financial. Though no losses are never guaranteed, trade structures can guarantee a max loss of a position, using things like call and put spreads to cap downside. These are low-margin strategies often deployed by public markets, including many in the oil and gas industries. Financial Services Lastly, these treasury services can grow quite complex. Smaller firms will need to outsource these services. PubCos than can prove out strong solutions can also look at servicing others in the industry. Lending and trading programs as well as effective ATM sales can all be provided as a turn-key solution to new entrants. Large energy companies like Exxon have already proven this approach in energy markets. Recommendations and Consensus BTC is a polarizing and volatile industry. Financial matters are not the only aspect of decision making, especially for large corporations. Recommendations and consensus are critical aspects to succeeding as BTC is sure to test even the most devout believers. True Goals and Motivations Must Be Understood and Accepted By Leadership The roots of bitcoin come from libertarian believers with strong beliefs. Many have held BTC from $1 to $100,000, due to a lack of faith in the current financial system. New entrants likely do not have the same conviction. Before going down this path, it's important to understand motivations. Is it a desperate pivot for a failing company? Is it to make USD as quickly as possible? Is it to accumulate BTC long term? All of these answers are perfectly acceptable, but must be known to guide decision making. Planning for Volatility Bitcoin is not a smooth ride. It can move 30% in a week. Corporations need to have clarity on how they respond to these market moves. Do We Ever Sell BTC? Does a big drawn down or move up result in taking profits? This may be a financially rational move, but also a negative signal to shareholders looking for leverage. Do We Buy Back Shares? If mNAV falls below 0, as Grayscale's Trust famously did from 2022 - 2024, what does the company do? Logically, the company should sell btc and buy shares if the goal is to increase their bitcoin per share metric. However, again, this may not satisfy investors and could contribute to a downward spiral in price. Do We Change Tact in Variable Market Regimes? Three markets exist for bitcoin and stocks - Down, Flat, Up. Different strategies function well in different market regimes. Selling ATM shares into a bear market may prove challenging. Selling bitcoin volatility into a bull market could prove fatal. A firm should ask how they would approach these variable regimes since clear decision making is difficult during market stresses. Hedging - Oil and Gas Antecedents Oil and Gas industries are the most apt analogy to bitcoin. Bitcoin miners convert electricity into bitcoin and compete to do this as cost efficiently as possible. They produce a commodity that can fluctuate in price. If you look at the history of these markets, these companies only truly begin to flourish when they started using derivatives to manage cash flows with predictability. This may seem unpalatable to bitcoin speculators, but also can prevent many negative consequences we have seen for bitcoin treasuries of the past. The Future More companies will adopt hedging strategies in the future. It will become easier to find financing for those that do protect their downside. This will allow for greater scalability of these companies as the market consolidates. Companies would be wise to evaluate true OpEX of their business and ensure a downside move won't end the company. ATM Strategy A successful ATM strategy is a function of understanding mNAV goals and trading volume of a stock. By selling via TWAP and VWAP algos during peak hours, the impact of sales can be reduced. Additionally, clearly stated goals of mNAV can help shareholders have greater trust in the program. Ultimately, this is a high risk approach that can fray trust if used overly aggressively. Debt Strategy Understanding what debt types are available to a company can help determine growth plans. Very few companies will be able to completely replicate the Strategy approach due to limited derivatives markets. Nevertheless, debt will be available. Convertible notes are essentially an additional lever of dilution, just with a delay. The terms of debt and what happens in the event of default are critical focus areas. This area will definitely result in the collapse of some treasuries in the future, whereby onerous terms will force companies to sell and/or interest rates will become too costly to sustain during a bear market. This can create a death spiral of loss of investor trust, share selling, and forced btc selling. Relation to Additional Business Lines Companies should also ask if a BTC treasury is being created to support the business or if the business' income is in place to support a BTC treasury. The use of funds and strategies around cash needs will largely depend on this decision. Public Communications Especially for PubCos, attention is a major asset. Communicating strongly about a company's approach to BTC treasury as well as what is differentiated is essential to success. Recently, we saw GameStop fail at this, only partially dipping into the market with a relatively small buy relative to their balance sheet. Further, the CEO gave a lukewarm interview that didn't excite retail buyers. As a result, share prices fell over 10% on the day of the announcement. With over 80 public companies now adopting a BTC treasury strategy, consistent and clear communication that taps into the culture of the investors you wish to work with is an essential aspect of execution. Implementation Custody BTC needs to be held securely somewhere. Typically, US companies must keep assets at qualified custodian. This includes banks, broker/dealers, trust companies, and other regulated financial entity types. Beyond fees, it's important to understand the custodians claim on your btc. If they go bankrupt, do they have title of your btc? Do they have insurance for risk of loss? There are many nuances to this that have resulted in unexpected issues for creditors in the past. Financial Controls With both cash and btc, standard security practices need to be followed. Multiple signatories on any asset movements as well as third party audits will be essential components of trust. Active Management If deciding to engage in active management of the btc, be it lending or trading, firms can either hire for roles internally or look to specialized asset managers in the space. It's critical to understand the risks involved with this. On the lending side, firms are taking counterparty risk. The size of borrowers' balance sheets and use of the BTC are important aspects of a diligence process. Duration and sizing must be carefully managed as well. On the active management side, defining goals and understanding the regulatory status of a manager are starting points. If done well, groups can generate additional btc with defined-risk losses. However, few firms have proven this out at sufficient scale. OTC Purchases How you buy BTC can have a big impact on your profitability. Most large purchasers are done via OTC counterparties. It is wise to have a few available so that you can compare pricing. Spreads can vary widely depending on the vendor. In addition, some offer single block purchases whereas others can use TWAP or VWAP algos to leg into positions over a number of hours or days. External Reporting Providing data to shareholders in a timely manner is essential. Strategy does a good job of this. Both bitcoin veterans and those new to investing in the industry are skeptical of companies in the space. Transparency is rewarded. Notably, Strategy does not actually share proof of their assets on the blockchain, meaning the wallet addresses where they keep their assets. This is claimed to be a security issue, but other companies, like Metaplanet, are willing to share this info. Internal Reporting Internal reporting and organized finances must be maintained meticulously. Unlike typical financial assets, bitcoin is a bearer asset. If lost or misplaced, it is gone for good. Tracking the movement of funds and the success of KPIs will help steer a company towards better outcomes. Monitoring Active management of BTC will require additional monitoring. Trading strategies should be compared against risk and yield goals defined prior to commencing. Strategies can be adjusted dynamically based on changes to the company or the market. If engaging in lending, monitoring counterparties must be continually done as well. Quarterly reviews of balance sheets and future plans should be conducted. This goes both for unsecured BTC borrowers and secured BTC lenders. Evaluating Counterparties Bitcoin as an industry is maturing from a retail movement to an institutional one. Unlike most financial products, that come top down from institutions, BTC is unique in that it started on a grassroots level and moved upwards. As such, you will encounter a broad range of quality and integrity within the industry. Companies should aim to work with regulated counterparties. If US companies, it's simpler and safer to work with US firms. Further, anything that sounds too good to be true likely is. Nothing is risk-free and cautious is warranted. Conclusion 2025 has been the year of BTC corporate treasuries. A wide array of approaches and strategies exist for companies looking to enter this industry. Though BTC can offer outsized returns, it poses unique risks and technical requirements not fund in traditional finance. Clear-eyed understanding of what a company's goals are, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, will help guide sound decision making. Implementation of a plan, using strong counterparties in cost-efficient ways plays a decisive role in executing successfully. Though there will be errors and blow-ups in the future, BTC corporate treasuries are here to stay. Early adopters that can navigate this field well will reap the rewards. Disclosure: My company, Two Prime, recently switched to a bitcoin-only strategy and is working with partners that have bitcoin corporate treasuries.
