#10 Buy. Borrow. Die. The Secret Strategy the Ultra-Rich Don’t Want You to Understand
And Never Sell Bitcoin
For years I watched in silence as wealthy families and ultra-rich individuals designed invisible systems to protect and grow their wealth without ever passing through the hands of the State. It wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t something taught either. It didn’t need to be. Those on the inside already knew how it worked. And those outside just kept selling assets, paying taxes, and losing their edge.
That strategy is called Buy Borrow Die. Buy appreciating assets. Borrow against them. And die with everything structured. It sounds simple. But in practice, it’s an art.
With Bitcoin, this model is no longer a privilege reserved for families with offices in Zurich or foundations in Delaware. It becomes an accessible, powerful, and antifragile architecture for anyone who thinks in decades, not cycles.
First, you buy Bitcoin. You don’t trade it. You don’t leverage it on exchanges. You accumulate it methodically, preferably in cold storage, with an aggressive DCA calendar if you’re in accumulation mode, or with tactical buys when cycles allow. It’s your base asset. Not because it’s magical, but because it’s the only one with absolute ownership, fixed issuance, and real confiscation resistance.
Then you use it as collateral. But not just any way. The key lies in the structure and the platform. You should keep a conservative ratio, ideally between 15% and 25% loan-to-value, to avoid violent liquidations. If you hold 1 BTC at $100,000, you can borrow between $15,000 and $25,000. That’s it. Technically you can borrow more. But if you’re building on debt, stability matters more than greed.
With that fiat capital, you do two things:
Finance your lifestyle if you already live off assets
Or invest in assets that generate fiat cashflow: rentals, digital businesses, productive equity, tourist boats, anything that pays monthly without consuming Bitcoin
The difference is brutal. While the average person sells Bitcoin to buy a house, then starts from scratch in the next cycle, you simply take a loan, buy the asset, and in many cases, the cashflow that asset generates allows you to cover the loan interest. Or even pay it off entirely.
At the moment, I don’t use any specific platform. I’m studying alternatives and observing the space. There are decentralized solutions evolving quickly, especially in multi-chain environments and protocols with self-custodied collateral. But there are also centralized options already working and offering relatively smooth access, such as Binance, Nexo, or YouHodler. Even traditional banks like JP Morgan have announced they’ll offer Bitcoin-backed loans to private banking clients. This is just beginning.
The structure I aim to implement combines a holding company in Spain with Bitcoin ownership outside the parent company’s balance sheet. It’s a model that separates operational risk from asset risk, and allows for fiscal flexibility without conflicting with local regulations. It’s not finalized, but the design is clear: the Bitcoin must be protected, accessible, and outside the reach of ordinary operations.
When the time to die arrives, and it will, that BTC will pass to my heirs within a preconfigured structure. Whether that’s a trust, a holding with pre-designated shareholders, or a foundation, what matters is that death doesn’t trigger a sale. There’s no capital gains tax. No need to unwind positions. Just a transfer of control.
Buy. Borrow. Die.
It’s simple. It’s powerful. And above all, it’s repeatable. You only need three things:
An asset no one can take from you (Bitcoin)
A system that lets you extract value without selling (BTC-backed loans)
A structure that protects that system even when you’re gone (holding, trust, SL, foundation)
Do it right, and you can live without ever selling. Do it wrong, and you’ll end up selling at the worst time, paying unnecessary taxes, and leaving a mess for your children.
The strategy of the ultra-rich is no longer theirs alone. It’s available to anyone willing to think like an architect of their own freedom. And now, with Bitcoin, you can build it without asking anyone for permission.