• The $5 Coffee Experiment: What If You Bought Bitcoin Instead of a Latte?
  • The Cash You Spent
  • The Bitcoin You Could Have Had
  • The Opportunity Cost

Cover Image generated by Nano Banana. Math done in google sheets. Written on longform.space.

§The $5 Coffee Experiment: What If You Bought Bitcoin Instead of a Latte?

We all have the habit. You wake up, you’re tired, you swipe your card for a $5 coffee. It’s just five bucks, right?

But lets look at what it cost you long term.

Imagine that starting January 1, 2020, instead of buying that coffee you bought $5 worth of Bitcoin. Every single day. For six years. Ending January 1, 2026.

Here is what that actually looks like.

§The Cash You Spent

Over 6 years (2,190 days), you spent: $10,945.00

If you bought the coffee, that money is gone.

§The Bitcoin You Could Have Had

If you had auto-bought $5 of bitcoin every morning instead:

• 2020: You bought the fear.
• 2021: You bought the noise.
• 2022: You lowered your average cost while others sold.
• 2023–2025: You accumulated while the market matured.

Based on the daily averages over that period, you wouldn’t just have your $11k back.

You would be holding roughly about 0.41 BTC.

§The Opportunity Cost

Look at the price of Bitcoin today. We currently sit around $90k on 1/8/26, so your 0.41 BTC is now worth ~$37,000.

That daily habit didn’t cost you $5. It cost you nearly half a whole Bitcoin.

You literally pissed away $37k.

This is the difference between a high and low time preference. One evaporates instantly while the other compounds. Next time you pull out your wallet, do the real math.

Low time preference wins.