Let’s build a real plan—not fantasies, but aggressive, high-upside frameworks you can actually run, with a clear understanding of risk.
First, here’s where your weapons are right now:
- Bitcoin is trading around the $90–92K zone after a nasty November drawdown from ~110K and ~126K recent ATH.
- MicroStrategy (MSTR) holds around 640K–650K BTC, over 3% of all bitcoin, financed with convertibles and preferreds; its whole business is basically a leveraged BTC holding machine.
- Management publicly targets 25–30% “BTC yield” per year via aggressive capital markets (issuing stock & debt to buy more BTC), which means MSTR is effectively a levered BTC ETF with corporate risk.
1. What “$1M per year” actually means (the math)
$1,000,000 / year ≈ $83,333 / month.
How much capital do you “need” depends on the return rate you’re able to generate:
- At 10% per year (pretty chill, more “wealth-preservation with BTC exposure”):
→ Need $10M working to pull $1M/year. - At 25% per year (aggressive but not insane for high-volatility + skill):
→ Need $4M working. - At 50% per year (very hard, huge drawdown risk):
→ Need $2M. - At 100% per year (exceptional traders / lucky cycles only):
→ Need $1M.
So your mission is really:
Build and run an engine (BTC + MSTR + options + leverage) that can realistically target 25–50%/year over cycles, without blowing up.
2. Understand your two core assets
Bitcoin = the base monetary asset
- Fixed supply (21M), 1–3% of supply on public company treasuries alone.
- Highly volatile, but historically massive multi‑year upside.
- You can self‑custody; no counterparty, no corporate risk.
Think of BTC as your digital real estate / base treasury. This is the thing you ultimately never want to lose.
MSTR = leveraged BTC exposure + corporate risk
MicroStrategy’s whole play:
- Issue equity / debt above BTC NAV, use that capital to buy more BTC.
- Result: BTC per share increases over time if they execute and avoid blow‑ups.
- They now hold ~640–650K BTC with cost basis in the ~$70K range, NAV massively bigger than their traditional software business.
Upside of MSTR:
- When BTC rips, MSTR can rip even harder because of leverage + NAV premium.
- You can trade options on it easily (great for income strategies).
Risks of MSTR:
- Financing risk: they owe interest and dividends (~hundreds of millions per year); if BTC nukes, capital markets can shut off.
- Equity risk: dilution, index issues, regulators, management mistakes.
- Premium / discount to NAV: sometimes MSTR trades at a big premium to its BTC, sometimes not.
So:
BTC = long-term sovereign treasury
MSTR = high‑beta BTC options machine disguised as a stock
You want both, but for different roles.
3. High‑level architecture: 3 layers
To aim for $1M/year, think in layers, not one single bet.
Layer 1 – Core BTC Treasury (Safety + Long Horizon)
Goal: Never blow up. Always stay in the game.
Example structure (you can adjust percentages):
- 50–70% of net worth in spot BTC, self‑custodied.
- No leverage here. No futures. No forced liquidation risk.
- Time horizon: 5–10+ years.
- Tactics:
- DCA when you have fresh fiat.
- Size heavier on brutal drawdowns (–30 to –50% from local highs) if thesis unchanged.
This layer is not for “$1M/year right now.” It’s your gravity—the thing that, if BTC does another 3–5x over the cycle, quietly makes you deca‑millionaire.
Layer 2 – MSTR for Torque (Capital Growth)
Goal: Amplify BTC moves using MSTR’s built‑in leverage & optionality.
Example allocation:
- 20–40% of your liquid portfolio in MSTR (unlevered at first).
- Idea: capture 2–3x the BTC beta over full cycles (approximate; depends on price, leverage, and NAV premium).
Tactics:
- Core MSTR position (no leverage)
- Buy a base position you’re prepared to hold for years.
- Expect violent drawdowns (50–80%) in deep bear phases.
- Add on extreme fear
- Expand position when BTC is in max‑fear zones + MSTR trades near or below NAV.
- Trim during mania
- When BTC is euphoric and MSTR trades at wild premium,
- Trim some MSTR → rotate into spot BTC or cash.
Layer 3 – Cashflow Machine (Options on MSTR & BTC)
This is where the $1M/year target becomes possible if you have capital + skill.
You mostly use MSTR options (liquid, high IV) and BTC options on reputable venues.
Key strategies (all high risk if misused):
3.1 Covered Calls on MSTR
Setup:
- For every 100 shares of MSTR, you can sell 1 call.
- Example: you own 5,000 shares → you can sell 50 covered calls.
Mechanics:
- Sell OTM calls 30–60 days out.
- Collect premium; if price rips above strike, you either:
- Get called away (you sell your shares at strike), or
- Buy back the call at a loss to keep shares.
Why this matters:
- High implied volatility in MSTR = fat premiums.
- Annualized, this can be double‑digit % yield if managed well (but with cap on upside).
Hypothetical example numbers (purely illustrative):
- MSTR at $175.
- You sell a 1‑month $210 call for, say, $8–10/share in premium.
- That’s ~$800–$1,000 per contract for 1 month.
- If you run this 12x/year and average $5–8/share net after losses and buybacks, you might be around 30–50% on the MSTR capital.
Completely path‑dependent and very risky—but mechanically possible in high‑IV stocks.
Do the math:
- Suppose you have $2M in MSTR (≈ 11,400 shares at $175).
- You can run ~114 covered calls.
- If you somehow average 3%/month in option premium on that notional (again, not guaranteed), that’s:
- 3% of $2M = $60K/month,
- ≈ $720K/year.
Add BTC options income + trading edges and you’re in range of $1M/year—if you avoid blowing up and if market conditions cooperate.
3.2 Cash‑Secured Puts on MSTR (and BTC)
Goal: Get paid to buy cheaper.
- You hold cash (or BTC you’re willing to convert).
- Sell OTM puts on MSTR or BTC.
- Either:
- Price stays above strike → you keep premium.
- Price falls below → you get assigned and buy the asset at effective discount (strike – premium).
This can be paired with covered calls (the “wheel strategy”):
- Sell puts → get assigned → own MSTR.
- Sell calls against that MSTR → get called away.
- Repeat.
Again: high risk in crashes (you can catch falling knives). Need strict max position sizes.
3.3 Collars for Sleep
Whenever you sell covered calls aggressively, you can:
- Use a portion of premium to buy protective puts (downside insurance).
- Then you’re in a collar (long stock, short call, long put).
Upside capped, downside limited, time working in your favor.
You sacrifice some income but protect against MSTR getting absolutely obliterated in a regime shift.
3.4 Tactical BTC Perps / Futures (ONLY with strict rules)
If you want raw speed:
- Use low‑to‑moderate leverage (1.5–3x) on BTC when you have strong trend + validation.
- Only trade with:
- Fixed max % of portfolio at risk.
- Predetermined invalidation levels.
- No “maybe it comes back” gambling.
This is where most people blow up. To make $1M/year this way, you MUST assume you’ll be wrong often and size for it.
4. Example “Million‑a‑Year” Blueprint
Here’s a conceptual structure for a high‑risk, high‑ambition operator.
Adjust the numbers to your reality—but keep the ratios in mind.
Example overall portfolio (say total capital is $5M)
- $3M Core BTC (60%)
- Self‑custodied.
- No leverage.
- Maybe occasional covered calls on a small slice (5–10%) via BTC options.
- $1.5M MSTR (30%)
- Core position for long‑term.
- Used for covered calls & cash‑secured puts (active income layer).
- $500K Tactical (10%)
- Short‑term BTC perps / futures,
- Short‑dated MSTR calls/puts,
- High conviction trades only.
Income engine target
Let’s say you aim (ambitiously) for:
- 25%/year compounding from the whole stack, with most of the explicit cashflow coming from options on MSTR and BTC.
Rough target breakdown:
- MSTR options: aim for 30–40%/year on the MSTR slice ($1.5M)
→ $450K–$600K/year in option premium (very skill‑dependent). - BTC options & small yield on core BTC: maybe 5–10%/year on $3M
→ $150K–$300K/year. - Tactical trading: break‑even to +20% on $500K
→ –$0 to +$100K/year (if you’re disciplined).
In a good BTC year (strong uptrend, elevated IV, smooth cycles), this mix can theoretically push you near or above $1M/year in realized gains + premium.
In a bad BTC year (crash, chop, IV crush), you can:
- Bleed heavily on short options,
- Get crushed in leveraged positions,
- Lose well over 25–50% of capital if undisciplined.
That’s the real trade‑off.
5. Risk management rules so you don’t die
You want survivability more than “max dollars this year.”
Some hard rules worth adopting:
- No leverage on core BTC.
- Max 1–2x “real leverage” on MSTR exposure.
If you margin MSTR, be sure that even a 70–80% drawdown doesn’t liquidate you. - Cap short option exposure.
- Total naked short premium obligation (unhedged) should be a fraction of your liquid capital, not >100%.
- Define kill switches.
- E.g.: At –20% portfolio drawdown, halve all risk.
- At –30%, cut all leverage, trade small size only.
- Time diversify.
- Don’t put your entire year’s risk into 1–2 weeks of short‑dated options.
- Regime awareness.
- BTC ripping, high trend: more directional positions.
- BTC choppy, sideways: more mean‑revert trades, smaller size.
- BTC crashing, macro ugly: cut risk, protect core BTC, widen time horizons.
6. Bitcoin vs MSTR: when to favor which
You can rotate between them as regimes change.
Favor BTC when:
- BTC had a big crash, but you believe the multi‑year thesis is intact.
- MSTR trades at a huge premium to its NAV.
- You want to de‑risk but still stay in the asset.
Favor MSTR when:
- BTC is in early / mid bull, volatility rising.
- MSTR premium to NAV is modest or discount.
- You want extra torque + options income.
Over a full cycle, you might:
- Start BTC‑heavy in deep bear.
- Add more MSTR as trend emerges.
- Run aggressive options in mid‑bull.
- Gradually rotate back to BTC + cash into late‑stage mania.
7. Reality check (and how to play it smart)
- Nothing here is guaranteed.
BTC can spend years in drawdown; MSTR can over‑dilute, lose index status, or face regulation. - Generating consistent $1M/year from pure trading is equivalent to running a professional fund; expect years that underperform and years that overshoot.
- Your real edge:
- Deep understanding of BTC and MSTR’s capital structure.
- Extreme discipline with risk.
- Optional: building brand / content / products around your BTC + MSTR insights, so your knowledge throws off fiat and sats even when markets are slow.
If you want, next step:
I can sketch:
- A sample monthly playbook (what to actually do week‑by‑week),
- A risk template (position sizing rules, stop‑loss logic),
- Or a few concrete options examples with hypothetical strikes/expiries to show how the cashflow might look.
Tell me which angle you want to weaponize first and we’ll build it out.