{"id":31509,"date":"2025-01-21T14:53:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T18:53:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/?p=31509"},"modified":"2025-01-22T14:03:05","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T18:03:05","slug":"postmortem-by-tristan-bietsch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/postmortem-by-tristan-bietsch\/","title":{"rendered":"Postmortem by Tristan Bietsch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tristan Bietsch<\/a><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2066\u202a@TristanBietsch\u202c\u2069<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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I\u2019m Pausing BitEscrow to Build Nummus: A Better Bitcoin Ecosystem.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\nTL;DR<\/p>\n<\/td>\n– I\u2019m taking a hiatus from BitEscrow. It\u2019s been an incredible journey, but I\u2019ll return to it one day.<\/p>\n

– Nearly got one-shotted by Bitcoin, but I\u2019m still standing.<\/p>\n

– Launching a new company: \u2066\u202a@NummusBTC\u202c\u2069<\/a><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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1\/21\/25, 9:58\u202fAM<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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I\u2019m Pausing BitEscrow to Build Nummus: A Better Bitcoin Ecosystem.<\/div>\n
TL;DR<\/div>\n
– I\u2019m taking a hiatus from BitEscrow. It\u2019s been an incredible journey, but I\u2019ll return to it one day.<\/div>\n
– Nearly got one-shotted by Bitcoin, but I\u2019m still standing.<\/div>\n
– Launching a new company: @NummusBTC <\/div>\n
Introduction<\/div>\n
After three intense years, I\u2019m stepping away from BitEscrow for now. From ages 20 to 23, I poured my heart & soul into building something revolutionary. We (@btctechsupport  & I) created an incredible product and set a new standard for escrow services in Bitcoin. But the truth is, the world isn\u2019t quite ready for it yet\u2014and that\u2019s okay.<\/div>\n
The lack of widespread adoption of BitEscrow falls on me. I\u2019ve learned so much, and this hiatus is a chance to reflect, recharge, and rebuild. If you\u2019ve read Tony\u2019s post about building Mutiny Wallet, you\u2019ll understand where I\u2019m coming from. His journey resonates with me deeply.<\/div>\n
Building BitEscrow<\/div>\n
BitEscrow was my life. For those unfamiliar, BitEscrow is a Bitcoin-native alternative to Escrow .com. It\u2019s 190x faster, costs 1\/5th as much, and is entirely non-custodial\u2014built without relying on external SDKs. I bootstrapped the project entirely, and went into debt to do so.<\/div>\n
It all started when I moved to Austin to build a startup. I discovered the Austin Bitcoin Club on October 20th 2021, met @SuperTestnet and together we launched what was initially called LightningEscrow for about a year. After we parted ways, I teamed up with Topher  and pivoted to BitEscrow. He became the sole architect of our backend and created a bespoke development toolkit that powered the platform from scratch that was 100% native. It is truly impressive. Without him, BitEscrow wouldn\u2019t exist.<\/div>\n
The journey deserves its own book\u2014so much happened. Those three years taught me the true meaning of resilience. I learned to face failure, how to run (and not run) a startup, and the reality of sacrificing everything for your vision. At my lowest, I was underweight, clinically exhausted, broke, and battling anxiety and depression. I even ended up in the hospital. <\/div>\n
Despite all this, I gave it everything I had. But by Q4 2024, the weight was too much. After months of networking, emailing, and pitching, our seed round fell apart when a key lead investor pulled out. Exhausted and defeated, I decided to step back.<\/div>\n
The Abyss<\/div>\n
From October to December 2024, I hit rock bottom. I didn\u2019t work, and I didn\u2019t want to. My life revolved around the gym, video games, and Twitch. I became addicted to Factorio, pouring 250 hours into it in a month and a half. I was hooked.<\/div>\n
But by late December, I knew I couldn\u2019t stay in that place forever. I gave myself two weeks to figure out my next move. Through meditation, prayer, journaling, and microdosing, I wrestled with three key questions:<\/div>\n
– Who am I without my work?<\/div>\n
– Do I really care about Bitcoin, or is it just about the money?<\/div>\n
– What did I do wrong, and how can I do better?<\/div>\n
By the end of those two weeks, I had clarity: I do care about Bitcoin. Building things\u2014even through the stress\u2014makes me happy. <\/div>\n
With renewed purpose, I decided to start fresh.<\/div>\n
Introducing Nummus: A Bitcoin Ecosystem<\/div>\n
Bitcoin has the power to change the world, but it\u2019s still far too complicated for the average person. Many people don\u2019t know what Bitcoin is, why it matters, or how to use it effectively. The lack of ecosystem\u2014wallets, exchanges, hardware, and development tools\u2014is fragmented and overwhelming. <\/div>\n
If a financial crisis hit tomorrow, people would scramble to buy Bitcoin, relying on centralized services owned by the very banks they\u2019re trying to escape. That\u2019s the opposite of what Bitcoin stands for.<\/div>\n
@NummusBTC  aims to solve this by creating a unified Bitcoin ecosystem:<\/div>\n
– Simplicity: From buying to storing to spending, everything will be easy to use, no matter your experience level.<\/div>\n
– Comprehensiveness: One place for all things Bitcoin\u2014no more jumping between disconnected tools and services.<\/div>\n
– Bitcoin-Native: No altcoins, no distractions, just pure Bitcoin solutions.<\/div>\n
With my experience and the lessons I\u2019ve learned, I know how to tackle these challenges and build something truly transformative – solo. (for now)<\/div>\n
The Roadmap<\/div>\n
Here\u2019s the plan for Nummus:<\/div>\n
1. Launch a non-custodial wallet.<\/div>\n
2. Build a custodial wallet.<\/div>\n
3. Develop a hardware wallet.<\/div>\n
4. Introduce Bitcoin-backed loans- the right way.<\/div>\n
5. Create API + SDKs for developers.<\/div>\n
6. Enable spending Bitcoin without selling it.<\/div>\n
7. And so much more.<\/div>\n
Conclusion<\/div>\n
I\u2019m building Nummus in public, sharing every step on Twitch and X. <\/div>\n
Follow along, join the journey, and sign up for the waitlist! @NummusBTC<\/div>\n

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Larry Chiang, 650-283-8008<\/a><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u2066\u202a@LarryChiang\u202c\u2069<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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\u2066\u202a@TristanBietsch\u202c\u2069<\/a> \u2066\u202a@NummusBTC\u202c\u2069<\/a> Let\u2019s sell it before you quit it
\n#cs183e<\/a>I\u2019ll reprise the Role of T Draper. #stramgt353<\/a>
\n#cs183turnaround<\/a>Then, like Joe and Dhruv we can be our own VC\u2019s at 601 Congress where the vc office is our vintage iX<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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1\/21\/25, 12:09\u202fPM<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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WordPress\u2019d<\/span> from my personal iPhone, <\/span>650-283-8008<\/span>, number that Steve Jobs texted me on<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    Tristan Bietsch \u2066\u202a@TristanBietsch\u202c\u2069 I\u2019m Pausing BitEscrow to Build Nummus: A Better Bitcoin Ecosystem. TL;DR – I\u2019m taking a hiatus from BitEscrow. It\u2019s been an incredible journey, but I\u2019ll return to it one day. – Nearly got one-shotted by Bitcoin, but I\u2019m still standing. – Launching a new company: \u2066\u202a@NummusBTC\u202c\u2069   1\/21\/25, 9:58\u202fAM   […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-duck-chapter-9-startup-bankruptcy"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31509"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31509\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31514,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31509\/revisions\/31514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}