




Mark Connors
1.2K posts

@riskdimensions
Leveraging 35 years as a portfolio and risk manager to share the Macro Case for Bitcoin & Why the Alpha is in the Beta with bitcoin. Co Host: @thenewbarbpod






The Tortoise and the Hare: Store of Value edition.. love this chart of $GLD vs Bitcoin for past three years have the exactly same 39% ann return but two VERY dif routes there. One's a teenager and the other is 5,000 years old and they act like it.

BREAKING: The odds of Jesus Christ returning this year have doubled overnight. 4% chance.

Have you noticed a major shift in your mood and behavior since the Bitcoin price crashed a few days ago? Over the last 2 years I’ve gone on a journey to build a citadel mind and body to be able to handle the 10X problems that will come with a Bitcoin 10X. Even after all the work I’ve done in myself, I’ve gone into fight/flight/freeze. I got into an argument with my wife which I normally would have navigated with my new relationship tools. Here’s what I noticed, maybe you felt similar… Body Signs: -Chest tightness -Elevated respiratory rate (WHOOP) -Traps/chest guarding -Extremely tight shoulders -Sighing & deep uncomfortable breaths Freeze: -Low motivation -“Stuck” feeling -Narrowed perspective (focusing on gaps rather than gains) Flight: -Doomscrolling Epstein posts -Avoiding conversations -Wanting distraction, junk food, vegging out Fight: -Irritability -Overreacting to wife & daughter -Agitation I started to think “is this Depression?” … but when I described everything to ChatGPT, it started making sense. I realized that this is not depression or a mindset failure, it’s a nervous system response to the threat of a Bitcoin price crash. If you’ve been “all in” on Bitcoin for a long time, you physiologically associate Bitcoin with safety, sovereignty, future security, identity, purpose, competence, etc. The longer you’re in Bitcoin and hold through long deep drawdowns, you develop psychological anchor to price. Price goes up = safety Price goes down = threat financial trauma is real. When bitcoin is at the top of your identity stack and your financial life is tied to it over years (15 years for me) price drops like this will activate your sympathetic nervous system. All of these physiological responses are a conditioning response. GPT calls it “acute nervous-system dysregulation” triggered by a know cue. In the last couple of years I’ve identified activities that help me regulate these feels and reduce price induced back pain: -Exercise (gym/lifting) -Massage -Disconnection from news/macro/politics -No social media debating -No scrolling social media/twitter -Fill my mind with positive inputs & healthy mindset routines When the price crashed I re-exposed myself. I went on Twitter and started scrolling (Epstein files made it worse) & listening to Twitter spaces. My system said “oh we’re back here…” My old pathways relit…the old responses came back. The difference now is I caught myself early. I used AI to help me figure out what is going on with me and I didn’t spiral for days or weeks. Now that I know what’s happening, the work is to decouple identity/safety from price. My body is doing exactly what it learned to do under prolonged financial intensity of previous cycles. If you’re feeling this way too, I hope this helped! ChatGPT suggests somatic therapy, EMDR or brainspotting. “Even when the number drops, I am still safe.” I apologized my my wife, took responsibility for my over-reaction and we both went to the gym and have changed our day around. My mindset coach @danmartell says “you can start a diet half way through a bag of chips.” He also says don’t let a bad morning turn into a bad day. Your mind understands Bitcoin volatility, your body does not. My next step is to break to reflex of price drop > body panic to remove the flooding component. Do this work and you won’t need to “sell to the sleeping point.” My goal is to HODL through hellfire and stay at my baseline & still be able to show up and stay consistent.

The One Number That Explains Bitcoin’s Price The number is −0.65. That’s Bitcoin’s Z-score. If you’re not a statistician, here’s all that means: a Z-score tells you how far price is stretched from what’s normal. • Z = 0 → price is normal • Z > 0 → price is stretched high • Z < 0 → price is stretched low It doesn’t predict hype. It measures tension. Here’s why −0.65 matters. At this point after every prior halving, Bitcoin was above trend: 2012: +1.02 2016: +1.32 2020: +0.48 Today: −0.65 That has never happened before. Not once in 15 years. What the numbers say next I ran the full dataset: 5,681 daily observations. Every crash. Every bubble. Every macro regime. The relationship between Z-score and future price is not weak. Correlation to forward 18-month returns: −0.745 Variance explained by this single variable: ~56% That means how far price is stretched explains more of what happens next than rates, CPI, narratives, or sentiment. From Z ≤ −0.6 (where we are now): • 12-month win rate: 100% • Negative outcomes: 0 • Worst case: +47% • Median outcome: +181% From Z ≥ +1.0: • Win rate: 44% • Worst drawdown: −73% That’s not opinion. That’s asymmetry. So why doesn’t price “feel” bullish? Because Bitcoin is no longer being priced like a trade. It’s being used. Bitcoin now trades 24/7, settles instantly, and can be pledged as collateral. Capital can move through it without anyone smashing the buy button on an exchange. That suppresses price temporarily. It does not weaken demand. The market calls that “no interest.” The math calls it misclassification. Meanwhile, supply math tightened permanently. Issuance was cut in half in 2024. ETFs absorb hundreds of BTC per day off-exchange. Institutions accumulate quietly. Selling exists but it’s being transferred from short-term holders to long-term balance sheets at roughly a 36% discount to network value. That’s not distribution. That’s inventory changing hands. Mean reversion doesn’t need a catalyst. Deviation half-life: ~133 days. That means: • ~50% of the gap closes in ~4 months • ~75% in ~8 months • ~90% in ~12 months No optimism required. No narrative required. Time does the work. This isn’t a trade. It’s a position. The bet isn’t that “Bitcoin moons.” The bet is that math didn’t stop working this cycle. Because when highly stretched systems snap back, they don’t negotiate. They just move. Macro does not determine Bitcoin’s long-term price. Distance from equilibrium does.

If you’re wondering why asset prices are getting hit like gold down over 10% and silver down more than 30% in a day then listen to this Kevin Warsh clip. He’s openly critical of QE and favors a tighter Fed balance sheet which means less liquidity across markets.

If you’re wondering why asset prices are getting hit like gold down over 10% and silver down more than 30% in a day then listen to this Kevin Warsh clip. He’s openly critical of QE and favors a tighter Fed balance sheet which means less liquidity across markets.


@riskdimensions Yes I agree with your analysis except for the quantum argument. See my similar macro comments I mad this morning below. Enjoyed your comments on crypto town hall. x.com/bitcoinnews/st…

From Devon Prep in Valley Forge to Shissler Rec Center in Fishtown for second half of tonight’s bball double header. I’m keeping the scorebook. Very imp job.




@riskdimensions develops new model for Bitcoin. Named the 7 Diaper Bitcoin Model challenges the Power Law Model and Plan B's Model. This model suggest that Bitcoin is bottoming. Are you a poopey bitcoiner or a stacker / packer? @daveweisberger @scottmelker @brucefenton @GrantCardone