Bitcoin Peer Stories: #02, Pursing The Pathless Path

Publication: Şelale Malkoçoğlu | Brought to you by: Tanja Bächle | Date: 7/23/2025

The following content was published on behalf of Bitvocation—a unique space dedicated to helping Bitcoiners break free from fiat jobs with resources and guidance—as part of the monthly series "Bitcoin Peer Stories."

From Fiat to Bitcoin Job in One Year.

Tanja’s wild ride in the Bitcoin space and her seemingly 'fast success' might make some job seekers a bit jealous. But let’s be real—hardly anyone goes as all-in, takes crazy risks, or hustles like Tanja did. Check out her story below to see how she pulled it off!

Two weeks ago, I found a new place I now call home. Augsburg — or more precisely, Friedberg — probably the tiniest town I’ve ever lived in. After months of traveling — Buenos Aires, Las Vegas, Vienna, Berlin, Prague (just to name the last two) — a blur of people, airports, emotions, and ideas, I dropped my suitcase, sat on the floor, and looked around at the life I had left behind just a year ago. And I had to ask myself:

How did I get here?

It still feels surreal. A year ago, I didn’t have a Lightning wallet. I couldn’t explain what Nostr was. I was still figuring out how to buy Bitcoin with an app — twenty euros a week, that’s all I could afford. I didn’t come from tech. I wasn’t a developer. I wasn’t 'early'. But something inside me kept whispering: There’s something here for you. And eventually, I started listening.

Prague — The Spark That Lit Everything.

Everything shifted when Aleks Svetski invited me to help him at BTC Prague in 2024 — managing his side event, supporting the Nostr booth, helping with logistics and pitches. It also happened to be my birthday, and I had never been to Prague, so I thought: Why not?

Aleks and I had known each other from way back, when he still lived in Berlin — both of us skeptical about the narratives around the pandemic, both tired of mainstream bullshit. He knew I had a background in event production and that I could handle pressure. So when he reached out, I said yes.

What I didn’t know was that this trip would split my life into a before and after.

From the very first day, everything felt different. I found myself at a women’s brunch, surrounded by glowing, powerful women — mothers, founders, educators — who were not only brilliant but deeply present. I still remember crystal clear when Rachel Geyer stood in front of everyone and said, “I’m first and foremost a mother of four,” and then added that she’s VP and spokesperson of Terahash.

It made me question everything I thought I wanted. Maybe the life I had been trying to build wasn’t actually mine. Maybe I had just never seen what else was possible.

When the conference ended, I quit my fiat job. Just like that. Because I knew something bigger was coming. I didn’t really have a backup plan — just a gut feeling and a vague but unshakable sense that I was finally stepping into something real.

The South America Leap — And Learning The Hard Way.

After Prague, Aleks invited me to join a three-country Bitcoin tour across Latin America: Buenos Aires for LaBitconf, São Paulo for Satsconf, and El Salvador for Adopting Bitcoin. It was wild, intense, powerful. We organized panels, shaped side events, worked crazy hours — the kind of chaos that only makes sense in hindsight.

In the beginning, Aleks paid me. But when the funding dried up and the tour ended, I was left with the decision: return to Germany and find another fiat job — or go back to Buenos Aires, to someone who had given me a home when I didn’t have one.

My Proof of Work? I had pitched myself into podcasts — Aleks helped open the door, but I made sure the story resonated. I shared my path from the fiat world, my upbringing in a family that resisted mainstream Covid narratives, and why freedom and sovereignty mattered to me.

I ran a donation campaign on Geyser to help fund the tour — it was exhausting, because back then I was just "some new woman" in the ecosystem, and people were sceptical. Who is she? Why is she taking over?

But I didn’t give up.

I volunteered my time. I offered to organize, onboard, support, moderate — whatever was needed. I went deep into Nostr and started connecting people because I genuinely loved it. I didn’t pretend to be an expert. I just showed up — again and again.

And slowly, the ecosystem started to see it. People noticed. People appreciated.

Agustin, the founder of La Crypta, took me under his wing. We had worked together during the conference, and something in me knew I had more to learn from him. I didn’t just fall for a person — I fell into the rabbit hole in a way that changed everything.

He’d been in Bitcoin since 2013. We talked late into the night about mining, Lightning, economics, privacy, regulation. I asked stupid questions. He gave patient answers. He handed me papers, podcasts, code, questions — and something even more important: time and space to grow.

The Cost No One Sees.

By the time I returned to Germany at Christmas, I had nothing left — not my savings, not my Bitcoin, not a plan. I was broke, exhausted, and full of doubt. I applied to more than 50 jobs — in and out of Bitcoin — and heard nothing. I was subletting my Berlin flat, receiving unemployment benefits, living between couches and conference floors. I had two loans to pay and no income. I even got sued by a former collaborator I had trusted — and lost. I still owe nearly 10k.

Everyone was saying “stack sats”, and I was like, “Sis, I’m stacking trauma.”

Still — I kept going.

I kept writing, publishing, connecting, onboarding, translating, moderating, co-creating. Not because someone asked me to, but because it felt right. Because I believed in it. Because I couldn’t not do it.

And the people around me — especially Anja from Bitvocation — reminded me that it wasn’t for nothing. She listened to my breakdowns. She offered feedback, reflection, practical advice. Bitvocation didn’t give me a job — they gave me emotional infrastructure. And that saved me.

Eventually, the world caught up.

A Conversation That Changed Everything.

Rachel — yes, the same Rachel from the Prague brunch — I stayed in touch with throughout the year thanks to the Les Femmes Orange Bitcoin women meetups. She saw my work, my writing, my heart. She knew what I had been through.

One day, she spoke to Kris, the CEO of Terahash. And soon after, I met him at a conference in Kreuzlingen, where I was giving talks, hosting panels and moderating workshops.

Over dinner, Kris looked at me and asked:
“What are you good at? What do you love?”

I answered without hesitation:
“I love connecting people. I love organizing. I get shit done. I’m super structured — which, let’s be honest, is absolutely necessary in a male-dominated ecosystem.”

There was no CV. No application form.
Just proof of work.

He created a role for me.

Today, I work in Growth and Partnerships for Terahash, a European Bitcoin mining company. I help shape narratives, build communities, connect ecosystems. And no — it’s not what I used to do in my fiat job. Because I didn’t just change industries. I joined a movement.

And I show up — every day — for a future I believe in.
For the next generation.
For freedom.

This isn’t a guide on how to get a Bitcoin job.
This is a love letter to the pathless path.

It’s about choosing to believe in something, even when it costs you everything.
It’s about sleeping on floors, crying in airport bathrooms, and still saying yes to the next crazy thing.
It’s about people — the ones who show up for you, hold space for you, and sometimes walk with you for only a little while, but change everything.

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this:

The Bitcoin job you want might not exist yet.
But you can still work toward it.
You can build it.
You can become it.

And one day, someone will say:
“Hey, I’ve seen your work. Let’s talk.”

— 🧡 Tanja