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How the Flywheel got here

The Flywheel was built one part at a time, in public. Each stop is a part or a milestone, with the video or post where it first appeared.

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  1. Whitepaper published

    The whole model in one paper: the Core, Engine, and Reserve, and the written Plan that runs them. Free to read and share under CC BY 4.0.

    + DOI registered, October 12th
    The cover of The Crypto Flywheel Whitepaper: the title with its green underline, "Stack more. Earn more. As prices rise and fall.", the Flywheel's Core, Engine, and Reserve around the Plan, and its three authors.v1.0

  2. Three builds

    The Flywheel splits into three builds: foundational, blue chip, and advanced. They are now Foundation, Prime, and Advanced.

    From the video: the Metrix simulator open as Jake names the three builds, with Jake on camera in the corner. 0:14

  3. Every position gets a job

    The coins you never sell back the loan. A second group earns. A reserve waits for the dips. These three jobs become the Core, Engine, and Reserve.

    From the video: a sample portfolio tracker whose five positions all read "no role defined", with Jake on camera in the corner. 5:26

  4. The Crypto Flywheel, start to finish

    The whole loop in one video, under the name it has today: lend your coins, borrow against them, and put the borrowed money to work growing the collateral.

    + The Lend and Borrow Flywheel, February 17th
    Spreadsheet from the video: $35,000 of ETH and $35,000 of BTC lent, and $25,000 of USDC borrowed against them, with Jake on camera in the corner. 2:30

  5. The income gets directed

    A blog post decides where the income goes: back into pools to compound, into coins held for the long run, and into cash for the dips and for living on.

    The top of the archived blog post: its title, "Written by Jake Call", and the three places the income goes: liquidity pools, HODL bags, and cash reserves.Internet Archive

  6. The first calculator

    A free calculator goes live on its own domain, so anyone can map out a Flywheel of their own.

    + Internet Archive copy, January 23rd+ DeFiFlywheel.com registered, January 22nd
    The DeFi Flywheel Calculator: initial capital, the split between holdings and liquidity positions, and where income is allocated. 8:02

  7. Named on camera

    The DeFi Flywheel gets its name, and the method fits on one whiteboard: deploy capital, earn income, compound it.

    + First said on camera, December 11th
    Whiteboard from the video: Deploy, Income, and Compound drawn as one loop. 2:37

  8. The loop closes

    The borrowed stablecoins earn, the earnings buy more Bitcoin, and that Bitcoin goes back in as collateral. Each turn of the loop feeds the next.

    + Taught live to members, November 5th
    Whiteboard from the video: $50K as collateral, $25K borrowed into DeFi, and the Bitcoin it buys going back to the collateral, with Jake on camera in the corner. 7:06

  9. The loop comes together

    Jake draws the parts as one loop and runs his own portfolio on it: "this is the flywheel right here."

    Whiteboard from the video: three circles, C, LP, and T, joined by arrows into a loop under the words Legacy and LaaS, with Jake on camera in the corner. 2:40

  10. Holdings become collateral

    Coins held for the long run stop sitting still. They back a loan, and the stablecoins borrowed against them go to work in DeFi.

    Jake's tracking sheet from the video: his liquidity positions, with the three stablecoin positions highlighted, and Jake on camera in the corner. 8:35

  11. First called a flywheel

    Fees from one pool buy a coin, and that coin is staked to earn again. Jake calls it "a flywheel of me just constantly earning money."

    Jake's holdings sheet from the video, with MATICX selected, and Jake on camera in the corner. 3:31

  12. A pool that buys on the way down

    It starts with a MATIC and USDC pool. As the price falls, the pool spends its USDC on MATIC and earns fees while it buys. The Engine still works this way.

    + Posted on X, August 27th
    Jake's post on X about his MATIC and USDC pool, "so far this position has BOUGHT ~320 MATIC", as the video shows it, with Jake on camera in the corner. 7:01

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