Savings plan (Bitcoin savings plan)

With a savings plan, you set the amount and interval once, for example $50 on the 15th of every month. The provider then buys automatically at the current price. Because bitcoin can be divided finely, small amounts are enough – in the Bitcoin community, this is called stacking satsGlossaryStack satsCommunity slang for regularly accumulating small amounts of bitcoin, counted in satoshis (sats) – usually via a savings plan and regardless of the price. 1 BTC is 100 million sats.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 4 – Setting up a savings plan →In the glossary →×.

An example

For $50, you get exactly 62,500 satsGlossarySatoshi (sats)The smallest unit of Bitcoin: 1 satoshi (‘sat’ for short) equals 0.00000001 BTC, so one bitcoin consists of 100 million sats. The unit is named after Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.On the learning path: Stage 1 · Step 4 – Sats & units →In the glossary →× at an example price of $80,000, and 100,000 sats at $50,000. You automatically buy more when the price is low and less when it is high – that’s cost averagingGlossaryCost averaging (DCA)If you regularly invest a fixed amount, you buy more when prices are low and less when they are high. With fluctuating prices, your average cost ends up below the average price – but that doesn’t mean a higher return than investing straight away.On the learning path: Stage 3 · Step 4 – Savings plan or lump sum? →In the glossary →×.

What a savings plan does – and doesn’t do

• Suits ongoing income: you invest what’s left over each month without watching the price.
• Reduces regret: a crash shortly after you start only hits part of your money.
• No trick for higher returns: if you already have a lump sum, investing it straight away came out ahead in 68% of cases in a Vanguard study (global equity index, 1976–2022).^[1]
• Costs on every instalment: fees and the spreadGlossarySpread (bid-ask spread)The difference between the buy and sell price. With many apps, the spread is the real fee – it just doesn’t appear as a separate item on your statement.On the learning path: Stage 4 · Step 2 – Choosing a provider →In the glossary →× are charged each time.

Tax

In Germany, each instalment has its own one-year holding periodGlossaryHolding period (speculation period)In Germany, the gain from selling privately held bitcoin is tax-free if more than one year passes between purchase and sale (§ 23 EStG, as of September 2026). Each purchase has its own holding period.On the learning path: Stage 6 · Step 3 – Bitcoin & tax →In the glossary →×. If you can’t show which bitcoin you are selling, the ones bought first count as sold first (FIFOGlossaryFIFO (first in, first out)A tax ordering rule: in Germany, if you can’t prove which bitcoin you sold, the ones bought first count as sold first for the holding period – assessed per wallet.On the learning path: Stage 6 · Step 3 – Bitcoin & tax →In the glossary →×, per wallet).^[2],[3] A draft bill from the Federal Ministry of Finance would instead apply a 25% flat-rate withholding tax plus solidarity surcharge to purchases from 2027; it has not been adopted (as of 28 September 2026, not tax advice; latest status in the reform tracker).^[4] Elsewhere, check your local rules – Bitcoin tax around Europe shows where to look.

The DCA calculator shows how a savings plan would have performed in the past.