BOOK TWO
A book about independent capital allocation, the discipline of thinking for yourself and the price of waiting for permission.
A considered resource for serious capital
This book is written for principals, investment officers and advisers who need a clear way to work through Bitcoin without being pushed toward either advocacy or avoidance. The Cost of Consensus treats the decision as part of a larger investment and governance system, where the most useful output is an explainable process.
The material is intentionally practical. It identifies what needs to be decided, who needs to be involved, which assumptions should be written down and which questions belong with tax or legal counsel. It does not use price targets, performance promises or a required conclusion. A family may decide to allocate, to wait or not to allocate; the quality of the decision depends on the quality of the work around it.
The Cost of Consensus starts with a familiar family-office instinct: if everyone is waiting, perhaps waiting is the prudent decision. Consensus can feel like diligence because it reduces the discomfort of being early or alone. But inherited capital often has a longer time horizon than the committee conversation around it. The book examines what gets lost when comfort becomes the decision rule.
Multigenerational capital asks for a different kind of independence. The people who established it will not make every future decision, and the next generation will inherit both assets and assumptions. The book looks at how those assumptions are formed, how they become invisible, and how an investment committee can make room for a reasoned view that is not yet conventional.
Thinking independently is not the same as being contrarian. It means defining the question, identifying the evidence, stating the risks and deciding what would change the view. Applied to Bitcoin, that discipline makes room for both an allocation and a decision not to allocate. Either conclusion should be explainable in a board packet and understandable to a successor.
The later chapters address the operating habits that support independent decisions: clear mandates, pre-agreed review points, written dissent, and language that avoids turning an investment thesis into an identity. The aim is not certainty. It is a process that lets a family act deliberately when the social pressure to defer is high.
Eric Runge wrote The Cost of Consensus for families responsible for capital meant to outlast them. It is a companion to the architecture-first advisory work at Veritas Bitcoin Strategies. The book contains no price targets or promises of outcomes; it is a framework for better questions.
Read it before a committee meeting, not after the decision has already been made. Use the headings as prompts for an investment memo, a family meeting or a conversation with an adviser. Then separate the portfolio questions from the implementation questions: ownership, custody, reporting, taxes, legal structure and succession may require different specialists.
The aim is a durable record of reasoning. A well-formed record lets a family revisit the allocation when circumstances change without treating every review as a fresh debate. It also gives the next generation a way to understand what the original decision was meant to accomplish and which limits were intentionally put around it.
Veritas Bitcoin Strategies LLC is an investment adviser registered with the State of Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, CRD 306768. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement by any regulatory authority. Advisory services are offered only to residents of states in which Veritas Bitcoin Strategies LLC is registered or is excluded or exempted from registration. Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS are available at adviserinfo.sec.gov and on request. The content on this website, including books, white papers, articles and any materials delivered by request, is educational and general in nature. It is not investment, legal or tax advice, is not personalized to any individual’s circumstances and is not an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security or digital asset. No advisory relationship is created by using this site or requesting a resource. All investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Bitcoin and other digital assets are speculative and volatile, may lose value rapidly, and are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed by, any bank; they are not insured by the FDIC, NCUA or SIPC. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and no outcome, return or protection of capital is guaranteed.
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