My Bitcoin Earned $2.26 in a Day. Could I Live on That in Georgia?

The other day, I collected $2.26 in premium from selling a Bitcoin covered call with just one day until expiration. Not $226. Not $2,260. Just two dollars and twenty-six cents. Hardly something worth celebrating on Wall Street, but here in Tbilisi, Georgia, where I've been living for years, that was approximately 5.87 Georgian lari. Enough for several bus rides, a simple bakery snack, or perhaps a couple of loaves of Georgian bread.

It got me thinking: what could I actually do with this money? Could I buy lunch? A cinema ticket? And taking the thought experiment further, could someone survive on $2.26 a day?

I've been a retail options trader for years, primarily selling puts and covered calls on US equities. I also manage a larger — although certainly not large by institutional standards — stock options portfolio, documented in my weekly trading journal. More recently, I've expanded my experiments into cryptocurrency options, particularly Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana, including contracts expiring in just one day, commonly known as 1-DTE options.

I recently explained the mechanics and reasoning in From Weekly to 1 DTE: Experimenting With Bitcoin Covered Calls. This time, I want to explore something different: what does a small options premium actually buy, could such income eventually become meaningful, and what happens if I reinvest it rather than spend it?

The actual trade: $2.26 from approximately $1,500 in Bitcoin

A few months ago, I started accumulating Bitcoin again, with a plan to purchase approximately 0.01 BTC each month, gradually reach 0.1–0.12 BTC, and perhaps one day own a full Bitcoin. I'm in no particular hurry. Alongside these purchases, I've been experimenting with generating additional income by selling covered calls against the Bitcoin I already own.

A covered call involves selling someone the right to buy an asset at a predetermined strike price, receiving an option premium in return. If Bitcoin stays below the strike at expiration, the call generally expires worthless and I keep the premium. If Bitcoin rallies above the strike, however, I may have to deliver the underlying BTC, settle financially, or close or roll the option at an unfavorable price.

After roughly two months of weekly covered calls, including several adjustments and rolls, I decided to test shorter expirations following Bitcoin's sharp decline in early November. On November 6, the experiment generated $2.26 in premium. With approximately 0.02 BTC supporting the trade and Bitcoin around $75,000, the underlying position represented about $1,500 in capital.

That's an important distinction. I didn't earn the money from nothing. I had approximately $1,500 exposed to Bitcoin's price movements, while the covered call introduced an additional obligation that could limit my upside. Still, the small cash credit was interesting enough to investigate its real-world purchasing power.

What can $2.26 buy in Tbilisi?

At the National Bank of Georgia's November 6 exchange rate of approximately 2.5955 GEL per US dollar, my premium was worth around 5.87 GEL. For expats living in Georgia, this is an interesting little budget when compared with everyday expenses rather than apartment rents or restaurant dinners.

A standard ride on Tbilisi's metro or municipal buses costs 1 GEL, with eligible transfers included within a 90-minute period. My premium could cover five separate fare periods with a little change remaining. A simple lobiani from a neighborhood bakery might also fit the budget, depending on the portion and location. Not a particularly luxurious lunch, but certainly something to eat.

A cinema ticket would be slightly more ambitious. Basic tickets at Cavea start at around 10 GEL, meaning approximately two similarly successful trading days would be needed. A proper restaurant meal in central Tbilisi would generally cost more.

There's something rather enjoyable about the idea that a small Bitcoin position could pay for transportation across the city or a modest meal without immediately selling the underlying investment. In reality, however, I prefer to reinvest my Bitcoin options income into additional spot BTC. So while it's entertaining to calculate how many lobiani I could buy, my real objective is accumulation rather than consumption.

What if I earned $2.26 every day?

Suppose, purely for illustration, that I could repeat the same premium every calendar day. The arithmetic becomes interesting, although the assumptions are far from guaranteed.

At the November 6 exchange rate, $67.80 represents approximately 176 GEL per month. That won't pay the rent in Tbilisi, but it could contribute toward public transportation, groceries, mobile service or other recurring expenses. At a hypothetical constant Bitcoin price of $75,000, an annual $824.90 in retained net premiums could purchase approximately 0.011 BTC before purchase fees.

Of course, collecting $2.26 every day is not a realistic guaranteed income stream. Options premiums fluctuate, trading opportunities disappear, and costly adjustments can erase weeks of small credits. More frequent trading also introduces fees, spreads and considerable time spent monitoring positions. The real test is whether the strategy produces better total results than simply buying and holding Bitcoin.

From Mumbai to Goa: what does $2.26 mean elsewhere?

Our family has developed something of a tradition of escaping Tbilisi's colder months by travelling to India, particularly Goa. Over the years, we've visited different parts of the country, including New Delhi and Mumbai, before heading south. I wrote about one of these journeys in Mumbai & Goa: Our India Trip.

One thing that fascinates me about travelling is how dramatically the purchasing power of money can change. A few dollars might barely buy a coffee in some European capitals, yet in parts of India, particularly away from international hotels and tourist-oriented restaurants, the same money can sometimes purchase several simple local meals.

Of course, India isn't uniformly inexpensive. Mumbai can be remarkably expensive, especially when it comes to housing. Spending a few weeks in Goa, buying local food and enjoying the beach is very different from maintaining a household with all its financial responsibilities.

Nevertheless, my Bitcoin experiment made me wonder whether $2.26 per day could cover someone's basic needs somewhere in the world. Potentially, under very specific circumstances. In parts of rural South Asia, a few dollars could contribute substantially toward food expenses when accommodation is already available, meals are prepared at home and household costs are shared. But that is not the same as independently financing housing, utilities, healthcare, transportation and emergencies.

The World Bank updated its international extreme-poverty threshold in 2025 to $3 per person per day, expressed in 2021 purchasing-power-parity international dollars. That is not directly comparable with three actual US dollars in cash, but it offers perspective on the scale of income we're discussing.

I wouldn't romanticize surviving on a couple of dollars a day. For many people, this isn't an entertaining financial experiment but an economic necessity. Still, travelling between Georgia, India and Europe has made me increasingly interested in the relationship between income, purchasing power and lifestyle.

Scaling up: when does small income become meaningful?

If approximately $1,500 in Bitcoin generated $2.26 in premium on a particular day, what might happen with a larger position? Let's assume, strictly for illustration, that the same premium-to-capital ratio could be maintained as the position grows.

These figures are linear extrapolations from one day's gross premium, not predictions of sustainable income. Repeating the same rate continuously would be exceptionally demanding and could expose the portfolio to substantial losses or foregone appreciation.

Nevertheless, the table illustrates why capital matters. At $2.26 per day, we're talking about snacks and bus rides. At $20 or $30, the amounts begin to resemble a meaningful supplement to household expenses. At $100 per day, the cash flow becomes more substantial, although so does the capital exposed to market risk.

This is something I've learned from years of managing my stock options portfolio. A relatively modest portfolio can occasionally produce attractive percentage returns while generating limited absolute income. Scaling up creates more capacity, but it also increases the dollar amount at risk.

For example, an investor seeking $1,000 per month would mathematically need $100,000 in capital at a sustainable 12% annual net return, or $200,000 at 6%. Neither return is guaranteed. The important distinction is between collecting gross premiums and earning sustainable net returns after losses, fees, taxes and opportunity costs.

Financial freedom requires more than a larger options account. It also requires manageable spending, liquidity reserves, diversification, and the ability to survive periods when a strategy stops working as expected.

From stock options to TerraM Token

Bitcoin is only one part of my broader options trading experience. I've traded US equity options for years, including covered calls, cash-secured puts and credit spreads. Readers following my trading journal will recognize positions involving NVIDIA, Bristol Myers Squibb, Bank of America and other companies. Some weeks are straightforward; others involve assignments, difficult rolls and uncomfortable market movements.

I've also been experimenting with Ethereum and Solana options, including short-dated puts and covered calls. Some of that work has developed into TerraM Token, an early-stage Solana-based token project connected to a crypto options strategy and a proposed framework for treasury management, discretionary token buybacks and liquidity development.

TerraM is separate from my personal Bitcoin accumulation experiment. Bitcoin is not currently part of TerraM's options-premium strategy, and owning TerraM does not provide ownership of my BTC portfolio or its premiums. The project also carries its own token-market, liquidity and operational risks.

What connects these activities is the same underlying research question: can systematic options strategies produce useful cash flow, and how should that cash flow be allocated? For my personal Bitcoin position, I prefer reinvesting net premiums into spot BTC. With TerraM, the objective is to develop a transparent framework linking realized trading results with treasury activity and liquidity.

Anyone interested in the project can explore the TerraM website, including its tokenomics, treasury information, market data, on-chain verification and risk disclosures.

Will AI agents bring more retail traders into options?

One reason I find these experiments particularly interesting is the development of agentic trading systems. I believe artificial intelligence will gradually make options research, market monitoring and position management more accessible to individual investors, including those operating with relatively modest capital.

Imagine an AI agent monitoring Bitcoin option chains around the clock, comparing strike prices and expirations, evaluating implied volatility and Greeks, and identifying possible adjustments. Instead of manually reviewing dozens of contracts, a trader could receive a structured analysis of the available choices, including estimated costs and risks.

Some of these capabilities already exist in professional trading software. What may change is how naturally retail investors can interact with them. Smaller cryptocurrency options contracts also lower the entry barrier: my experiment involved approximately 0.02 BTC rather than an entire Bitcoin, assuming a platform supports the relevant contract size and settlement arrangement.

However, accessibility shouldn't be confused with profitability. An automated system can misinterpret markets, act on bad data or repeatedly take excessive risks in pursuit of small premiums. For now, I prefer AI as a research and risk-management assistant, with human oversight over consequential trading decisions.

The opportunity cost of earning a few dollars

Every covered-call experiment eventually confronts an uncomfortable question: would I have been better off simply holding Bitcoin?

Suppose Bitcoin rallies sharply while I have a call open. I might collect $2.26 in premium but sacrifice much more in potential appreciation. Rolling the option forward could help, but might require paying a debit, extending the commitment or accepting an unattractive strike. Conversely, if Bitcoin declines by 10%, a $1,500 position loses approximately $150 in market value, and the $2.26 premium provides only a small cushion.

This is why I distinguish between frequent small credits and genuine investment returns. The relevant benchmark is the total result: the Bitcoin held, net options profits or losses, trading costs, additional BTC purchased with retained premiums and any upside surrendered. Only then can I compare the strategy fairly against simply buying and holding Bitcoin.

I don't yet know which approach will produce the better long-term result. That's precisely why I'm experimenting.

So, could I live on $2.26 a day?

No, not realistically. It wouldn't buy a luxury lifestyle in Georgia, India or anywhere else. Even in countries with substantially lower living costs, supporting an independent and secure life on such a small amount would be extremely difficult.

But perhaps that's the wrong way to think about it. If you're an eight-year-old kid, receiving $2.26 every day might sound rather exciting. That's pocket money for a small treat, something to save, or perhaps the beginning of learning about money and compounding. And if you're an adult who simply enjoys financial experiments, the attraction isn't entirely different.

I like testing ideas, observing results and learning how markets behave. Sometimes the experiment is intellectually more rewarding than the actual dollar amount involved. Even without the novelty, modest investment income can become a useful supplement, particularly when accumulated or reinvested instead of spent immediately.

In my case, I don't need today's $2.26 for a bus ticket or a lobiani. I'd rather use it to buy a little more spot Bitcoin while continuing my regular BTC purchases. One day of premiums won't make a meaningful difference. Repeated, genuinely profitable trades over a longer period might.

Building substantial financial freedom requires more capital, disciplined risk management, patience and the ability to avoid losses that wipe out months of collected premiums. The other day, my Bitcoin generated $2.26. Not enough to retire on, certainly not enough to transform my lifestyle, and perhaps not even enough for a proper lunch in central Tbilisi.

But it's another small contribution toward my Bitcoin accumulation, a lesson in purchasing power, and an opportunity to study what systematic options trading can — and cannot — achieve.

And for now, that's a perfectly good reason to keep experimenting.

Disclosure: This article documents my personal trading experiments, not investment advice or a recommendation to trade Bitcoin options or purchase TerraM Token. All portfolio-scaling figures and repeated-premium scenarios are illustrative rather than performance forecasts. Cryptocurrency and options trading involve significant risks, including capital losses, settlement obligations, trading costs, platform risks and foregone upside.