Adam O’Brien | Bitcoin Well and Bypassing Traditional Banks
Adam O’Brien, Founder and CEO of Bitcoin Well, discovered Bitcoin in 2013 during its early days as what he describes as “hilarious internet money.”
Today, he leads a publicly traded Canadian company that’s redefining how people interact with this magic internet money, all while navigating a financial system that has personally debanked him and even his uninvolved loved ones.
“I had a terrible experience trying to buy bitcoin in 2013,” O’Brien explains. “Now of course today there are platforms like Bitcoin Well and many others that allow you to buy bitcoin with ease online, but in 2013 that wasn’t the case.”
This frustrating experience sparked the entrepreneurial question that would shape his future: “There must be a better way.”
With a background in restaurant management and customer service, O’Brien started small, meeting people locally in Edmonton, Canada to sell them bitcoin.
Soon after, he purchased and deployed Alberta’s first bitcoin ATM. The business grew organically, with a second machine following, then a third. Before long, Bitcoin Well had become one of Canada’s largest bitcoin ATM operators.
Today, Bitcoin Well operates approximately 160 bitcoin ATMs across Canada. While they’re no longer deploying new machines, these ATMs provide a crucial service that O’Brien is particularly proud of:
“In Canada, you can actually buy bitcoin up to $1,000 without giving your identity to Bitcoin Well. We’re the only platform in the country that is able to offer that service, which is fully legal, fully above board.”
The Pivot to Freedom
In 2020, O’Brien’s vision for the company evolved. What began as a mission for Bitcoin accessibility transformed into something deeper: a quest for financial freedom.
“I’m debanked across Canada. I don’t have my bank, even my wife has lost her bank accounts because of my work,” O’Brien revealed. “She’s not involved with the business at all. She’s a stay-at-home mother to our four kids, and she’s unbanked from the majority of the banks in Canada.”
This personal experience crystallized a troubling reality: “It became very clear to me that my money in the banking system was always going to be subject to how much I play by the rules.”
For someone self-described as “freedom-focused” and “freedom-minded,” this realization prompted a strategic shift. Bitcoin Well began developing its online platform, the Bitcoin portal, allowing users to buy, sell, and actually use bitcoin to replace traditional banking functions. O’Brien explains:
“The goal here is that we can be a conduit between the legacy financial system you know, and how you pay your bills, your rent, your power, credit card and phone bills and all that stuff without having to have money in what I would call a captured fiat account.”
He summarizes the company’s North Star simply: “Allow people to replace their bank with bitcoin in self-custody.”
Living the Mission
O’Brien doesn’t just preach Bitcoin independence, he lives it. Debanked across Canada, he relies on Bitcoin Well’s services for his daily financial needs.
“I’ve got a normal American Express, but I pay that off with Bitcoin at the end of the month,” he shares. “In Canada, we’ve got the equivalent of Venmo, it’s called Interac e-Transfer. I can send an Interac e-Transfer to anyone in the country from bitcoin in self-custody.”
This allows him to navigate everyday situations where merchants don’t accept bitcoin directly.
“It’s spring right now. I’ve got a little property. The guy comes and picks up our rakes and trims the trees and all this stuff, and I pay him. He doesn’t want to accept bitcoin, but I’m able to pay in bitcoin, and he gets the money that he wants.”
In the U.S., Bitcoin Well customers can have their paychecks deposited with a designated portion automatically converted to sats and sent directly to self-custody, allowing clients to stack sats sovereignly without having to think much about it.
Building the Right Team
The journey hasn’t been without challenges. O’Brien candidly describes how rapid growth in 2021 led to hiring missteps.
“We scaled so fast I kind of lost control of hiring practice and culture, and we ended up with people that I felt like we had to almost convince of the mission,” he admits.
“Some of them weren’t convinced…they were just there because of the job, or they didn’t really understand the need for the freedom that I speak about every single day.”
After scaling back from that hiring spree, the company refocused on building a team aligned with its core values, emphasizing “hiring Bitcoiners really.”
The result has been transformative: “It’s so much fun having a team that is mission-focused and aligned on our mission to enable independence. Having everyone aligned and kind of running towards that mission is pretty special.”
This alignment creates a powerful filter for decision-making: “When we have a decision to make, it’s like, well, which one enables more independence? And usually there’s a pretty obvious answer. So we’re able to make very fast decisions that help the business and help the mission.”
Raising the Next Generation
Beyond building Bitcoin Well, O’Brien and his wife are raising four children with intention. The family is transitioning to homeschooling next year, allowing them to travel to Bitcoin conferences together while teaching their children to question everything.
“If you don’t indoctrinate your kids, the state will do it for you,” O’Brien states firmly. It’s a fair point, as indoctrination usually comes with a negative connotation, but it should not, since everyone gets indoctrinated with something.
It’s up to parents to decide what their kids are going to be indoctrinated with, and as parents, the O’Briens have chosen to actively shape their children’s worldview rather than defaulting to institutional influences.
Their approach combines Bitcoin principles with biblical values, with a heavy emphasis on lowering time preference. Something O’Brien notes is “10, 20, 30, 50 times more important” with children, though admittedly “way harder.”
“I think Bitcoiners more than anyone understand the need for generational thinking,” he observes.
“I’m so bullish on the amount of Bitcoiners that have more kids or that want to have more kids and that are actually excited to have kids compared to some of my fiat friends that are like, ‘Oh, it’s too expensive and I want to party.’ It’s like, man, you’re just missing the point.”
A Call to Support Bitcoin-Only Businesses
One of O’Brien’s most passionate messages is a call to action for fellow Bitcoiners: support businesses that align with your values.
“I want to call people to support businesses that are actually making steps towards the change they want to see in the world,” he urges. “If I hear one more Bitcoin maxi tell me that they’re using Kraken or Coinbase because it’s cheaper — why do you support the casinos?”
He expresses concern about the future if Bitcoin-only companies struggle to survive: “It would be very sad if all the Bitcoin-only and non-custodial businesses went out of business. That would make it very hard for me to feel comfortable onboarding my no-coiner friends.”
His message to Bitcoiners is clear: “A call out to all my fellow Bitcoiners to support and use the platform that they want to see their kids use.”
Bitcoin Well (TSX.V: BTCW, OTCQB: BCNWF) continues to build infrastructure for those who want to use Bitcoin daily while maintaining self-custody. For O’Brien, the mission is simple but powerful: enable independence and give people the freedom to control their own financial destiny.