High school dropout who invested in bitcoin is now a millionaire at 18

[riskthebiscuit]

Some of this was probably good fortune, but to know that the school system is busted at that young of an age wow props to you kid. People do not figure that out until 20s and even 30s when are at some job they hate. Good for him on getting out of the rat race and actually doing something he liked. Heres hoping there loads more stories like that to come in the next 5 years. I can only imagine what they will be like

[E-shipper]

I would like to know how he thought of buying bitcoins and where he took the finance for such purchases. I do not think that this was planned for 2008.

[DawQ]

Unplanned, lacking research and heavily romanticized.
Stroke of luck.

[physicist]

Smart (and lucky) guy!

In hindsight, something I've regretted a fair bit was not dropping out of high school. I was bored out of my mind, wasted 9+ hours each school day, ended up sleep-deprived a lot of the time in order to both avoid failing and do the other stuff that I wanted to do, and in the end I didn't get anything out of it. It was a big waste. I should've dropped out ASAP, gotten a GED, and gone to a university several years earlier if possible. Or just abandoned the traditional education system entirely. (University is a much better and more useful experience, though probably still not the optimal use of time/money.)

I'm not saying that people should forget about developing useful skills and instead pin all of their hopes on making money off of insanely risky investments. That's not a good plan at all. But no matter your future goals, I think that any form of schooling that requires 8+ hours of classtime+busywork per day is a criminal waste of time.

Droppped out of a Ph.D. and did what was in front of me with BTC. No regrets. You are correct.

[SingAlong]

Dropping out of highs school is never a good idea. You learn things there that you will need later on in life. He was clever to have made this decision and I am glad he came out on top. This is another story of a wealthy young man who is retired for life living off investments.

That's a good decision he have there choosing 300 BTC instead of money but unlike him I would not dropout since it is not all about money but a sense of achievement and knowledge and information you have that can be used greatly and contribute to the growth of your country. He has some point though since there really are some teachers who doesn't deserve to be a teacher and I encountered some but I'm not all reliant as to what they teach since I also educate myself through internet to understand better and learn more since there are some things that school didn't teach but is needed and important.

[nickolada]

bitcoin change many people life
turn from poor man to rich man
my life also being better with bitcoin
and in the future will be many new millionaire born from bitcoin

[Kakmakr]

Unplanned, lacking research and heavily romanticized.
Stroke of luck.

Not always, sometimes you need a little help and smart decisions. " Finman began investing in bitcoin in May 2011 at the age of 12, thanks to a $1,000 gift from his grandmother and a tip from his brother Scott."

He could have blown the money on hookers and blow, but he decided to invest it and now he is a millionaire at 18. < Now he might be legal enough to spend it on hookers and blow > ^smile^

I believe we make our own luck. I got in early, because I constantly did research and put the work in to find out about new innovative technologies. Now I paid off my initial investment capital and I trade risk free. ^smile^

[Scorpion]

It could've been me too - I knew about Bitcoin when it was $3 each lol

[coynedterm]

http://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2017/06/20/bitcoin-millionaire-erik-finman-says-going-to-college-isnt-worth-it.html

Erik invested in bitcoin when he was 12 and not is a millionaire at age of 18.  This is a good story for Bitcoin.

But here is something that I do not understand:

An excerpt from the article:
"Eventually he found a buyer for Botangle's technology in January 2015. The investor offered either $100,000 or 300 bitcoin, which had dropped in value at that time to a little more than $200 a coin. He took the lower cash value bitcoin deal because he believed it was "the next big thing."

"My parents asked 'Why don't you take the more cash?"' Finman explained. "But I thought of it more of an investment.""

Why didn't he take the $100K and bought more bitcoins instead?  Granted that there has to be some tax consideration, but tax rate has to be as high as 40% in order for both of the cash option and the bitcoins option to breakeven.  If the tax rate was at 40%, then he could get $60K after tax and would be able to buy 300 bitcoins at the market price ($200 at the time).  Moreover, one day when he sells the bitcoins, he can dedect $200 on each of the bitcoins from the capital gain as cost.

Am I missing something in here?  Don't drop out from high school?   

The person who invested in Bitcoin at the age of 12 years was really lucky and as he bought 300 btc then I can say that what was the economical condition for him , I mean he was something rich at that time .
But the main mistake he did was the sell of the Bitcoin at rate of average of 300$/btc .
So here it is a big thing for him  that he made big multiple of his investment but still I will be at the place of that boy then sell at 300$ because it is not a small amount according to my investment .
Since here I joined the Bitcoin at age of 16 year and after 2 years I take my interest seriously .
So here i am.thinking that I made a big mistake that time , since at that time I was with the empty pocket with a mobile internet connection . So not able to by anything at that time , but last year start of this work made me seriously stupid , because I am thinking that I made myself late in this field , even knows about it .

[ubercool]

It could've been me too - I knew about Bitcoin when it was $3 each lol

It is hard to believe that a 12-15-year-old kid has done that. There are many other aspects of his success, his country, parents, and supporters. Everyone may not have the fortune of him. Right now it's getting harder and harder to earn BTC without any investments.

[btcney]

http://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2017/06/20/bitcoin-millionaire-erik-finman-says-going-to-college-isnt-worth-it.html

Erik invested in bitcoin when he was 12 and not is a millionaire at age of 18.  This is a good story for Bitcoin.

But here is something that I do not understand:

An excerpt from the article:
"Eventually he found a buyer for Botangle's technology in January 2015. The investor offered either $100,000 or 300 bitcoin, which had dropped in value at that time to a little more than $200 a coin. He took the lower cash value bitcoin deal because he believed it was "the next big thing."

"My parents asked 'Why don't you take the more cash?"' Finman explained. "But I thought of it more of an investment.""

Why didn't he take the $100K and bought more bitcoins instead?  Granted that there has to be some tax consideration, but tax rate has to be as high as 40% in order for both of the cash option and the bitcoins option to breakeven.  If the tax rate was at 40%, then he could get $60K after tax and would be able to buy 300 bitcoins at the market price ($200 at the time).  Moreover, one day when he sells the bitcoins, he can dedect $200 on each of the bitcoins from the capital gain as cost.

Am I missing something in here?  Don't drop out from high school?   

This is a case that is one in a million.

Most of us aren't going to be so successful with investing. When we missed the initial bitcoin stages, that was it. A lot of us didn't have more chances to get cheap bitcoins that we can sell for higher. This man took the risk and invested in btc when it was highly criticized, and it paid off.

However, looking at the article on cnbc about him he says that "college isn't worth it". Which is not really good advice at all. He may be a genius himself, that have infinite amount of good ideas, but 99.9% of people will benefit from college.(but not college debt )

It seems like a dumb idea that he got 300 btc instead of 100k as well. Obviously he does not have a very good sense of economics. He could have esaily sold the 100k usd for more btc as soon as he got it...

[David Horton]

Wise kid, Who would have thought of doing that at the age of 12? He really made a wise move by doing that, surely his parents are very proud of him right now.

[serjent05]

http://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2017/06/20/bitcoin-millionaire-erik-finman-says-going-to-college-isnt-worth-it.html

Erik invested in bitcoin when he was 12 and not is a millionaire at age of 18.  This is a good story for Bitcoin.

But here is something that I do not understand:

An excerpt from the article:
"Eventually he found a buyer for Botangle's technology in January 2015. The investor offered either $100,000 or 300 bitcoin, which had dropped in value at that time to a little more than $200 a coin. He took the lower cash value bitcoin deal because he believed it was "the next big thing."

"My parents asked 'Why don't you take the more cash?"' Finman explained. "But I thought of it more of an investment.""

Why didn't he take the $100K and bought more bitcoins instead?  Granted that there has to be some tax consideration, but tax rate has to be as high as 40% in order for both of the cash option and the bitcoins option to breakeven.  If the tax rate was at 40%, then he could get $60K after tax and would be able to buy 300 bitcoins at the market price ($200 at the time).  Moreover, one day when he sells the bitcoins, he can dedect $200 on each of the bitcoins from the capital gain as cost.

Am I missing something in here?  Don't drop out from high school?   

I did read this the other day on reddit. We all wish to be this guy and retire early, even tho he is the type of guy that keeps going after getting rich. He invested his initial bitcoins into a business, then bought back by selling the business from what I've read. He is not the average high schooler. What were the chances that a 12 year old would be investing on bitcoin back then? It was unlikely for an old experienced man, let alone a damn kid. He must be a genius + the luck of stumbling upon bitcoin at the right time.

Sadly i do not buy this story as true at all, there is some cosmetics in this.  Part of it maybe true but definitely most of it are make up stories or exaggerated one.  I do not envy the kid because he is already a millionaire now, actually I am happy for him.  But this story have lots of flaws.  Try to analyze it and you will see most of it.  Anyway, this might be a good inspirational story for a grade schooler but not to the mature one. 

[jekjekman]

This teenager doesn't really hate school but instead this makes him bored because he is more interested in real life challenges, he chose to be a drropout than going to a 8 hour traditional teachings that he can learn now online.

Besides him being lucky I think he just a type of a teenager that really wants fun and interesting stuffs because he really don't care to invest that $1000 to bitcoin that is given my her grandma and most of all he is too young with and urge to do everything he wants and a man nothing to lose but everything to gain.

[Jherek]

http://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2017/06/20/bitcoin-millionaire-erik-finman-says-going-to-college-isnt-worth-it.html

Erik invested in bitcoin when he was 12 and not is a millionaire at age of 18.  This is a good story for Bitcoin.

But here is something that I do not understand:

An excerpt from the article:
"Eventually he found a buyer for Botangle's technology in January 2015. The investor offered either $100,000 or 300 bitcoin, which had dropped in value at that time to a little more than $200 a coin. He took the lower cash value bitcoin deal because he believed it was "the next big thing."

"My parents asked 'Why don't you take the more cash?"' Finman explained. "But I thought of it more of an investment.""

Why didn't he take the $100K and bought more bitcoins instead?  Granted that there has to be some tax consideration, but tax rate has to be as high as 40% in order for both of the cash option and the bitcoins option to breakeven.  If the tax rate was at 40%, then he could get $60K after tax and would be able to buy 300 bitcoins at the market price ($200 at the time).  Moreover, one day when he sells the bitcoins, he can dedect $200 on each of the bitcoins from the capital gain as cost.

Am I missing something in here?  Don't drop out from high school?   

Drop out of high school only if you find something that you are 100% sure will boost you into post-education mode. Otherwise, go for the safe route. Just my opinion, other people may and can definitely think differently.

Most of it is luck though. I regret not getting into bitcoin earlier but rather i focused on my studies which obviously were pretty much useless afterwards anyways. There are certain things that i wanted to do that couldn't be achieved with all the time spent on studying which is something that i regret as well.

I wouldn't call the guy smart, he could and should have taken the 100k figure. Calling taking the 300 btc an investment i guess is okay, but it doesn't really work when you think about it. He could have just got the 100000 bucks and sold it for 200 more whole btcs.... Weird decision if you ask me.

[Juggy777]

http://www.c[Suspicious link removed]m/2017/06/20/bitcoin-millionaire-erik-finman-says-going-to-college-isnt-worth-it.html

Erik invested in bitcoin when he was 12 and not is a millionaire at age of 18.  This is a good story for Bitcoin.

But here is something that I do not understand:

An excerpt from the article:
"Eventually he found a buyer for Botangle's technology in January 2015. The investor offered either $100,000 or 300 bitcoin, which had dropped in value at that time to a little more than $200 a coin. He took the lower cash value bitcoin deal because he believed it was "the next big thing."

"My parents asked 'Why don't you take the more cash?"' Finman explained. "But I thought of it more of an investment.""

Why didn't he take the $100K and bought more bitcoins instead?  Granted that there has to be some tax consideration, but tax rate has to be as high as 40% in order for both of the cash option and the bitcoins option to breakeven.  If the tax rate was at 40%, then he could get $60K after tax and would be able to buy 300 bitcoins at the market price ($200 at the time).  Moreover, one day when he sells the bitcoins, he can dedect $200 on each of the bitcoins from the capital gain as cost.

Am I missing something in here?  Don't drop out from high school?   

I don't know what's this guy's education, but in finance world there are two methods which we sell to our clients, either take x Money now or take Defford amount later and that's what he has done, and it's a master stroke, I don't know what he was thinking but he did it brilliantly, and that what matters. I feel this can be used as an example for many to stylish invested in Bitcoins.

[Vishnu.Reang]

This is what happens when you have intelligent friends, who talk to you about new technology such as Bitcoin. Unfortunately for me, no one told me about Bitcoins when the prices were low. Else, I could have become a millionaire by now. 

[jorneyflair]

This is what happens when you have intelligent friends, who talk to you about new technology such as Bitcoin. Unfortunately for me, no one told me about Bitcoins when the prices were low. Else, I could have become a millionaire by now. 

Yeah, anyone had an opportunity. Unfortunately most saw bitcoin as just a virtual currency, nothing else. Nobody saw what it was capable of until the 2013 price hike which everyone knows and talks about. That was the first mainstream media appearance ever.

This kid took advantage of it. I think we are over criticizing the fact that he dropped out of high school(he is entitled to do wahtever he wants to do, and obviously it worked so who cares), and the fact that he took the 300 BTC instead of 600 BTC or w/e amount worth of fiat. In the end, he made a very good profit, and is already a millionaire when most others are in debt when they're 18.

We're still in the early adoption age. Not mayn of my tech savvy friends know about bitcoin still. I would say that making another 10x just like this kid by the next halving is not impossible at all.

[BossMacko]

He is lucky because he followed what he desired and look at him now he is a millionaire now he can do whatever he wants like make a business, had a long vacation, spending his time with his family without thinking of financial problem that may occur. Even if he drop out from high school now he can continue his study in the best school in his country.

[dothebeats]

This is what happens when you have intelligent friends, who talk to you about new technology such as Bitcoin. Unfortunately for me, no one told me about Bitcoins when the prices were low. Else, I could have become a millionaire by now. 

Sometimes reading stuff completely new to you also helps in enriching not only the mind but also your future. This kid is no extraordinary; he just happened to make the right decision at the right time like most of the millionaires of bitcoin did. It would be extraordinary if the kid did like what the ETH founder did. Wise in investment yes but not that extraordinary, but it feels good.