Erik Finman knows a thing or two about bitcoin, and now he’s offering advice to young people who are interested in investing.
At high school he managed to obtain a 2.1 GPA, but according to him his teachers considered him a failure. So much so, that one teacher said he should drop out and work at McDonald’s as that’s all he would aspire to. So he dropped out.
Interestingly enough, he made a bet with his Stanford-educated parents that if he became a millionaire by 18 he wouldn’t have to go to college.
The 19-year-old first got involved with the digital currency when he was 12 in 2011. Back then he’d received a $1,000 gift from his grandmother, which he put into investing in bitcoin.
In 2013, Finman then cashed in the first of his cryptocurrency investments when the coin was valued at $1,200, walking away with $100,000. Through these funds he was able to setup his first startup, Botangle, an online education platform providing students with connections to teachers digitally, reports Forbes. This he launched in 2014 and then later sold for 300 bitcoins. Since then he has been working with NASA and managing his family’s bitcoin investments.
With the success that he has found, Finman believes that young people should find something they are good at and ‘make money doing it.’
In a tweet, the young entrepreneur wrote:
This is crucial for young people. Establishing an extra stream of income will allow you to start investing earlier.
Confirming with CNBC’s ‘Make It,’ Finman currently owns 401 bitcoins, which, at today’s rate of $11,442, puts his net worth at a healthy $4.6 million. Not bad for a teenager who initially invested a $1,000 gift from his grandmother seven years ago and was considered a failure.
Yet, while there are many who claim that the digital currency is a Ponzi scheme and that it’s in a bubble waiting to crash, Finman doesn’t share those same feelings. According to him, ‘bitcoin is just as real as fiat money.’ The only difference to him is that the cryptocurrency can’t be printed endlessly.
As a result of his enthusiasm he is advising more young people to get involved. On social media he added:
What I love about bitcoin is that instead of some rich old guy on Wall Street young poor people are the ones getting rich.
For him, this is just the start of the digital currency, arguing:
Deep down, everybody knows cryptocurrencies are the future. Even the bankers and Wall Street know it. The only debate is how long until it completely takes over.
Featured image from Shutterstock.