Erik Finman was only a child when he invested the $1000 he got from his grandma in Bitcoin.
He came from a rich and well-educated family in Idaho, in the north-west US, but just a few years into high school realised that college wasn’t for him.
With his parents desperate for him to follow in their footsteps he made them a bet: If he could become a millionaire before his 18th birthday he could skip college.
Now, having watched the price of the Bitcoin skyrocket well beyond the $12 when he began, the 19-year-old has amassed a cryptocurrency wealth of more than $6million.
Despite the price of the ‘crypto’ plummeting across the board over recent weeks, Mr Finman has made a bold claim to the doubters: ‘If you’re not a millionaire in the next decade, it’s your fault’.
Erik Finman (pictured) was only a child when he invested the $1000 he got from his grandma in Bitcoin, but in the wake of its massive recent growth, he is now worth some USD$6million
Despite the price of the ‘crypto’ plummeting across the board in recent weeks, Mr Finman says if you don’t become a millionaire in the next decade ‘it’s your fault’
After hitting a high of USD$19,343 (AUD$24,161) in mid-December 2017, the price of one Bitcoin dropped to as low as USD$8,568 (AUD$10,702) overnight.
The volatility of cryptocurrency, combined with a widespread lack of understanding of the market, has led many financial experts to warn people to steer clear.
But Mr Finkman, the budding tech and cryptocurrency expert, told Business Insider he found it so easy to get rich, there’s no excuses for anyone not to do the same.
‘I say if you do not become a millionaire in the next 10 years, then it’s your own fault,’ the teenage millionaire said.
But while many of his peers aren’t confident in the strength of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the rich kid is telling anyone and everyone to invest.
‘I still believe in cryptocurrencies, there are always ups and downs on the way up,’ Mr Finkman said.
While many of his peers aren’t confident in the strength of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, the rich kid is telling anyone and everyone to invest
Words of advice: ‘I say if you do not become a millionaire in the next 10 years, then it’s your own fault.’
‘The biggest mistake (you) can make is to get out of the market now and sell (your) bitcoins just because of a setback,’ the brash 19-year-old said
‘I have many friends and fans who almost begged for a crash… because they wanted to buy but thought the price was too high.
‘The biggest mistake (you) can make is to get out of the market now and sell (your) bitcoins just because of a setback.’
Happy to brag about his success Mr Finkman has some 8,700 followers on Instagram where he’s shared pictures of himself in luxury cars and playing with wads of cash.
His bold story of success has seen him featured on stage at Tedx and regularly talk at business forums.
Happy to brag about his success Mr Finkman has some 8,700 followers on Instagram where he’s shared images of himself in luxury cars )pictured) and playing with wads of cash