🚨In 2012 a man bet his entire life savings on Bitcoin at $5 a coin.
In January 2012, Erik Finman was 12 years old
His grandmother gave him $1,000
He put all of it into Bitcoin
Bitcoin was trading at roughly $10 to $12 per coin at the time
He bought around 100 Bitcoin
His parents and teachers told him it was a waste
His high school teachers told him he was going nowhere
He made a bet with his parents
If he became a millionaire before turning 18 they would not force him to go to college
By 2013 Bitcoin hit $1,200 and his $1,000 had grown to around $100,000
He used some of the gains to start a small educational startup called Botangle at 13 years old
He sold Botangle in 2014 for 300 Bitcoin
At that point Bitcoin was around $200
That sale added 300 more coins to his stack at what turned out to be the cycle low
By 2017, when Bitcoin hit $18,000, Erik Finman was 18 years old
His Bitcoin was worth over $4 million
• He won the bet
• He never went to college
• His parents had to put it in writing
• He said in interviews that his teachers had told him he would end up working at McDonald's
At Bitcoin's peak in October 2025 at $126,198, his original 100 coins from the $1,000 investment would have been worth $12.6 million
His additional 300 Bitcoin from the Botangle sale would have been worth $37.8 million
$1,000 given by a grandmother
A 12 year old who believed his teachers were wrong
The teachers were wrong