By CCN Markets: Bitcoin entrepreneur Erik Finman, who became a millionaire by age 18, wants to bring crypto to the masses through a new investing platform called CoinBits.
In fact, Finman is so confident in his concept that he projects he’ll be able to onboard one million customers within the next 12 months.
Finman: CoinBits Is Better Than Coinbase
The 20-year-old high school dropout told MarketWatch that his platform is superior to rivals like Coinbase and Robinhood because it’s much more user-friendly.
“The goal of the application is to make cryptocurrency not just more accessible, but to make cryptos and blockchain technology tangible and more tactile. I really think a million users within a year is realistic.”
Bitcoin millionaire Erik Finman is launching CoinBits, a crypto investing platform. | Source: CoinBits
Finman Invested $100,000 to Build His Coinbase Competitor
Finman launched CoinBits in April, and says he has invested $100,000 so far to build it out.
Here’s how it works: CoinBits automatically rounds up your credit and debit-card purchases to the nearest dollar and invests the difference in bitcoin for you.
The platform also offers the option to make one-time investments. Users can set up their accounts to match their financial risk profiles.
“Some 98% of the bitcoin are in cold storage, or not kept on online, making them less vulnerable to data breaches, in theory.”
The approach is similar to those used by investment apps like Acorns and Stash, which let you automatically invest spare change from your debit and credit card purchases.
Finman says he wants CoinBits to become “the Acorns of bitcoin,” and in so doing make crypto more accessible to the average person.
“I think so many people have attempted to make bitcoin simple, but I don’t feel like anyone has fully achieved that yet.”
Erik’s Story Has Become Crypto Legend
Erik Finman’s unlikely story of becoming an overnight bitcoin millionaire has become the stuff of crypto legend.
The teen phenom used $1,000 that his grandmother gave him when he was 12 to buy his first bitcoin. At the time, the obscure virtual currency was trading at a mere $12 a token. Six years later — by age 18 — Finman became a millionaire, thanks to bitcoin’s meteoric price spikes.
Not surprisingly, Finman is a bitcoin perma-bull who believes it’s the wave of the future. However, for every bitcoin success story, there are numerous cautionary tales. One example is crypto podcaster Peter McCormack.
As CCN reported, McCormack lost $1 million during the crypto bear market. McCormack started investing in bitcoin in 2016, after the London advertising agency he managed shuttered. He says he started with an initial investment of £5,000 (US$6,400).
As prices rose, he bought up even more BTC. When the value of his holdings spiked to $300,000 in the spring of 2017, McCormack was hooked. Looking back, he admits that he got caught up in the hype and wishes he had taken everything out before the bubble burst.
Crypto podcaster Peter McCormack lost $1 million during the bitcoin bear marker. | Source: Twitter
Craig Wright Is Suing Podcaster Peter McCormack
By December 2017 — when the bitcoin price soared to almost $20,000 — McCormack’s portfolio had ballooned to $1.2 million.
McCormack says media hype of the then-budding crypto market fueled bitcoin mania. Its erratic price swings commanded countless headlines. Like other newbie investors who get rich quick but lack money-management skills, McCormack admits he spent money carelessly.
Fast-forward to today, and Peter McCormack is still a crypto bull. But he has downsized his lifestyle and gets by as a podcaster.
‘Bitcoin Creator’ Craig Wright Drags Critics to Court to ‘Prove’ He’s Satoshi https://t.co/Z4nkNGitaQ
— CCN Markets (@CCNMarkets) April 18, 2019
If McCormack’s sounds familiar within crypto circles today, it’s because he’s being sued by self-proclaimed Satoshi Nakamoto, Craig Wright.
As CCN reported, Wright accused McCormack of defaming him when he called him “a fraud.” In April, Wright filed a libel lawsuit against McCormack, seeking damages of £100,000 (or roughly $130,000).
