I became a Bitcoin millionaire at 25 and sent my mom a six-figure gift after investing just four years ago

A FORMER college student has now become a self-made millionaire at the age of 25 after four years of high-risk crypto investments.

Cooper Turley, who lives in Los Angeles, started investing his paychecks in Ethereum and now has a growing seven-figure net worth, considering his parents are the usual six-figure gifts.

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Cooper was studying music business at university when he learned that the Ethereum blockchain had the potential to change the music industry, and he started investing.

He recently became a self-made millionaire, gave his mom a 6-figure Mother’s Day gift and paid off his student loans.

Although the 25-year-old will not disclose the initial investment amount, he said CNBC that he invests hundreds of dollars every chance he gets.

“From there, I fell down this rabbit hole because I was fascinated by how technology works and how I was able to make a name for myself and become an expert in the industry in general,” says Cooper.

He graduated in 2018 and said he started looking at his crypto portfolio more seriously, even though the value of blockchain fell 20% that year.

“In 2017, I saw my net worth basically go down,” he said.

“Over a period of two to three years, when everyone else got rid of that, I really invested heavily, basically all of my earnings just went into ether. [when it cost] about 100 dollars. ”

Cooper felt that he had done enough research and that his investments began to increase in value as Ethereum’s capabilities increased.

“I am completely self-taught,” he said.

“I became interested in finding out who the key players are and staying up to date with the latest trends.”

One of those trends is DeFi, which aims to replicate traditional financial systems allowing people to lend their cryptocurrency and earn interest, similar to a traditional lender.

While Cooper has had success with this method, experts warn users about the dangers of investing without user protection.

“The old crypto saying ‘don’t put in more than you can lose’ has doubled for DeFi,” said CoinDesk, a leading crypto news site.

“This tool is very complicated and can go wrong with a lot of things.”

‘VOLATILE AND SPECIFIC’

Cryptocurrencies can be riskier than other investments because they are volatile and speculative – their prices often rise and fall very quickly, sometimes for seemingly no reason.

Many cryptocurrencies have a short track record, making them confusing and difficult to predict.

This type of investment is also not regulated by the regulator, which means you won’t be protected if things don’t go your way.

The FCA has also been tougher on cryptocurrencies recently, banning the sale of crypto derivatives to retail investors.

“As with all high-risk, speculative investments, consumers should ensure that they understand what they are investing in, the risks associated with the investment, and any measures taken by them,” the FCA said. which regulatory safeguards apply”.

They added: “For crypto-related investments, consumers are unlikely to have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). ) if something goes wrong,

“Consumers should be wary if they are contacted carelessly, pressured to invest quickly, or promise returns too good to be true.”

But Cooper says he’s “tested that area for a long time, so I feel very confident about making sure I’ve checked that my loan is sound.”

Cooper currently lives in Los Angeles and works as an Angel investor and crypto advisor.

He also says his success convinced his parents to start investing, allowing them to pay off the mortgage with their own interest.

“Financial freedom is not the end state, it is just the beginning of being able to do really interesting things in the world,” Cooper said.

“I definitely don’t feel like I’ve ‘made it up’ – there are a lot of people who are so much better than me in crypto.

“But I feel really grateful.”

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