#915 Benyamin On Becoming A 13 Year Old Crypto Millionaire
4/14/2022 · 28 min · transcript via mlx
Tags
Key topics
— Benjamin, a 13-year-old entrepreneur, has generated over $5 million in trading volume on Weird Whales, his NFT collection built for approximately $300 using open-source software.
— He is working on Non-Fungible Films, a project creating animated series and films using intellectual property from NFT collections like Board Apes and NF Heroes, with licensing agreements already in place.
— Benjamin is launching a corporate sponsorship scheme with a former Barclays Bank executive to sell NFTs to corporations and use proceeds to fund Web3 and fintech education for young people entering crypto careers.
— He was the youngest speaker at Oxford University in nearly 1,000 years and also spoke at NFC Summit in Lisbon, discussing his NFT journey.
— The NFT market showed significant growth: OpenSea March 2022 sales were $2.5 billion (15x increase from March 2021), with 1.8 million NFTs sold and 450,000 active traders.
— Benjamin highlighted that Board Ape holders who collected airdrops (Mutant Apes, ApeCoin) realized returns exceeding $500,000 from initial $200 purchases, demonstrating the power of community and utility.
Market & price signals
— OpenSea dollar sales volume in March 2022 reached $2.5 billion, compared to $150 million in March 2021 (15x year-over-year growth), though January 2022 saw the highest-ever volume at $5 billion. NFT transactions increased from negligible levels to 1.8 million in March 2022 and 2.5 million in January 2022. Active traders on OpenSea numbered 450,000 in March 2022, small relative to mainstream platforms (Robinhood has 20+ million users). Benjamin estimates his personal net worth at approximately $1 million based on current crypto and NFT holdings, though he notes this fluctuates with Ethereum price movements.
Actionable insights
— NFT utility and community value drive returns more than speculative hype; historically-significant collections that offer membership benefits, governance tokens, or exclusive experiences generate sustained demand and appreciation.
— Young entrepreneurs and builders in the crypto space have structural advantages: CEOs and institutional decision-makers often grant meetings based on novelty and demonstrated execution, creating disproportionate access to capital and networks.
— Fractional ownership, staking, and lending mechanisms are emerging as critical next-layer utilities for NFT holders; exploring these options or building infrastructure around them represents significant opportunity as the market matures beyond art and collectibles.
Episode sponsorships
Paid placements mentioned in this episode. BTC Pods is not sponsored by or affiliated with these advertisers. Links are included so you can find offers mentioned on the show.
— Copper has been at the forefront of institutional digital asset development since 2018, offering award-winning custody solutions and the first truly off-exchange settlement function. Copper pioneers technology and services across more assets, exchanges, and with greater speed and security than any other infrastructure provider. To learn how Copper helps the world's largest institutional investors secure their digital assets, visit copper.co.
— Compass Mining is the world's first online marketplace for bitcoin mining hardware and hosting, making it easy for everyone to mine Bitcoin. Visit compassmining.io to start mining Bitcoin today.
— Bullish is a powerful new digital asset exchange built for institutions that delivers the innovations of DeFi in a regulated environment. The Bullish Hybrid Order Book pairs high performance of a traditional central limit order book with automated market making, powered by deep Bullish liquidity pools backed by a multi-billion dollar treasury. Learn more at bullish.com/legal or follow @Bullish on Twitter.