‘I bought my first Bitcoin at the age of 11’

Dadvan Yousuf, who grew up as a refugee in Switzerland after fleeing war-torn Iraq with his family in 2003, started buying Bitcoin at the age of 11 after selling his toys on the street to help send money to his sick grandmother.

Now 23, the self-made millionaire is in training to climb Mount Everest next month, with the aim of promoting financial literacy worldwide through his education platform.

“My message is that financial education is a human right … I want people around the world to understand that,” he says.

Mr Yousuf, the third oldest of seven siblings, moved to Dubai last year and has launched several companies in the UAE, including one that invests in commercial entities.

He divides his time between Dubai, Zurich and Paris.

Did money feature in your childhood?

When we went to Switzerland in 2003, we fled from the Iraq war. Since we were refugees in Switzerland, we grew up very poor. We never really had enough money, even for food sometimes or for clothes or whatever. So, we grew up very harsh, I would say.

What did you learn from that experience?

To be very humble. It means to appreciate whatever we have right now. I appreciate everything still, even if it is $1 or $10, because we never had that, or did not have enough when I was small. So, I learnt to appreciate everything else around me.

How did you discover Bitcoin?

I was 11 when I first started buying Bitcoin. Basically, my parents were arguing at home, and it was about sending money to my grandmother because she was sick and needed an operation.

We did not have enough money, but the second issue was that the only way to send money to Iraq’s Kurdish region back then was through a weird way, as there were no proper banks there.

So, the only way was to give cash to someone who was flying to Iraq’s Kurdish region, and they would hand over the cash to my grandmother. But the person does it for a lot of other people. Because of the risk, it was expensive; I am talking about 12 years ago, 13 years ago and it was kind of the standard to do that.

I was searching for a different solution and just Googled in German and English: “What other options are there to make money transfers?”

And that’s how I came up with Bitcoin. When I figured out how to buy it, I started to sell my toys outside on the street and gave the cash to my father. I then used his credit cards and bought my first 10 Bitcoin for about €15 each ($16.28).

Did you understand Bitcoin then?

When I started to be interested in Bitcoin … I thought it was already an accepted currency worldwide; kind of a Swiss franc in digital to send it faster and more efficiently, like an in-game currency.

When I bought them, I had no idea what Bitcoin was, what the blockchain technology was or how to transfer it or what to do with it. So, I never could send anything to my grandmother, and no one had a clue what it was. I gave up and I thought it was the biggest mistake of my life … but I started again a year later.

How many Bitcoins do you own now

I have enough Bitcoins to literally stop working for my whole life and my family, which is very nice.

But I realised that when I was 21 or 22 years old that it is not just about having more and more and more, and it comes to a point where you try to give something back.

When you want to try to give something back, you have two ways to do so – you can either just donate to some organisations … or you try to do something proactive.

For example, I try to teach people about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology – not teaching people about how they become millionaires, because no one can do that, per se.

How has it changed your life?

It was a big difference three years ago, when I cashed (some) out and had so much money. I did so many things, travelled around the world … I was like, wow.

Right now, in 2024, it is no contrast at all. I think everything depends on how humble you are and you should never forget where you came from in the first place.

When I went back to Iraq’s Kurdish region recently, I saw where we lived when I was a child. It is basically a house of stones, a very, very small house.

If you think that I came from there with my family and today, I have possibilities that I could just dream of, it is a big contrast.

But if you never forget where you came from, who you are and who your family is, and how your parents raised you and taught you, you stay very calm and humble.

I am just happy that today, I can make my family happy or people around me … who invested in me with their time and efforts. If you have people around who really love you, they keep your feet on the ground, which is good and positive.

Why did you move to Dubai?

I moved my business here one year ago and I moved here four or five months ago, officially. But I move very often back and forth between Dubai, Zurich and Paris. So, right now, I am living more between those three places.

Right now, I am involved in a lot of businesses. I have created companies in the UAE, such as one to invest in commercial entities.

I also own two apartments in Dubai. But the place where I work is a little bit too far (from them), so I rent to be close to my office.

Are you a spender or a saver?

Well, I am a saver as we did not have money to spend.

Of course, when I cashed out (some Bitcoin) and for the first time in my life, I had money in my hands. I tried everything that I saw in Hollywood movies.

But at some point, I started to realise and understand that it does not make you happy in the long term.

So today, as an example, I can fly first class or business class because I have the financial capacity to do so.

But if I see a business class ticket is way too expensive or overpriced, I fly economy – I save where I can save.

Do you have any spending or investment regrets?

There was one start-up I invested in. I lost a lot of money there, but that is not really a threat. I do not regret anything in life.

What are your best investments?

Not Bitcoin; it was Ether because it was in a shorter period of time and gave a higher return of investment.

And your most cherished purchase?

Buying a house for my family in Iraq’s Kurdish region. That is what they always dreamt of and they were very happy.

Do you use cash?

No. I live my life fully digitalised with digital assets and how I do that is very simple.

A lot of people actually do not understand that this is possible. First of all, you cannot spend Bitcoin in a normal way to buy a Starbucks coffee. But what you can do is create an account on an exchange like Bybit or other exchanges that offer debit cards and credit cards, and then you just send your Bitcoin to your account.

And then you spend the Bitcoin with your card and buy a coffee. I use cryptocurrency debit cards and can literally do everything with that.

Do you ever use your smartphone for payments?

I have never used the phone because of a simple reason: All the providers right now that offer cryptocurrency payments are not working together with Google Pay or Apple Pay.

Just few days ago, the Bybit exchange was the first one that made it possible to pay by Google Pay. Unfortunately, I have iPhone, so I do not use it.

How much money do you have in your wallet right now?

I have a wallet but I never have cash in it – I just have cards.

Updated: March 22, 2024, 6:02 PM