The Youngest Bitcoin Self-Made Millionaire: Dadvan Yousuf

Born April 9, 2000, in Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan. Dadvan Yousuf. A name now whispered in Swiss financial circles. The refugee boy turned crypto millionaire. His story feels almost mythical.

His father, a Peshmerga fighter, escaped to Switzerland first. Then in 2003, little three-year-old Dadvan arrived with his mom and siblings in Neuenburg. Refugee status came a year later. They settled in Ipsach. Even as a kid, money fascinated him. Bitcoin especially.

At just 11, Yousuf sold his toys. Not for candy or games. For Bitcoin. He bought 10 Bitcoins at €15 each. Kind of surprising for a child that age. By 2012, he somehow acquired 1,000 more Bitcoins for around €11,126. Then Ethereum caught his eye - 16,000 units for €134,000 in 2016. Millionaire status followed. Still a teenager.

He finished an apprenticeship at the Swiss Federal University in Zollikofen. Worked at a real estate firm in Bern for a while. Then created algorithmic trading software for crypto. The software seems quite sophisticated - it looks at technical data, social media, economic indicators. Predicts crypto movements.

Early 2021 saw Yousuf establish the Dohrnii Foundation. Later that year, he grabbed a majority stake in Crowdlitoken. A Liechtenstein startup focused on tokenized real estate. Became CEO. At 21, Forbes put him on their 30 Under 30 list. Fortune estimated at 270 million Swiss francs. Not bad.

But success attracts scrutiny. February 2022 brought critical press articles. Alleged irregularities. Yousuf fought back. Filed defamation lawsuit against two journalists. The Zurich Superior Court sided with him in August 2025. First time SRF journalists got convicted in the channel’s history. They paid his legal expenses - 10,676 CHF.

His net worth now? Over $300 million. Mostly from early Bitcoin and Ethereum investments. The Swiss Financial Market Authority has been looking into his activities. The Dohrnii Foundation got dissolved in 2023. It’s not entirely clear what happened there.

His autobiography came out October 24, 2022. ARD featured him in “Money Maker” documentary two months later. Kurdish refugee to crypto millionaire. A story that sells itself. The Bern Canton prosecutors started investigating in 2023. Still ongoing. The ending remains unwritten.