Bathroom Billionaire: How a Teen Crypto Whiz Outsmarted the FBI 🤑

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In the suffocating embrace of a pandemic, while the world cowered in fear, Shayne Coplan, a mere 27 years old, forged his empire from the confines of a bathroom. A $9 billion empire, no less. The youngest self-made billionaire, they say. A title as hollow as the promises of the state.

At 14, this prodigy stumbled upon cryptocurrency while scavenging for pirated music-a modern-day Robin Hood, stealing from the rich to entertain himself. With the audacity of youth, he queried the SEC on the creation of new marketplaces. At 16, he gambled on Ethereum at $0.30, a presale that would later mock the foolishness of those who ignored it. 🌐

According to a LinkedIn post by Vlad Svitanko, Coplan briefly enrolled at NYU for computer science. One semester was enough. The academy, with its stifling conformity, could not contain his restless spirit. At 16, he appeared uninvited at Genius HQ and, with sheer bravado, secured a job. A job, mind you, not a destiny.

He dabbled in crypto projects, each a failure. Broke in Manhattan, he inventoried his belongings to pay rent-a humbling lesson in the cruelty of ambition. Yet, like a phoenix from the ashes of his own hubris, he rose again.

From Bathroom Lockdown to Regulatory Battles

COVID struck in 2020, and Coplan retreated to his bathroom, a sanctuary of solitude. There, he built Polymarket, a platform that would defy the very regulators who sought to crush it. In 2022, they fined him $1.4 million and banned him from operating in the U.S. But the state’s edicts are mere whispers to those who dare to dream. He built anyway. 🚀

Polymarket predicted Trump’s 2024 election win before the pundits could polish their talking points. $3.6 billion in bets flowed through its veins. A week later, the FBI raided his apartment at 6 am, seizing his phone and devices. His response on X? “New phone, who dis?” A jest, perhaps, but also a declaration of defiance. 😏

Related Reading: Polymarket Founder Hints at Upcoming POLY Token Launch

NYSE Owner Invests $2 Billion as Valuation Soars

In 2025, the investigations ceased. The NYSE owner invested $2 billion for 25% of Polymarket, pushing its valuation to $9 billion. Coplan, now 27, became the youngest self-made billionaire. A title, yes, but one that masks the loneliness of the path he chose. No fancy office. No MBA. Just a $15 billion company built without permission, as Svitanko claims. The Cryptorsy Ventures founder dubs him “the smartest kid of this century.” A compliment, or a curse? 🤔

Polymarket operates from outside U.S. borders, a major player in prediction markets. Efforts to relaunch in the U.S. persist. In early November, Live Bitcoin News reported that Polymarket quietly relaunched a U.S. beta, allowing select users to place real bets after a $1.4M CFTC fine and QCX acquisition. The state may bend him, but it will never break him.

In the end, Coplan’s story is not one of triumph, but of endurance. A reminder that in a world governed by rules, the truly audacious will always find a way to rewrite them. Or, as the saying goes, “New phone, who dis?” 📱

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2025-12-24 09:00