Jordan Travers’ $2000 investment in online currency Ethereum nets $1m

A MELBOURNE fitness trainer has become an instant millionaire after turning a $2000 investment into more than $1 million. Find out how he did it.

Jordan Travers won’t be giving up his day job. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

A MELBOURNE fitness trainer has become an instant millionaire after turning a $2000 investment into more than $1 million.

Jordan Travers now has enough to buy a house in Melbourne and he’s only 21.

He put $2000 into an online currency called Ethereum, which is similar to Bitcoin, four years ago after returning from backpacking through South America.

Mr Travers forgot about the money until April this year when he saw a news article on Ethereum.

“The article said the price was $US50 … so I figured my original investment might be worth $20,000 or something,” he said.

That night he went home and logged into his account: he owned 5190 Ethereum.

“I plugged the numbers into my phone: 5190 multiplied by $US50 is … two hundred and sixty grand! I just sat there looking at the screen, I was literally dumbfounded. And I mean literally.”

And then things got really crazy.

“I called my parents. My mum was jumping up and down screaming with excitement! And Dad … didn’t believe it.”

Mr Travers’ dad advised him to sell 75 per cent of his holdings “immediately”. Over the next four weeks he watched the price of Ethereum jump sixfold.

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If Mr Travers had held on a month longer, his investment would have been worth $2.5 million.

Mr Travers eventu­ally cashed out $719,000 and still has $340,000 of the online currency.

But despite his luck, he’s not buying a house just yet.

“I’m going to travel. I’d like to do some more study. And ultimately I’d like to start my own business,” he said.

“And with the rest I’ll be taking the Barefoot Investor approach and investing in good-quality, dividend-paying shares.”

And he’s not going to put any more money into Ethereum or Bitcoin because he said he didn’t think lightning would strike twice.

Despite his new-found fortune, Travers has kept his job as a fitness trainer in North Fitzroy.

Scott Pape, the Barefoot Investor, gives his verdict on Ethereum:

So, dear reader, you have just heard Jordan Travers’ million-dollar fairytale.

Here’s what you’re thinking right now.

“I have a spare $2000 … maybe I should …”

No, you shouldn’t.

Fact is, I won’t invest my family’s money in Ethereum, and I don’t recommend anyone else does either.

Even though I can almost guarantee there will be a dominant currency for the internet in the future — it makes too much sense for there not to be. However, I’m also honest enough to admit that I don’t have a clue as to whether that currency will be Ethereum, or Bitcoin, or maybe even something from tech giants Apple, Google or Amazon. Besides, I simply don’t invest in things I don’t understand, and I sure as hell don’t invest in something just because it’s gone up in the past.

Travers himself was smart enough to understand that he’s won the Millennial version of Tattslotto and now he’s avoiding the online currencies.

So there’s no geeky advice here. Let’s turn it over to esteemed financial adviser Mr Kenny Rogers, who advises … “you got to know when to walk away, know when to run”. And for this fitness trainer, it’s time to run, baby, run!