A boy won $50,000 selling cryptocurrencies he created himself. He then faced the negative backlash.

In July 2026, California will implement a new regime that will require residents to obtain a license to engage in activities related to "digital financial assets," which includes exchanging, transferring, storing, or managing certain cryptocurrency assets. Furthermore, President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his intention to introduce new regulations for the crypto sector. However, at this time, there are no specific laws regulating this type of asset.

Andrew Gordon, a partner at the law firm Gordon Law, points out that there is currently a legal vacuum that prevents the establishment of clear rules. "Once we have defined what is allowed, we will also know what is not. This could create an environment where frauds, such as rug pulls, are considered criminal violations," he explains.

On November 19, as the night progressed, Biesk was inundated with messages of outrage. While some celebrated his son's antics and called for his return to create another coin, others were more threatening. Biesk recalls one of the messages saying: “Your son stole my money.”

He and his wife were trying to understand how their son had managed to generate such a large amount of money in such a short time. "I was trying to understand how meme-based cryptocurrency trading works," Biesk confesses. Some memecoin traders, seeing the situation as an opportunity, created new coins on Pump.Fun inspired by Biesk and his wife: QUANT DAD and QUANTS MOM, although both are now worthless.

Disturbed and confused, Biesk and his wife decided to keep their social media accounts private, stop answering the phone, and generally wait for the situation to calm down. Biesk preferred not to disclose whether he had contacted the authorities or what would happen to the funds, limiting himself to saying that his son "would keep the money."

A few hours later, an account on X under Biesk's son’s name posted a message asking for people to stop contacting his parents. “I’m sorry for Quant, I didn’t realize I would make so much money. Please don’t message my parents; they reimburse [sic],” the post stated. Biesk claims that the account is not managed by his son.

Despite the uproar, Biesk is impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and technical skill his son has shown. "It is, in fact, a sophisticated trading platform," he states. "Obviously, he learned it on his own." Reflecting on how his teenager was able to make $50,000 in one night, Biesk suggests that young people have a relationship with money and investment that differs significantly from that of adults, marked by urgency and hyperactivity that contrasts with conventional wisdom.

"For me, crypto can be hard to understand because, in essence, there is nothing tangible behind it. But I think young people relate more to this intangible digital world than adults do," Biesk comments. "This has an immediacy for him. He seems to understand it better."

On December 1, after a two-week hiatus, Biesk’s son returned to Pump.Fun to launch five new memecoins, seemingly unfazed by the criticism. Ignoring the warnings in the names of some of the new coins, such as 'test' and 'dontbuy', people decided to buy, which allowed Biesk’s son to earn another $5,000.