Bitcoin Boy Genius
Richard Smithies, Founder of Helios Mining
We’ll be the first to admit we have no idea what cryptocurrency is. But a 16-year-old at Coral Gables High School does. Richard Smithies just won $1,500 for his business idea, Helios Mining. The prize money comes from the Regional Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge of the national non-profit Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.
Helios Mining is a mining company for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Jeannine Schloss, the Senior Director of NFTE, dumbed it down for us. Cryptocurrency is sent from one person to another via the Internet. Along the way, the currency generates value, and the “miner” helps to buy and sell it. Smithies’ venture is called Helios Mining because the machine is powered by solar panels.
“For a 16-year-old to understand [cryptocurrency] is mind-blowing to me,” said Schloss. Also to us – especially how Smithies says his virtual mining company is already making $30 per day. This fall Smithies will compete with 9 other regional winners for a $25,000 grand prize.
