Dadvan Ismat Yousuf Yousuf (born April 9, 2000) is an Iraqi cryptocurrency investor and businessman whose early bitcoin investments made him the youngest self-made billionaire in Switzerland.[1] Yousuf and his companies have been the subject of a number of investigations into financial impropriety.[2][3][4]
Early life
Yousuf was born in Zakho, Iraqi Kurdistan on April 9, 2000.[5] His father was part of the Peshmerga and fled the country to Switzerland before Yousuf was born. Three years later his mother left the country, together with her three sons.[6] They arrived in Neuenburg, Switzerland, in 2003 where his father had relocated.[7][8] In 2004, the family was granted refugee status and moved to Ipsach. Yousuf has five younger siblings who were born in Switzerland.[9] In his early years, he showed a interest in the field of finance, particularly on Bitcoin and international money transfers.[10]
Career
At the age of 11, Yousuf sold some of his toys to acquire funds to invest in Bitcoin. With this initial investment, he purchased 10 Bitcoins at a price of €15 and continued to trade in the cryptocurrency.[6][7] In 2012, he acquired 1000 Bitcoins at a rate of €11,126. In 2016, Yousuf invested in Ethereum, buying 16,000 units at a total cost of €134,000.[9] Yousuf became a multi-millionaire through his cryptocurrency trades,[7][8] and is considered the youngest Swiss self-made millionaire.[11]
In 2017 he started an apprenticeship at the Eidgenössische Hochschulinstitut für Berufsbildung in Zollikofen. He finished his apprenticeship with a real estate company in Bern. Around the same time, Yousuf claims, he developed a software for automated trades in cryptocurrencies, based on an algorithm analysing data and predicting fluctuations in the future. The algorithm evaluates data stemming from technical analysis, social media, macroeconomics and public statements about cryptocurrencies.[12]
In early 2021, Yousuf founded the Dohrnii Foundation to oversee the development of his cryptocurrency software and own cryptocurreny tokens.[13] Later that year, in November 2021, he was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for the DACH region.[14]
In late 2021, Yousuf bought the majority of Crowdlitoken,[15][16] a Liechtenstein startup developing technology to allow people to invest in real estate through digital shares in the form of tokens. Concomitant with this investment, Yousuf assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer and was appointed as a member of the company's board of directors.[17]
In February 2022, several critical press articles scrutinized Yousuf's professional activities and credentials.[18][19] Reports alleged embellishments to his resume, irregularities in transactions, and false representation.[20][21] Subsequently, in March 2022, Yousuf filed a defamation complaint against two journalists from SRF Investigativ, a Swiss media outlet.[22]
Yousuf's autobiography was published on October 24, 2022.[29][30] In December 2022, Yousuf participated in the ARD documentary titled 'Money Maker',[31] which explored his journey from a refugee child in Kurdistan to becoming a multimillionaire through cryptocurrency investments in Switzerland.[32][33] As of 2023 he is under criminal investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Canton of Bern.[34]
Personal life and wealth
Yousuf climbed Mount Everest in 2024, claiming to be the first Kurd and Iraqi to have reached the summit.[35][36]
