A BBC documentary about a teen crypto millionaire has been axed amid claims the star was involved in a scam.
Hanad Hassan, from Birmingham, was promoted as a crypto whizz who was able to quit two jobs and drop out of university after making a whopping £1 million from a £37 investment.
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The programme – called The Crypto Millionaire – was due to be broadcast at 7.30pm on Wednesday and also featured in an article on the corporation’s website.
However, both have now been removed and the BBC have said they are looking into “editorial issues”.
“Birmingham’s self-made crypto-millionaire giving back,” the article read, and featured pictures of his flat and £30,000 Mercedes.
It promoted how Hassan had managed to turn a £37 investment into almost £6million – a return of some 16million per cent in just nine months.
The BBC however omitted mentions that Hassan’s cryptocurrency OrfanoX was abruptly shut down in October – leaving many unhappy investors claiming it was a “scam”.
Suddenly axing show has left the BBC red faced as it was one of the leading commissions for its We Are England show, which is replacing the now cancelled Inside Out.
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BBC chiefs are reportedly “investigating” the incident – while sources have said the incident was “exasperating”, reports the Mail Online.
OrfanoX boasts it is a charity-based token and its seemingly official Twitter account has not posted since October 5, and its Instagram has been quiet since October 3.
Many replied to the coin’s final post alleging on social media that the investment was actually a scam as they had lost their cash.
It is understood the documentary on Hassan was filmed in September and was edited before the apparent collapse of OrfanoX.
The original story claimed that Hassan, from Birmingham, discovered a knack for trading during lockdown – and boasted that he could return on his expenditure tenfold.
At the start of 2021, the then 19-year-old is claimed to have invested part of his earnings from work to cryptocurrency while also studying for a law degree.
“Fifty dollars turned into $500 (£369) three days later,” he told the BBC: “Two more days later, it was $5,000 (£3,690).”
He explained that it soon became apparent that he was dealing with “crazy money” and was quickly able to quit his jobs and drop out of university to focus on becoming a millionaire.
However, after moving from Somalia to the UK alongside his five siblings when he was 14, Hanad described his family set-up as “modest.”
Now, despite his soaring wealth, Hanad claimed he is still aware of the struggles of others and wants to give back to his local community.
The teen, he had given away more than £200,000 to charity.
The teen says he has also attended food banks and hopes to be able to give a “fulfilling” hands on contribution.
“It’s an eye-opening experience, seeing first hand what people are going through,” he added.
“It’s given us a lot of ideas – we hope to be able to help a lot of people.”
“The programme has been withdrawn from tonight’s schedule while we look into editorial issues,” a spokesman told The Birmingham Mail.
The risks of buying with cryptocurrencies
Investing and making a purchase in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is risky .
Their value is highly volatile and City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority has warned investors should be prepared to lose all their money.
Investing in cryptocurrencies is not a guaranteed way to make money.
You should also think carefully about making purchases with a cryptocurrency.
For example, Bitcoin has had wild price fluctuations in recent months and the price can change on an almost hourly basis.
The price of a Bitcoin was at $40,258 on January 9, according to Coindesk, but fell to $34,214 just three days later.
That’s a 15% drop.
These price swings are risky for a business as you could sell an item for a Bitcoin at one price and the value may drop soon after, leaving you with less money from a sale.
Similarly, the price of Bitcoin has soared by more than 21% since the start of this week so it can be hard for a shopper to get an accurate idea of the price of an item if its value changes on a daily basis.
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