TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- A Taiwanese student has made such a killing on bitcoin that he's been able to use his winnings to finance his entire education at New York University (NYU), reported the New York Post on Saturday (Feb. 17).

Konig Chen (陳柯尼), 22, who had grown up in Brazil but attended high school in Taiwan, said he first made an investment of US$5,000 (about NT$145,000) in bitcoins in February of last year. Over the summer, he bet US$80,000 on the cryptocurrency as it started to skyrocket in value.

By the end of last year, he was able to withdraw US$200,000 from his bitcoin account to fully pay his tuition for four years at NYU. Chen attributed his success to an algorithm which predicts the performance of bitcoin developed by his NYU classmate, who only goes by his first name of Brandon.

In an interview with the New York Post, Chen, who originally was a hospitality and leisure management major but has now made around US$300,000 speculating on bitcoin, says he plans to get out before the currency crashes and take his earnings to invest in a resort property: