How CS student Fahim Ahmed went from pre-teen hobbyist to founder of Waterloo Blockchain

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Fahim Ahmed is a computer science and finance student at Waterloo, and the president and co-founder of Waterloo Blockchain. But what feels like a direct path to success now, took him a while to find.

Ahmed was only 12 years old when he started crypto-mining.

“I had seen people talking about it a lot online, so I set up my own hardware to do mining in my bedroom,” he recalls. “I just wanted money to buy video games!”

In elementary and high school, Ahmed switched schools frequently, and had trouble staying focused.

“I was always interested in learning stuff, I just didn’t like learning at school,” he says.

He dabbled in different aspects of tech throughout his teen years, building an Android kernel in Grade 9 and studying data science in Grade 10. He also developed a keen interest in economics and financial markets.

“I was always trying out technologies, trying out software and dabbling in financial markets because they interested me,” he says. “I remember being in class in Grade 9 and constantly checking the financial markets — especially what was happening with the blockchain and cryptocurrency.”

Read the full article from Waterloo News to learn more.