In July 2026, a new regime will take effect in California, where Biesk’s family lives, requiring residents to obtain a license to take part in “trading activity of digital financial assets”, including the exchange, transfer, storage or administration of certain crypto assets. President-elect Donald Trump did too promised new crypto regulations. But for now there are no specific laws for cryptocurrencies.
“We are in a legal vacuum where there are no clear laws,” says Andrew Gordon, partner at law firm Gordon Law. “Once we know what is ‘in bounds,’ we will also know what is ‘out of bounds.’ Hopefully this will create a climate where carpet tearing doesn’t happen, or when it does it’s seen as a criminal violation.
On Nov. 19, as the evening wore on, the angry messages kept coming, Biesk says. While some celebrated his son’s antics, demanding he return and create another coin, others were threatening or aggressive. “Your son stole my fucking money” he wrote a person on Instagram.
Biesk and his wife were still trying to figure out how their son was able to make so much money so quickly. “I was trying to figure out exactly how this meme cryptocurrency trading works,” Biesk says.
Some memecoin traders, sensing that there could be money in the turn of events, created new coins on Pump.Fun inspired by Biesk and his wife: HOW MUCH A FATHER AND SO MANY MOTHERS. (Both are now practically useless.)
Equally upset and bewildered, Biesk and his wife came up with a tentative plan: make all public social media accounts private, stop answering the phone, and generally hunker down until things calm down. (Biesk’s account is active as of this writing.) Biesk declined to comment on whether the family had made contact with law enforcement or what would happen to the funds, saying only that his son would “put away money.”
A few hours later, an X account under Biesk’s son’s name posted about X, asking people to stop contacting his parents. “I feel sorry for Quant, I didn’t realize I was getting so much money. Please don’t write to my parents, I will repay you (sic),” the post read. Biesk says the account is not run by his son.
Although alarmed by the negative reaction, Biesk is impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and technical skills displayed by his son. “It’s actually kind of a sophisticated trading platform,” he says. “He obviously learned it on his own.”
The fact that his teenage son was able to earn $50,000 in one evening, Biesk theorizes, speaks to the fundamentally different relationship kids that age have with money and investing, characterized by an urgency and hyperactivity that clashes with traditional wisdom.
“For me, cryptocurrencies can be hard to understand, because there’s nothing behind it, it’s nothing tangible. But I think children relate to this intangible digital world more than adults,” says Biesk. “This has a ‘immediacy for him. It’s almost like he understands it better.
On December 1, after a two-week hiatus, Biesk’s son returned to Pump.Fun to launch five new memecoins, seemingly undeterred by the abuse. Ignoring the warnings embedded in the very names of some of the new coins, one was named test and another don’t buy– people bought. Biesk’s son earned another $5,000.
