Success always goes hand in hand with criticism. Oleksandr Orlovskyi knows this firsthand: over four years, his Financial Freedom Academy has grown into the largest crypto community in Eastern Europe, but at the same time, it has become a target for skeptics. We decided to ask the crypto enthusiast some direct questions: about money, reputation, and responsibility to the community.
FFA is widely talked about right now: the largest crypto community in Eastern Europe, leadership in global tournaments — but let’s start from the beginning. How did you even find out about crypto?
By accident. At 16, I took the first opportunity to move out of my parents’ home. I enrolled at a university in Poland. I lived modestly: rented an attic room, worked in a bar after classes. One evening, I struck up a conversation with a customer — he mentioned Bitcoin. Back then, it sounded like something out of science fiction, but it immediately caught my interest.
I started with the simplest things: referral programs, retro drops, registration bonuses. For a student, it was cool — on top of a couple hundred bucks from the bar, I was making the same money from my phone. I quit my job without a second thought. Though later I still worked as a taxi driver for a while. Imagine this: driving people around, and at every red light I’m checking charts. A real-life “crypto taxi driver” meme. Even a small profit felt like hitting the jackpot back then.
When did you start making serious money? How many years did it take you to earn your first million?
I’ll say right away: the kind of training that exists now simply didn’t exist back then. You had to piece information together bit by bit. I kept in touch with that guy from the bar, met new people, and tried to learn not just their actions, but their way of thinking. After about six months, I managed to make $1,000 a month. Soon after, I was steadily earning $2,000. I bought myself a brand-new iPhone X and a MacBook — those were the first expensive things I ever bought with my own money.
And then things started moving faster. I traveled a lot across Asia — Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia. I lived in hostels, spent $5 a day on food, and just enjoyed what I was doing. But I didn’t spend much — I reinvested most of my income.At 25, I earned my first million dollars. And it wasn’t a lottery win — it was the result of consistent work over several years.
Did FFA already exist at that point?
Yes, but I actually created the academy before I earned my first million. It was 2021, and I was 23. I was already making decent money in crypto, but I remembered how tough it was for beginners. I went through it all myself: lack of information, no mentors, tons of mistakes made out of nowhere.
At first, my friends and I just chatted in private groups, helping each other out. But then I thought: if we combine knowledge, practice, and support into one system — it could produce a completely different result. So, on July 9, 2021, Financial Freedom Academy officially launched.
Why did I focus specifically on beginners? Because their first results are always the most striking. Someone who had $500, and then, thanks to a strategy, starts making $2,000-$5,000 — they don’t just improve their finances, they gain real freedom. For me, that was, and still is, the biggest motivation.
So FFA has been around for four years now. How is everything organized? When you search for reviews of Oleksandr Orlovskyi’s courses, you immediately see headlines about a “pyramid scheme” or a “scam.” What do you say to that?
I always say: facts matter more than rumors. In four years, more than 30,000 students have gone through Financial Freedom Academy. We’ve run 130+ training cohorts — from beginner courses to advanced programs for those who already have experience and want to level up their skills and grow their portfolios.
The core principle of any FFA training is practice instead of “theory on slides,” as the reviews often mention. A student opens a wallet, learns to make their first trades, studies risk management, connects a trading bot. Even if they’ve never touched crypto before, after the very first lessons, they make their first step in the real market.
Community plays a huge role. In our private Discord (currently with 26,000 members), curators and mentors work every day — they trade themselves and share their own results. For example, one of the mentors, Vitalii DED USD, runs a public YouTube channel.
According to our statistics, the average student income after training is about $2,000 per month. And one student officially declared over $276,000 in net profit — that’s the record so far. But I always emphasize: crypto is not “easy money,” it’s the result of discipline and systematic work.
So when I hear the word “pyramid scheme”… Would such a scheme survive four years? Our trading volume has consistently stayed at around $1 billion per month. And we have countless students who publicly share their success stories.
If we’re already talking about student results, can Oleksandr Orlovskyi share a few real stories? How do you collect feedback?
I’ve always stood for transparency and numbers. At FFA, we regularly ask students to fill out a report: how much they invested, which tool they used, and what result they got. In addition, people often post screenshots from exchanges in the group chats to confirm real numbers. We gather all this data and create an open ranking. Each participant can see not only their own progress but also how others are growing. It motivates and creates healthy competition.
Some earn their first $5,000, others $100,000+. Some buy new phones and watches, others cars or apartments. But it’s not about the numbers. The average profile of our audience is people between 25 and 45 who are tired of working “for the boss” and want freedom. And most importantly: they’re ready to learn, take action, and take responsibility for their results.
Looking at the FFA dashboard, in participant reviews of Oleksandr Orlovskyi, the trading bot often comes up. Tell us about this tool. Because haters also bring it up — they call it a “gimmick.”
Yes, it’s a popular tool. But let me say right away: the trading bot is not a “magic button” and not a gimmick. It’s a tool that helps in the market. Why did it appear in the first place? Because no person can sit in front of charts 24/7. The bot handles the routine: opening and closing trades according to a set strategy, managing risks, protecting the deposit from sudden swings.
Our bots follow a few key principles:
- they only work through API, meaning the money always stays on the exchange under the user’s control;
- they’re based on proven strategies (averaging, grid) that have been consistently effective for more than three years;
- the average result, statistically, is about 10% per month, and with reinvestment this gives over 200% annually;
- all statistics are open, and we ourselves trade with the same algorithms as our students.
Yes, drawdowns happen — that’s part of the market. But the algorithm is designed precisely for this: to withstand swings and then bring the account back into profit.
Why do haters call it a “gimmick”? Because they expect instant wealth. And we’re always honest: the bot is just one part of the ecosystem. It saves time, disciplines, and helps you feel the market. But real results come when a person understands the strategy and manages risks themselves.
The bot is a tool. And how to use it depends on the person. Some make a steady 8–12% per month, some less, some more.
Okay, we’ve talked about cases and reviews. But how much does Oleksandr Orlovskyi himself make? And most importantly: what’s the most you’ve ever lost?
I always say honestly: I haven’t only earned, I’ve also lost. Speaking about 2025, I’ve already recorded more than $1,000,000 profit in crypto. But I’ve lost deposits many times — $20,000, $30,000, $60,000 due to hacks or bad trades.
The biggest hit was a year ago — minus $450,000 in one trade. I had “tightened the screws” too much in my bot settings, set risks more aggressively than I advised my students. For a few months, it brought insane results, but then there was a sharp drop, and I got wiped out.
Emotions? At first, it hurt. But then I even felt relieved: as if the fear that it could happen was already behind me. That money was part of my working budget, not money I was saving to buy a Bentley or an apartment. I’ve always treated crypto as a tool, not a “dream wallet.”
And what helped you stay afloat after such losses?
First, experience. I knew this wasn’t the end, just a lesson. Second, discipline. I recovered the loss in a few months. And third, my personal philosophy: I never buy something unless I can afford to do it ten times in a row. That’s why I make big purchases without pressure — I recently bought a Bentley literally in one day, because I could afford it.
Editor’s conclusion
Oleksandr Orlovskyi comes across as someone used to speaking directly — about both earnings and losses. There’s plenty written about him online, but the facts remain: FFA unites thousands of people in Eastern Europe and beyond. Opinions about him may differ, but one thing is hard to deny — he’s made crypto part of a large community where success is measured not by words but by real cases.
Orlovskyi himself reacts calmly to negative reviews, hate, and accusations. He says that’s what happens when you sell a mass product and do it well. He even showed us a screenshot of a message where someone asked him to pay them in Bitcoin to “clean up his reputation.” The crypto enthusiast once again points to the numbers. For example, refund requests for courses. At FFA, those make up only 2% — below the industry average.
