When I played EVE it was perfectly possible (and allowed) to trade in-game currency for game time codes with other players. I assume they didn't remove that option.
I assume the explore-every-corner-of-the-map thing he was doing made it hard to make money
Back then, nullsec was definitely dangerous, but it was also very profitable. It would probably require that you invest quite a lot of time, though that's true with everything in EVE.