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  • Cryptocurrency and Entertainment; On a New Level

    By: Oluwakemi Olamikanra – Writer, Yellow Card 

    In the past year, the sports industry has ridden the crypto wave without a summit in sight. From ambassador and sponsorship deals with athletes to sports clubs allowing fans to pay for game tickets with crypto, the sports sector seems to have adapted to crypto pretty quickly. 

    In addition, the gaming industry, media, and art industries are also joining this new wave as we gradually but surely enter into a new age of financial freedom. 

    According to an article by Ahmed Shabana, founder of Parkpine Capital, an early-stage venture capital fund – the entertainment industry is poised to reinvent its business functions and facilitate secure, transparent, and traceable transactions with crypto.

    Crypto is progressively becoming a preferred option for the entertainment sector at large and, more specifically, for the music industry.

    Collaborations between crypto and the music industry, which were at first unprecedented, have advanced in recent times as more artists and record labels join the crypto train. A few notable examples are Grammy Award-winning Nigerian artiste Burna Boy and his partnership with Chipper Cash, and prolific South African rapper; Casper Nyovest representing Bitcasino as an ambassador.

    More crypto companies like Roqqu, Luno, and Quidax, to mention a few, are joining the music partnership bandwagon.

    Crypto has even made its way into music videos. In the recent hit “Cryptocurrency” by Kuami Eugene and Rotimi – they explore a futuristic sci-fi world in which they mine cryptocurrency individually, then collaborate to mine it together.

    In this video, leading African crypto exchange and financial platform, Yellow Card is referenced, and a transaction is carried out on the Yellow Card app. 

    A partnership like this is an indicator of just how well crypto and art can be integrated for more robust expressions in the entertainment industry.

    Rachel Akalia, Regional Marketing Manager, West Africa at Yellow Card, says, “We see music as a special purpose vehicle with the potential to drive the message and acceptance of crypto for everyday use, helping the continent gain financial freedom and prosperity.”

    Other than this alliance with Kuami Eugene, Yellow Card has also collaborated with Nigerian musician; Psycho YP, who featured the company in his recently released music video for his Stronger song which features Zlatan.

    The company has other partnerships with Nigerian Urban artist; Odumodu Blvck and Ghanaian artist; Stonebwoy. 

    Through partnerships like this, Yellow Card hopes to encourage youths to embrace a new age of financial opportunities. This is keeping in alignment with its vision of enabling a continent with seamless financial inclusion across borders.

    The possibilities are endless for what can be achieved with cryptocurrency, digitisation and Decentralised Finance in entertainment. From smart contracts to automated payments, better-organised teams across borders, and more, cryptocurrency might be the key to unlocking a greater dimension of how entertainment is created and shared across Africa and the world at large.

    As Kuami says in his song, with cryptocurrency, we’re indeed on a new level. 

    Partner

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  • You Can Make It With Crypto If you Do These 7 Things

    Pay your house rent first

    There’s a good chance you’ll lose all your money and end up sleeping under a bridge somewhere. Pay your rent in advance so you don’t see shege.

    Have one last look at your pocket

    Whether you actually hammer or not, your pocket will never remain the same. Take one last look at it and savour the moment.

    Only invest what you can afford to lose

    If you think sleeping under a bridge is too harsh, and you want to avoid stories that touch, don’t invest more than you’re ready to lose. 

    Start famzing crypto Twitter

    Now that you have your crypto school fees in one hand, the next step is to join crypto Twitter. Steal a picture of a cartoon ape and use it as your profile picture. Change your username to “kinikan.eth”, start looking for similar accounts, and one by one, your brethren will find you.

    Learn the language

    Crypto Twitter has many abbreviations and you need to learn all of them. “GM” is “good morning”, HFSP is “Have fun staying poor” and “WAGMI” means “We’re all gonna make it”. If you enter crypto without knowing the language, you’re not going to make it.

    Learn how crypto works

    Before you actually put your money into it, learn how crypto works so you don’t get rug-pulled or watch your money go up in flames. We heard Luno has a lot of learning resources to help you get into crypto like a pro.

    Use a good exchange to buy your first crypto

    You can’t hammer if you keep your money in a place that gives you sleepless nights. Find a crypto exchange that allows you to buy the best coins easily. Luno is a good example. It lets you buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies as easily as cooking noodles. Download the app and sign up to get started.

    Sheriff Alimi

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  • 8 Life-Saving Tips You Need to Survive in Crypto As a Newbie

    First, you’ll need earmuffs

    When people start screaming “10x”, “200x”, and “to the moon!” plug in your earmuffs and face your front. You’re just a beginner, and it’s all a setup to send you back to your village.

    Then, you’ll need plenty of courage

    It’s not easy to watch your money double and then fall back to half the original amount within one week without having chest pain. So if you’re going to start, come with a strong mind so nothing can faze you.

    Start small

    Don’t put your life savings inside something that can somersault you into sapa and wild riches within two market days. Start small, and build your portfolio as you go. 

    And focus on the simple stuff

    If you have a habit of doing oversabi all the time, now is not the time. You’ll see pepper if you don’t calm down. Focus on the simple stuff and learn before you start putting a lot of money in. 

    Have backup funds

    Always remember that even though you’re banking on crypto to help you leave the trenches, you still need to eat. So, have backup funds always so you don’t have to sleep under the bridge because of crypto.

    And other newbie friends

    You can’t find all the good stuff alone, you need friends who know what’s good, and who’ll find good stuff with you.

    Have a target for yourself

    As we said, it’s easy to get carried away. So, have a target for yourself so you can stay focused when the frenzy starts. If not, the market will only carry you where you don’t know.

    Trade with an exchange that makes sense

    Even though you want to “Lambo”, your funds still need to be safe in the process. That’s why you should only trade with an exchange that simplifies things for you. Bundle is exactly the kind of app you need for that.

    You can easily buy cryptocurrencies and trade them on the Bundle app. They have over 80 cryptocurrencies from Bitcoin and Ethereum to SHIBA. Download the app and sign up to get started.

    Sheriff Alimi

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  • He Donated $500K+ Worth of ETH to Support an Art and Dance Academy. How Did He Do It and Why?

    If you could pick one thing to do for the next 10 years, what would it be? That one dream. Many of us don’t dream of labour. But for Owo Anietie, his 10-year-old self was sure it was art. 

    His dream started with selling one drawing to school friends for ₦30. 17 years later, Owo Anietie donated $500K+ worth of Ethereum (ETH) to build a free art and dance academy in Ikorodu. My one question: How? 

    As told to Steffi O.

    In the beginning, was the art

    Things like maths never made sense to me. Two plus two equals four. Well, why can’t it be ten? When I asked my maths teacher this, he’d laugh. I felt stupid.

    In Primary 4, art showed up. It was something I could connect to. It was realistic. It was about self-expression, and I didn’t need to question that. 

    I started drawing to pull out the stories I heard at home into something I could touch. I grew up in a large compound in Uyo, and most nights ended with stories. Sometimes, they were folktales about the tortoise and the bird or war stories. I soaked up everything. At school, I’d tear out pages from my book to draw anything I could picture.  My classmates hailing me was all the validation I needed. I felt like I was really good.

    My first sale, learning from mentors and a new love

    I can’t remember most of what I drew, but when I was 10, the first significant thing I sold was a drawing of naira notes. I placed them on paper and traced out ₦10, ₦20 and ₦100 notes. By the time I coloured them in, they looked real. Real enough for my classmates to pay me ₦30 and attempt to use the drawing to buy suya. They weren’t successful, but I wasn’t giving them back that ₦30. 

    I didn’t take art seriously until I was 14. I was in SS 1, and we’d finally gotten an art teacher, who taught me about Nigerian art history like the Nok Terracotta in Benin. After that, I learnt how to use colours and create vivid paintings from two other art teachers. I think of them as mentors. Each phase of mentorship in secondary school founded what my skills eventually became.

    Discovering animation and getting into side hustles

    As my art progressed, I wanted to try new things. I was intrigued by science and wanted to understand things like gravity, how the earth was made, and the history of mankind. Documentaries like The Story of Us with Morgan Freeman answered some of those questions. Physics classes helped with the rest. I was also curious about how to merge science with art. Science-fiction cartoons became interesting. I was watching shows like Avatar, and it felt like the animators created a whole new universe. I wondered if I could do the same with art — animation was a fairly new concept to me. 

    Dominik Umoren was my last mentor. He taught me the closest thing to graphics design in 2012: screenprinting. It involved using a stencil to draw designs on banners and t-shirts. The process was stressful, but I was making money as a 17-year-old artist, so I had no complaints. In exchange for the lessons, I helped out with jobs and errands. 

    On one of my errands, I saw a poster advertising animation classes. It took me back to watching Avatar. There was a number on the poster, so I called. I met up with the guy, and he was hyped about making a movie together. We talked for hours. But it ended like that. Our first link-up was the last time I ever saw him. After that, I put the pipe dream of animation in my back pocket. 

    I needed to plan for uni. I didn’t trust that I could earn enough with art, so I studied building technology as a good backup plan. If art ever flopped, I’d dust my certificate and move. I kept up with art as a side hustle.

    My first major break on Facebook

    I’d been designing banners and t-shirts for four years. I posted my designs on Facebook to get clients, and in 2013 I got lucky. An author from Lagos messaged me. She needed digital illustrations for a book. I had zero experience, but why would I turn down ₦50k? I took the job. 

    I spent one month figuring out how to design with my laptop. I used a mouse to design 46 illustrations. It was the most difficult thing I’d ever done, but it was the starting point of the career that led me to NFTs.

    The first thing that influenced my trajectory was ASUU. After my first paid illustration in 2013, I kept freelancing as a graphic designer while schooling. It was stressful, but my consolation was graduating in five years. LOL. 

    ASUU had other plans. In 2018, ASUU went on strike. I can’t remember how many strikes had happened before then, but I was over ASUU’s stress. The same year, I decided to move to Lagos.

    Life on the real streets

    Before I moved to Lagos, I got a job offer from Anakle. They reached out to me on Twitter, but I couldn’t take their offer because of school. This time, nothing was holding me back. The salary wasn’t great, but it was better than dealing with ASUU’s unending strike.

    While I worked at Anakle, I was catching flights back to Uyo for my final year project.  ASUU had finally called off the strike in early 2019, but I wasn’t quitting my job. Shuttling back and forth for a year was tough. But my consolation was finally being able to work as a motion graphic designer. I finally collected the degree in 2020.

    The beginning of NFTs

    At the peak of the pandemic, international artists talked a lot more about NFTs, using the term “crypto art”. It meant I could add my artwork to a platform that made it impossible for anyone to steal it and earn crypto in exchange for each sale. I was hooked.

    Twitter was filled with conversations about artists earning thousands of dollars from crypto art, but I noticed something:  all the people talking about NFTs in 2020 were American. “Where are the Africans?” I thought. 

    I put out a tweet asking why Africans weren’t getting in on crypto art, and it was crickets. No comments or retweets. 

    I began to think of ways we could also benefit from crypto art. I had no clue about Osinachi or Lethabo Huma who’d been into NFTs since 2019. It seemed like a dead conversation for African artists. So I spent the rest of 2020 researching.

    My first NFT sale: A mix of the past and present

    In 2020, I spent time studying Benin art. I was obsessed with details like the Benin Ivory mask the Oba wore during special ceremonies. The mask was looted around the same period India experienced the bubonic plague in 1897. The plague didn’t get to Africa, but it was interesting to see similar timelines. I wanted to create a version of what the Benin mask would look like during the pandemic. That was the birth of Masked; a merge of the past and present.

    I put Masked up and asked my colleagues at Anakle to share it with as many people as possible. I told my guy I was ready to quit my job if I sold the mask, which was a joke but also wasn’t a joke. 24 hours later, Masked sold for 0.5 ETH (approximately $600). I was stoked. The collector mentioned that he had been following me for years and was waiting for me to get on the NFT space. Beyond the money, that was my sign to keep going.

    My next sale was another rendition of Benin art — the Seeker — and Anthony Azekwoh bought it for twice as much. Things shot up from there. Before August 2021, I’d sold 40 NFTs. I thought that was dope. I had no clue September would be the highlight of my NFT career.

    RELATED: I Had to Bet on Myself and Make It Work — Man Like Anthony Azekwoh

    Journeying to the future of art

    Before September, I’d played around with the concept of futuristic African art — 3045 to be precise. I called the idea Afrodroids. When I shared the first piece in April, I expected it to sell fast. Three months later, I didn’t get a buyer. I felt bad. I thought people would be fascinated by the idea of re-imagining African stories in the future. Clearly, they weren’t. I shelved the project. 

    While I was rethinking the strategy for Afrodroids, people reached out to me to work on Profile Pictures (PFP) projects. These were projects that I would work with other artists to launch. Other projects like CrytoPunks and Bored Ape Yatch had been doing well, and NFT enthusiasts were keen on connecting to start their own projects too. I wasn’t interested, so I never looked into it. I preferred working on one-on-one art — limited individual pieces. I liked the idea of creating only originals.

    I finally listened to an offer when I understood the value of multiple people owning a piece of African art. There’d be more exposure to African stories, but the guy was asking for a large percentage of the profits. It didn’t make sense to say yes. I could easily make the same money myself, so I shunned the offer.

    A few weeks after, I reached out to my guys to start our own version of PFP with Afrodroids. The first Afrodroid took a while to sell, but I trusted that people would see the vision. I just knew it would sell out. 

    Building 12,000 art pieces in three weeks

    I was riding on the fact that nothing like Afrodroids existed in Africa. In a few days, I built a solid team. They were artists experienced with designing characters for PFPs. I had friends in Australia, Hong Kong, the USA and London working with me tirelessly. We started in August and aimed to launch in three weeks.

    We needed people to believe 3045 was real. To prepare, I consumed materials on culture and technology. First, I studied the origin stories of Africans. Things like the emergence of Oduduwa in Yoruba culture, the start of the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, ancient female warriors of Dahomey. I wanted the art pieces to look as close to their origins as possible.

    Giving back to the African Community

    Before we hit the NFT market, my team searched for an art-based institution to fund. The goal was to have 20% of our smart contract given to the institution once Afrodroids stormed the market. 

    We’d searched for a few months before my team stumbled on a tweet by Seyi Oduwole, the founder of Dream Catchers Academy. She was venting about the struggles they faced. Things were so bad that the girls were drinking black tea without milk. The teabags were cheaper than Milo, but what child is happy drinking Lipton? It was a no brainer. We had to help her girls. 

    Once we connected with Seyi, we synced the Dream Catchers account to the social contract. No one knew how much they’d get out of the project, but whatever the amount, the girls at Dream Catchers would get the help they deserved.

    The big bang and the dance academy

    On September 1st 2021, 12,000 Afrodroids were ready. We called our first set the OG Afrodroids — they’d be the first of three sets. Each robot was modelled after the Nsibidi language originating from Eastern and Southern Nigeria. The culture involved using ideographics to communicate, and the OG robots were created to do the same. I designed the robots with symbols like question marks, exclamation marks and X and X inscriptions to indicate death. 

    Sometimes, I used beams of light for expressions — blue when they’re numb, or yellow when they’re angry. The OG Afrodroids were a cultural mix. Their beads were drawn from  South African fashion with caps and earrings inspired by East Africans. 

    I knew the world needed time to ease into the idea of African stories in the future. So I wasn’t surprised Afrodroids sold out 11 minutes after it was dropped. Each Afrodroid sold for 0.08 ETH ($100), and 20% went to Seyi’s dream to build a new school for Dream Catchers. Her academy also owns 25% of the secondary royalties from the Afrodroid project.

    Beyond telling African stories, giving back financially is important to me. My mum was a single parent taking care of three kids, and she had a lot of responsibilities. When I got to uni, I wanted to take off some of the load she had to bear. Without art, it wouldn’t have been possible. That’s why I believe in the vision of Dream Catchers. I want kids to have the same privilege to earn through their own dreams.

    I’m glad Afrodroids is ushering in the next generation of artists that will lead Africa to the global stage. Dream Catchers Academy is only the beginning.

    Here’s everything Seyi Oluyole dreams of for Dream Catchers Academy: 

    What She Said: “Dance Gave Me Hope for a Future Again”

    What’s next for Owo Anietie?

    I’ve drawn every day since January 2021. I see myself as an athlete who trains every single day to remain in their best form. 50 years from now, I’ll still be sharing African stories from the future. Afrodroids is only the beginning. 

    Ortega

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  • “A Bit Of Luck and A Whole Lot Of Work” – Tips From A Master Forex Trader

    Ever wondered what it takes to start and master Forex trading? We spoke with a Pro, and here are some vital nuggets you might want to note.

    How did you come across/ get into Forex trading? How can others do the same?

    As a young man making just above minimum wage back then, I was attracted to Forex by the flashy lifestyle. Those who said they were traders showed me a dream that wasn’t possible, so I started trading and began haemorrhaging money. I had 5,000 Pounds Sterling and was highly displeased that I wasn’t getting the desired results. My Forex guy then told me to be patient and learn.

    I started practising with a demo account and dedicated my time to learning as much as I could. One of the things that helped me was books like ‘Forex Revolution’. I started to try different things and learn about the psychology and methodology of how people and the market works.

    For anyone who wants to go into Forex trading, I will say: First, do not go into it for the wrong reasons e.g greed.Get a proper understanding of the fundamentals and technical aspects. Set up a demo account with your demo broker. Understand that what matters is making money consistently, not one grand cashout idea. That’s not sustainable. You need to have a systematic approach that works for you as well.

    Beware: In Forex, you think you are in control, but you are not.

    Can you disclose your largest earnings from Forex? And how did it happen?

    After 5-6 months of learning all I could, I jumped back into the market and spotted an opportunity. Since I was armed with enough information, I was able to jump on the opportunity and that yielded 82,000 GBP.

    How about your loss? How did you bounce back?

    My biggest loss was 41, 000 USD. Currently, I have some losses running, but I’m not so bothered because I know things will bounce back. Most times, people lament about their losses because they get excited and jump into a trade without proper market analysis. My advice is to never have a running position value of 50 % of your capital – that’s the fastest way to get doomed.

    How big is too big in Forex trading? Are goals/dreams ever too big?

    Dreaming is good when it’s not coming from a place of greed. So, don’t be greedy. Look at it this way: if you fly too close to the sun, you’re bound to get burnt. Again, it’s all about applying psychology.

    Would you say luck or hard work has been responsible for your success in Forex trading?

    It’s hard work and a little bit of luck. I put in the work, there’s no way around it. Social media has created a perverted idea of making money. If you think it’s that easy, do it.

    What values resonate the most with you and your success?

    Discipline, proactiveness, self-control, and not being greedy. One always has to have ears to the ground. Before I carry out any trade, I apply some psychology and think: What are the co-relations? I never move blindly.

    How important is your choice of broker to your success, or is it inconsequential?

    It is highly important to get a broker who is easily reachable, transparent, and quick with execution. One who understands that you are a starter and is highly responsive. I think most upcoming traders don’t know that they can and have the right to ask their broker questions like, “What is happening?” Or “Are you regulated?” Shoot your broker an email and ask important questions like that. Because one thing you don’t want to do is trade on an unregulated platform.

    What is your go-to strategy when trading?

    What I use is the inverted triangle pattern. I developed this strategy myself. It keys into the endogenous, exogenous, and technical factors before arriving at an analysis. This helps me determine what the economic activities happening within and outside the country are and how they affect the market before making a trade. I would say that developing a personal go-to strategy is paramount if you want to develop a long-term career in Forex.

    How do you act in a market frenzy (positive or negative)?

    The market is highly volatile and this messes a lot of people up, causing them to lose money. How to avoid this is to be as calm and collected as possible. Make use of your leverage, but don’t overdo it. Always ask yourself, “What percentage of my account am I willing to lose?” That way if you do lose it in a moment of frenzy, you won’t be left distraught.

    Susan Nwaobiala

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  • What Investors Should Know About Ethereum

    The crypto market has surged in popularity in 2021 not just because Bitcoin has become the largest cryptocurrency on the market but because also other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum have exploded in value. Actually, even famous business and institutional investors are supporting the growth of Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies on the crypto market.

    If you also want to join the crypto revolution and invest in ETH, in this article, we compiled a list of essential things you should be aware of before adding Ethereum to your portfolio.

    Ethereum – Purpose and Background

    Ethereum was built by the programmer Vitalik Buterin who saw the potential of Bitcoin and started to work on his project back in 2013. After he received funding for the project, he launched Ethereum in 2015. The purpose of Ethereum, unlike Bitcoin, is to also provide blockchain technology for developers that want to create different applications without the control of financial institutions and other intermediaries.

    This accelerates the process of creating decentralized applications and also provides decentralized blockchain technology for users that want to make crypto transactions swiftly and safely. In addition, it was also used for the creation of NFT tokens that are utilized mainly for selling unique digital artwork. Otherwise, you can use your Ethereum tokens on different websites because there are a lot of online businesses which accept crypto payments. For example, you can use your ETH to make deposits on this Ethereum casino. This online casino features an extensive collection of first-class casino games, and it also utilizes high-end encryption technology, which means you can instantly make a crypto deposit on a secure online casino.

    Crypto Wallet

    Before you register on a trading site which is actually the easiest way to obtaining Etherium, you need to invest in a crypto wallet that supports this virtual currency. This digital currency has been part of the crypto market since 2015, and it is highly regarded in the crypto community. So, you won’t have a problem finding an array of crypto wallets that support Ethereum. You can choose from hot wallets like mobile, desktop, and web wallets which are accessible for crypto trading and they are easy to use. But because they are connected to the Internet, there are some disadvantages and risks that come with their use. That’s why hardware wallets which are also known as cold crypto wallets, are recommended for long-term storage.

    Trading Sites

    Trading sites, as we mentioned, are valuable to millions of users around the world. All you need to do is to find a reputable trading site where you can invest in ETH, sell it, and exchange it for other currencies. Another advantage of registering on online trading sites is that they are also compatible with mobile devices, like mobile phones and tablets.

    Crypto mining

    It’s also important to familiarise yourself with blockchain technology which is basically the foundation of this cryptocurrency. The miners that work on the network are the users who are responsible for validating the transactions and adding the blocks of transactions to the blockchain. This is another option if you don’t want to get into trading, but instead, you want to obtain Ethereum through crypto mining because the miners get a reward for their work on the blockchain network. Actually, they are compensated by receiving transaction fees and Ether.

    Final Thoughts

    Ethereum represents not only an innovative cryptocurrency that can be used for a safe crypto payment online, but it also represents an innovative solution for the development of decentralized applications. Given that blockchain technology has a lot of advantages for different kinds of users, we can only assume that this cryptocurrency will become even more popular in the future.

    Susan Nwaobiala

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  • QUIZ: What Type Of Crypto Holder Were You During The Dip?

    The most recent Crypto dip was brutal. It affected a lot of people in many ways. People kept lamenting on social media and other places.

    Take this quiz to find out the type of crypto holder you were:

    Miriam Onyemenam

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  • Cryptocurrency: 9 Things You’ll Relate To If You Don’t Understand Cryptocurrency

    Cryptocurrency is the new thing everyone is talking about these days. Everywhere you turn to, people are talking about one coin or another. Twitter, WhatsApp, your office, your friends, everywhere. If you’re like me, and you don’t understand the first thing about bitcoins and all that, you’ll be able to relate to this post.

    1. You watching a video explaining cryptocurrency for the 100th time

    Wait o… they didn’t teach us about blockchain technology in school. So you mean I’ll just authorise someone to take money from my account in the hopes that the value will increase, and if my money turns from ₦100,000 to ₦20 in two hours, that’s my business?

    2. When you see a tweet asking people which coins they’re buying

    How do you people know which coins to buy? Is there a group chat? Please tell us these things.

    3. When you hear “buy the dip”

    What is the dip?

    4. When people start mentioning other coins apart from bitcoin

    Everyday, one new coin pops up. Today is doge, tomorrow it’s ethereum. When will I be able to keep up?

    5. When you want to buy a coin but you don’t know how much to invest

    Should I buy oni ₦5,000? Is that too small?

    Should I put ₦100,000 in? Is that too risky?

    6. When you hear that people are making a sweet profit

    Where can I sign up, please? I want to do. I want to buy 2 Doge, 5 Ethereum and 20 Bitcoin.

    7. When people start crying because they made losses

    Shebi it’s you people that want to be Bill Gates now now. Oya now, where is your $1 million. Me that I didn’t put money, I know what I was doing. You people think you are wise.

    8. But you’re not bothered because you don’t have money to buy cryptocurrency in the first place

    It is what it is.

    9. When you start seeing screenshots of cryptocurrency graphs and bars everywhere online

    Which one is this again o.

    QUIZ: Which Cryptocurrency Are You?

    David Odunlami

  • Trading Seriously Affects My Mental Health —A Week In The Life Of A Bitcoin Trader

    A Week In The Life” is a weekly Zikoko series that explores the working-class struggles of Nigerians. It captures the very spirit of what it means to hustle in Nigeria and puts you in the shoes of the subject for a week

    The subject of today’s “A Week In The Life” is a physiotherapist and Bitcoin trader. He talks to us about struggling with mental health as a trader, his dreams to become a renowned poet, and how trading changed his life for good.

    MONDAY:

    At 12 a.m., I’m mostly awake trading BTC. I look for people who want to sell BTC as I simultaneously text people who want to buy BTC. While talking to clients, I also place adverts on social media to attract both buyers and sellers. 

    As the hours move, I religiously monitor something called pips and candles — graphical movements that indicate market gains and losses — and I buy BTC to hold when the price dips. I do this in hopes that I can resell at a higher price when the market goes up. The funny thing is that the market might keep dipping as the day continues so I end up losing a lot of money. Alternatively, the market might also go up and I make a little profit. Because of this volatility, I barely sleep. Someone is either calling me for a transaction or I’m having nightmares that BTC crashed when I was asleep. Either way, I stay up as long as I can to monitor the charts.

    My midnight to early morning is the same cycle of buying, selling, placing advert and texting. However, my day takes a different turn because I have a 9-5. 

    In addition to trading BTC, I’m a licensed physiotherapist who manages private patients. I like to say that crypto is my side hustle while physiotherapy is the main work, but that’s not true —  crypto trading is what makes me comfortable.  

    It’s 5 a.m. when I finally close my laptop for the day and stop trading. I stop because I have a long day ahead. I’ve been booked for private physiotherapy sessions and my patients live in vastly different parts of Lagos. My current dilemma is how to avoid Lagos traffic without splitting myself into two. 

    My more important dilemma is that I need to sleep before I can do any form of thinking. When I wake up, I’ll figure out the next step.  

    TUESDAY:

    Trading crypto can change your life for both good and bad. You can get comfortable from this business, but your relationship with people will also suffer. 

    I don’t sleep because I’m always on my phone or laptop trading. I don’t reply to messages because I can’t carry on a conversation for long. I remember this one time I was on a date with someone who promised to never see me again.

    Why? I was looking at my phone all through the date. I couldn’t explain to her that I was losing huge amounts of money. Sometimes when I’m spiralling, I turn off my phone and take a break away from everybody. I encourage crypto traders to take breaks because no amount of money can make you happy as a full-time trader. You’re always thinking of how to double or triple the money. You’re always reading charts. And you’re also too familiar with watching all the profit you made at 7 a.m. go down the drain at night. 

    Today is a bad mental health day for me. Just for existing alone, I’ve lost almost ₦500,000 in a trade. Even though I know it’ll keep getting worse, I can’t stop staring at the screen. 

    When I can’t take it anymore, I pick up my car keys, turn off my phone and decide to go lodge in a hotel where I can be alone.  

    Trading crypto has changed my life. I’ve lost money today and I’m probably in debt, but I have friends who can loan me money until I bounce back. I’ve lost money today, and I’m crying in my car, but soon, I’ll cry in a well-furnished hotel room. 

    WEDNESDAY:

    Nothing seems to be working for the foul mood I’m in today. 

    I went somewhere to take tequila shots, it didn’t work. 

    I went to dye my hair, it didn’t work. 

    I went to binge eat, it also didn’t work. 

    In the evening, I’ll go to a bar to try to lift myself out of this deep sadness that I feel. 

    When I turn on my phone, I’m sure I’ll see that my friends have been looking for me. It’s ironic how someone will see a photo of me in the hotel and automatically assume I’m happy and balling.

    The constant up and downs in this business are really affecting my mental health. As a medic, I understand a bit about mental health, and this helps me fight thoughts like, “Why am I failing?” “Why am I losing money?” “Who did I offend?” 

    I’m not leaving here without a fight. Life is so useless that it’s not worth dying for. I’d rather life kills me itself before I kill myself. 

    THURSDAY:

    I feel better today, so I spend some time thinking about how social media can be misleading. When I’m making profit, I don’t party or club or even go out. I’m just indoors. 

    But the minute I start to experience back to back losses, I booze-up. If not, I’ll get frustrated. My friends and I have a tendency to make ourselves happy by partying, going clubbing and sometimes taking breaks. Because our approach to bad days looks like enjoyment, it’s easy to look like we don’t have bad days. It’s easy for people to say we’re always balling, always chopping life when the reality is that we’re “chopping life” because we just made a major loss. 

    What a big irony.

    FRIDAY:

    I’ve decided to leave the hotel today and to connect back with the world. The first message I see when I turn on my phone is someone asking me to open a BTC wallet for her and help her trade.

    I’m not the most honest person in the world, but I tell her never to ask anyone to open a wallet on her behalf because anyone in possession of your username and password can swindle you.

    I tell her that BTC wallets are quite easy to open. I also tell her that BTC trading isn’t some magic trick where you put in $50 and get $600 after two days. If the money will increase, it’ll do so by maybe $10. 

    After my speech, I pack my things and leave the hotel.

    I’m barely halfway from my house before I’m stopped by the Nigerian police. They’re shouting at me to park, and I know it’s because of my dyed hair that I’m being stopped. I greet the officers and quickly show them my physiotherapist ID card. The conversation takes a quick turn, and the officer who was shouting softens his voice. The next question he asks is, “Which medicine I fit use if I get Covid?”

    I tell him to go to the hospital if he thinks he has any symptoms. I can’t help but shake my head and sigh as I drive away from their checkpoint. Everyone in this country has a problem that’s doing them.

    SATURDAY:

    I wake up today feeling grateful for my 9-5. My physio job allows me to interact with patients which then forces me to read my books a bit. I love books and I love to read. If I didn’t have to earn a living, I’d probably be a poet or something. Writing poetry has been one of the ways I’ve expressed the intense wave of melancholy I experience. I’m hopeful that someone can relate to how I feel and that helps them feel less alone.

    Sadly, poetry can’t be a full-time job. That’s why I show up, regardless of how I feel, to trade.  

    If you ask me where I see myself in future, I’ll tell you that I just want two things: to release my second and third anthology of poems, and to finally be free from a screen.

    I’m tired. 

    I need to sleep with urgency and without worry about whatever the trading charts are saying. 

    Check back every Tuesday by 9 am for more “A Week In The Life ” goodness, and if you would like to be featured or you know anyone who fits the profile, fill this form.

    [donation]

    Hassan Yahaya

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  • QUIZ: Which Cryptocurrency Are You?

    Are you the beloved Bitcoin, the cool Ethereum or the lowkey Litecoin? This quiz will tell you which popular cryptocurrency you are?

    cryptocurrency: bitcoin, ethereum or litecoin

    Go ahead:

    Miriam Onyemenam

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  • Your Bitcoin Is Now A Security, Until Proven Otherwise

    Citizen is a column that explains how the government’s policies fucks citizens and how we can unfuck ourselves.

    1. So, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has a new regulation.

    The SEC, in a statement on its website yesterday, stated that it will regulate crypto-token or crypto-coin investments when these investments qualify as ‘securities transactions’.

    2. Chile, what does this mean?

    A ‘Securities transactions’ occurs whenever there has been a sale or purchase of securities. Securities are anything you do business with (to secure the transaction) e.g cash, shares, bonds, etc.

    3. How does this affect your bitcoin?

    What the SEC is saying is that whenever bitcoin, or ethereum, or any other cyptocurrency is used to do business, they can and will regulate it.

    So if you want to raise funds or pay for anything using bitcoin, the SEC says it will now regulate that “securities transactions”.

    4. How Will This Will Work?

    Everyone who trades in bitcoin (“issuers and sponsors”) will now have to prove that their digital asset (or cryptocurrency) does not constitute securities.

    They will have to prove so through an “initial assessment filing“. However, where it shows that their virtual assets are securities, then they must register the asset.

    5. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

    Well, from how I see it, this is a good thing. The SEC, at least, recognises digital assets and cryptocurrencies as an acceptable means of transaction, which the CBN still doesn’t.

    Regulations like this also give investors the confidence to invest and do more in the digital asset market, which can be very prone to fraud.

    So yes, relax.

    Check back every weekday by 10am for more Zikoko Citizen stories.

    Doyin Olagunju

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  • The Life of a Crypto Bro Who Loves Living Dangerously

    They don’t own Bitcoin or Ethereum

    They’re the kind to think Bitcoin is for old and boring people who don’t want to take any risks with their money.

    They’re always looking for crazy returns

    Not even MMM can give these people the kinds of returns they want. They want to see a 100x return on their money and they want it before the weekend.

    Their life savings are in crypto

    This wouldn’t be so bad if they put all of their money in Bitcoin or USDT and not a coin they expect to do 1000x in two market days. 

    They’re at constant risk of being homeless

    They’ve risked so much that they’re always anxious about losing everything. Why would you even do that to yourself? Don’t you like peace?

    They don’t do their own research

    That’s how you know they don’t really care about their money like that. They just want to make the quick bucks, so they’ll follow other people’s lead instead. Always do your own research.

    They don’t use Luno

    How can you take someone who says they do crypto seriously when they don’t use a safe and secure crypto exchange like Luno? It’s just wrong.

    Don’t be like these people. You don’t have to live dangerously to make money with crypto. Use Luno and have your crypto transactions happen quickly and safely. The app lets you buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. All you have to do is download the app and sign up.

    Sheriff Alimi

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