Trading Bitcoin in Africa Is a Way for Some to Escape Poverty

[Hydrogen]

Learning to trade bitcoin has become a valuable skill set for Africans looking to boost their income.

For years, Stephen Aluko lived “hand to mouth” in Nigeria, home to a big but struggling economy in Africa with a high unemployment rate. He worked odd jobs, from running cyber cafes to “soft media” and videography, constantly mulling in the back of his mind if he would be able to pay for his next meal.

He was unemployed before hearing about bitcoin (BTC, -2.26%) in 2017. At that point, his shoes hardly held together.

When Aluko decided to commit to trading bitcoin – buying and selling the cryptocurrency for profit – that all changed. At first he had second thoughts. He didn’t know what he was doing. But the side hustle worked out so well he’s now been trading the largest cryptocurrency full time for three years.

“My finances were not in a good state when I started trading, so you could say bitcoin trading saved me,” Aluko told CoinDesk. “I have made enough money from trading bitcoin that I have been able to get married and can live comfortably without any debts.”

This is one example of someone using bitcoin in an unanticipated way to improve his life. And there are many other examples around the world, from Argentina to Iran.

“The money I have made from bitcoin trading has made it possible for me to invest in other businesses, be financially independent and live debt-free. So, I do think I have made more money with bitcoin than if I had chosen another career path,” he said.

The recent bitcoin bull run didn’t have anything to do with Aluko’s success. CoinDesk talked to Aluko about the rise of bitcoin trading in Africa in August 2020, before the price of bitcoin surpassed its previous all-time high, launching into a bull run.

27% unemployment

Aluko knows plenty of other traders who found themselves in a similar position.

“It’s not unique to me,” he said. “I know many people in Nigeria [who] trade bitcoin as a way to earn a living. I have also taught people how to trade bitcoin because I know how bitcoin trading has changed my life and I want to be able to help people.”

He argues that one factor driving so many people to trading is the high unemployment rate in the region. The situation has only gotten worse since Aluko was unemployed. In Nigeria, for instance, the unemployment rate has tripled over the past five years, swelling to 27%.

“Let’s just say that the numbers are not encouraging. There’s a chance that if I had worked hard and done a lot more applying to companies I may have gotten a decent job. But when I think about what I have achieved in three years as a result of trading bitcoin I am sure that I made the right choice,” Aluko said.

Other Africans have made the same career decision, giving bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading a try. African exchange Quidax CEO and co-founder Buchi Okoro said this is one of the key reasons people use the exchange.

“From our conversations with our customers, we have a lot of people using crypto to earn a living by trading as a full-time job,” Okoro told CoinDesk.

Bitcoin trading vs. speculation

Then there’s speculation, which is a bit different from trading. Speculation is investing in a risky asset, such as cryptocurrency, with the hope the price will go up and enrich the investor.

“Though bitcoin is used for speculation universally throughout the world, it hits differently in Africa,” KenyaCoin, a pseudonymous bitcoin enthusiast from Kenya, told CoinDesk, pointing to unemployment rates, as Okoro had.

“There are huge numbers of university graduates who simply cannot find employment in the country. Those with the means, especially those who studied economics, finance or tech, take up speculation in the crypto space to either try to supplement whatever income they do have or as a substitute for ’employment,'” he added.

KenyaCoin guesses that speculation is “the number one activity involving bitcoin and crypto on the continent.”

Risk of bitcoin and crypto scams

The rise of bitcoin and crypto in Africa has not necessarily been all rainbows, however.

There’s a dark side to this trend, too. Some people have gotten hurt from trading and speculation. Much like the rest of the world, as Africans have explored cryptocurrency as a route to a better income, some have lost money or have fallen for a number of scams.

Many Nigerians, for instance, first heard about bitcoin through MMM, a Russian Ponzi scheme that promised investors 100% returns. When MMM didn’t fulfill these lofty promises, participants lost their money.

KenyaCoin pointed to infamous cryptocurrency scams BitClub network and Onecoin as other examples of “bad” projects that have flourished in the region, as well as lesser-known scams such as Nurucoin and Crowd1.

“Scams often target victims in developing countries, as regulations in the finance and investment space are not always solid and/or enforcement is oftentimes lagging,” he said.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still new so people in Africa – as well as the rest of the world – are still getting a handle on which cryptocurrency projects are actually useful for them rather than harmful.

https://www.coindesk.com/trading-bitcoin-escaping-poverty-africa-nigeria

....



Bitcoin having humanitarian qualities and helping the poor, is one of its most neglected and underappreciated aspects.

ICOS were not perfect by any means. But they did allow the poor access to accredited investor level opportunities.

Part of the crypto worlds success is due to it opening doors and giving opportunities to the poor, they might otherwise never have.


 

[aoluain]

Correct, Bitcoin takes control from centralised entities and enables everyone regardless
of location, race or social standing to control their own finances 24 hours, 7 days, All year round.

That is why certain people like Christine Lagarde of the ECB and Janet Yellen U.S Treasury Secretary
want regulation of Bitcoin, they are afraid of losing "control" of wealth and of us.

[Fesatmas]

Bitcoin having humanitarian qualities and helping the poor, is one of its most neglected and underappreciated aspects.

ICOS were not perfect by any means. But they did allow the poor access to accredited investor level opportunities.

Part of the crypto worlds success is due to it opening doors and giving opportunities to the poor, they might otherwise never have.


 

I agree with this that Africa can be part of a country that will have tremendous potential in the future. In addition, the Binance exchange platform was officially established in Africa. and it makes a great material off to a great start.
It cannot be denied that crypto has provided a solution for the world economy. every country is aware of it. and we as active users carry out our duties by providing new insights about the world of cryptocurrency to our closest relatives, family and neighbors.
maybe that's all we can do to contribute and be the smallest part of the development of crypto.

[Poker Player]

That article is bull crap actually. As many of those articles in crypto news sites.

Considering than 80% of traders lose money and that in markets like forex numbers go up to 90% or more losers, we can guess that for people trading Bitcoin numbers are pretty much the same.

In other words, the article presents the pretty face of someone who is poor and has been able to make a living trading Bitcoin but does not present the bad side of all those who, on top of being poor, got into Bitcoin trading and lost money.

[Wenbing]

Learning to trade bitcoin has become a valuable skill set for Africans looking to boost their income.

For years, Stephen Aluko lived “hand to mouth” in Nigeria, home to a big but struggling economy in Africa with a high unemployment rate. He worked odd jobs, from running cyber cafes to “soft media” and videography, constantly mulling in the back of his mind if he would be able to pay for his next meal.

He was unemployed before hearing about bitcoin (BTC, -2.26%) in 2017. At that point, his shoes hardly held together.

When Aluko decided to commit to trading bitcoin – buying and selling the cryptocurrency for profit – that all changed. At first he had second thoughts. He didn’t know what he was doing. But the side hustle worked out so well he’s now been trading the largest cryptocurrency full time for three years.

“My finances were not in a good state when I started trading, so you could say bitcoin trading saved me,” Aluko told CoinDesk. “I have made enough money from trading bitcoin that I have been able to get married and can live comfortably without any debts.”

This is one example of someone using bitcoin in an unanticipated way to improve his life. And there are many other examples around the world, from Argentina to Iran.

“The money I have made from bitcoin trading has made it possible for me to invest in other businesses, be financially independent and live debt-free. So, I do think I have made more money with bitcoin than if I had chosen another career path,” he said.

The recent bitcoin bull run didn’t have anything to do with Aluko’s success. CoinDesk talked to Aluko about the rise of bitcoin trading in Africa in August 2020, before the price of bitcoin surpassed its previous all-time high, launching into a bull run.

27% unemployment

Aluko knows plenty of other traders who found themselves in a similar position.

“It’s not unique to me,” he said. “I know many people in Nigeria [who] trade bitcoin as a way to earn a living. I have also taught people how to trade bitcoin because I know how bitcoin trading has changed my life and I want to be able to help people.”

He argues that one factor driving so many people to trading is the high unemployment rate in the region. The situation has only gotten worse since Aluko was unemployed. In Nigeria, for instance, the unemployment rate has tripled over the past five years, swelling to 27%.

“Let’s just say that the numbers are not encouraging. There’s a chance that if I had worked hard and done a lot more applying to companies I may have gotten a decent job. But when I think about what I have achieved in three years as a result of trading bitcoin I am sure that I made the right choice,” Aluko said.

Other Africans have made the same career decision, giving bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading a try. African exchange Quidax CEO and co-founder Buchi Okoro said this is one of the key reasons people use the exchange.

“From our conversations with our customers, we have a lot of people using crypto to earn a living by trading as a full-time job,” Okoro told CoinDesk.

Bitcoin trading vs. speculation

Then there’s speculation, which is a bit different from trading. Speculation is investing in a risky asset, such as cryptocurrency, with the hope the price will go up and enrich the investor.

“Though bitcoin is used for speculation universally throughout the world, it hits differently in Africa,” KenyaCoin, a pseudonymous bitcoin enthusiast from Kenya, told CoinDesk, pointing to unemployment rates, as Okoro had.

“There are huge numbers of university graduates who simply cannot find employment in the country. Those with the means, especially those who studied economics, finance or tech, take up speculation in the crypto space to either try to supplement whatever income they do have or as a substitute for ’employment,'” he added.

KenyaCoin guesses that speculation is “the number one activity involving bitcoin and crypto on the continent.”

Risk of bitcoin and crypto scams

The rise of bitcoin and crypto in Africa has not necessarily been all rainbows, however.

There’s a dark side to this trend, too. Some people have gotten hurt from trading and speculation. Much like the rest of the world, as Africans have explored cryptocurrency as a route to a better income, some have lost money or have fallen for a number of scams.

Many Nigerians, for instance, first heard about bitcoin through MMM, a Russian Ponzi scheme that promised investors 100% returns. When MMM didn’t fulfill these lofty promises, participants lost their money.

KenyaCoin pointed to infamous cryptocurrency scams BitClub network and Onecoin as other examples of “bad” projects that have flourished in the region, as well as lesser-known scams such as Nurucoin and Crowd1.

“Scams often target victims in developing countries, as regulations in the finance and investment space are not always solid and/or enforcement is oftentimes lagging,” he said.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still new so people in Africa – as well as the rest of the world – are still getting a handle on which cryptocurrency projects are actually useful for them rather than harmful.

https://www.coindesk.com/trading-bitcoin-escaping-poverty-africa-nigeria

....



Bitcoin having humanitarian qualities and helping the poor, is one of its most neglected and underappreciated aspects.

ICOS were not perfect by any means. But they did allow the poor access to accredited investor level opportunities.

Part of the crypto worlds success is due to it opening doors and giving opportunities to the poor, they might otherwise never have.


 

One of the problems of exchange rate in Africa is their fluctuating or depreciating currency. So, people look for places or platforms that will help to retain the stability of their money, and that is the innovation that trading platform had made possible to Africans to save their without fear of depletion of value.

To add to it, there is a feature in most exchange called P2P which allow crypto trading activities to be made via a country local currency. This a contrbutory factor to the rise of opportunity in the crypto space in that part of the world.

[avikz]

Bitcoin having humanitarian qualities and helping the poor, is one of its most neglected and underappreciated aspects.

ICOS were not perfect by any means. But they did allow the poor access to accredited investor level opportunities.

Part of the crypto worlds success is due to it opening doors and giving opportunities to the poor, they might otherwise never have.

Cryptos definitely have the power to help the unbanked mass but is it reaching to the mass in a right way? I don't think so! The poor people don't have money to set up a mining operation so they will have to earn it like they do in real world. I believe cryptos have the potential to help the poor and unbanked people in big way but the entry barrier is so high that they are not able to get into it in a legitimate way! That's why you will see crypto related scams are increasing and in some African countries like Nigeria, it's all time high! Nigerian scammers have earned a global bad reputation of financial frauds. Cryptos, especially bitcoin is still an elite's game and is harder to get a hands on for a common person!

[Maxstl007]

Unemployment is growing higher in africa countries and their economy is getting worse, well a big thanks to crypto many are getting back on their feet, not just through trading crypto only but even there are strong people who consider mining too but there are still some taking the wrong path too like creating fake ICO projects and so on, african countries consists of strong people but they also have bad people who can't find means of survival in the right way

[sunsilk]

It's the same in other parts of the world but it's encouraging to read and hear such stories like this because we all can relate to the strive that Aluko did. I remember the situation in Venezuela and some of those interviews that I've watched that it was bitcoin that helped them to survive even if there's hyper inflation in the country. As they mine bitcoin and then eventually sell it for their survival which can be said that it includes trading.

Aluko is just one of those successful traders that made fortune through trading. He understands the risk of what he has chosen but it's more profitable and rewarding after all of those years that he had done trading.

[AniviaBtc]

Bitcoin can really make you help yourself to get away from poverty as we all know that Africa is really struggling to make its people to have a quality life.

Trading and dealing with risks are important especially that bitcoin is volatile and can fluctuate its price in a positive movement.

Help each other to grow and have a sustainable source of profit by teaching other citizen to trade bitcoin.

[Ziskinberg]

Bitcoin can really make you help yourself to get away from poverty as we all know that Africa is really struggling to make its people to have a quality life.

Trading and dealing with risks are important especially that bitcoin is volatile and can fluctuate its price in a positive movement.

Help each other to grow and have a sustainable source of profit by teaching other citizen to trade bitcoin.

The knowledge is the most important to get away from poverty, if we use bitcoin at a proper way then they can certainly get out of poverty. People who are in poverty does not invest on bitcoin, they work for money and with bitcoin being a decentralized global currency, it will help them find opportunity by the use of internet even if they will just stay in their own country.

Access to the internet for work and global decentralized currency, these are great things to know by people of poor countries like Africa.

[disconnectme]

I don't know why people tend to jump on article like this, to me is more of a click bait, can someone tells me where in the world are they not benefiting trading Crypto currencies especially in a bull market, we have this success stories from every part of the world before and after they dive into Crypto. It is true the living standard of some countries are better than some, but coming up with wisdom of the crowd data like this is disturbing

[CODE200]

Trading, alone, won't be a pathway to escape poverty. Trading is indeed a profitable but profit is not assured given that this market is highly volatile which will also reflect to the profit or loss. Trading also is not something to be mastered by an individual in a single glance, which means that one should also invest time analyzing the market in order to minimize trade errors. Also, nowadays, a user will need an amount of money in order to do trading unlike before wherein there are airdrops and ICOs in which users may get tokens without actually investing to projects. So is it advisable to borrow money in order to do trading if an individual is not having that amount to engage in such activity? in my opinion it is not. And if you have such, the rest is not assured that there will already be a gain. It will take more than knowing how to trade, there are other factors to consider.

[Latviand]

It's difficult in Africa

This statement says it all, it is really difficult to live in Africa where its natural resources were put into waste and not maintained properly.

That's why its people are not benefiting any share from its country and even the government is having a hard time to support its people.

Even cryptocurrency will not be regulated properly in Africa as they lack of basic knowledge and internet is not well-introduced to them. Hoping that they can follow development in their country because there are a lot of opportunity in bitcoin that are only put into waste. If their country will do their best to go with the flow then it can somehow lessen their sufferings and have an improvement in the economy.

[wxa7115]

Bitcoin having humanitarian qualities and helping the poor, is one of its most neglected and underappreciated aspects.

ICOS were not perfect by any means. But they did allow the poor access to accredited investor level opportunities.

Part of the crypto worlds success is due to it opening doors and giving opportunities to the poor, they might otherwise never have.


 

This is what sets bitcoin part from other markets, governments for the most part do not allow you to invest in certain investment opportunities unless you are an accredited investors, which is just an euphemism to say that you need to have a lot of money to get access to the best opportunities the markets offer.

Bitcoin is different, as long as you can invest some money in it then you can be in bitcoin and you can even speculate with it if that is your thing and there is no one to stop you, now I still think that a great deal of people will lose their money because they do not know anything about the markets but at the end it is their decision and if that is what they want to do then they must be free to do so.

[Freeesta]

I don't think cryptocurrency can save Africa from poverty and unemployment. The fact is that Africa is an underdeveloped country, so there are very few cryptocurrency users. If the government starts introducing cryptocurrency into the payment system, citizens will start to launder money through it and make purchases in black markets.

[slapper]

For your information, many poor people in my country become the poorer cause of bitcoin. I mean, it is not 100% bitcoin but fraud tends to use bitcoin as a fishing rod to steal people's money. Moreover, many people had lost their money in 2017. Nothing is humanitarian in bitcoin. After all, it is just a tool of human

[teosanru]

How only bitcoin? Doesn't this apply to stocks too? or any other job too? I don't understand why a few people feel that crypto can eradicate poverty from this world. My question is how? It's a new technology for payment mechanism and just like any other technology it offers you a certain amount of employment opportunities. Those who can take up the required skill for this can become successful those who can't grab the opportunity will most probably remain the same. But how on earth can crypto eradicate poverty from the lives of the people? Alternatively, the scarce supply of bitcoin would lead to the wide gap between rich and poor this is what I feel because until the time this class of Africa would get acquainted regarding bitcoin it would already be too late and big guns around the world would have already loaded everything and skyrocketed the price.

[jaysabi]

Bitcoin having humanitarian qualities and helping the poor, is one of its most neglected and underappreciated aspects.

ICOS were not perfect by any means. But they did allow the poor access to accredited investor level opportunities.

Part of the crypto worlds success is due to it opening doors and giving opportunities to the poor, they might otherwise never have.


 

There is a good reason that the poor are excluded from the definition of accredited investors, and it's primarily because accredited investors are considered rich enough to afford the risks of losing a substantial amount, or all, of their investment. Investments that require at least accredited investor status are extremely speculative and much riskier than investments that are regulated fully by the SEC.  The poor definitely do not fit this definition.

[thesmallgod]

Advent of crypto are now  making a lot of African grabbing and venturing into bitcoin a business that has become very lucrative hardly will you move a mile in Africa particularly Nigeria without seen any information regarding bitcoin trading. I will say it has created more job opportunity than what the government has done. Trading bitcoin giftcard are not only common but also the use to obtain some services such as buying airtime are increasing everyday. With time, I hope the government will.not see it as threat and come up with a reason to stop people from the business

[Rruchi man]

Since the recognition of Bitcoin as having a strong market value and good market growth projection, some see it as a better way to save & make gains from their local currency i.e buying the BTC with your local currency. And we all know that the value of most currencies of African countries have little value when compared to the USD.