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

[goldade]

Bitcoin has provided a means of livelihood for so many people in Africa. Severals are unemployed because of the high rate of unemployment due to the bad leadership of the government of countries in Africa. Bitcoin, however, has provided a window of escape.
Quite a lot of people now trade bitcoin to make money. Many people are active on forums like this. Many people get involve in airdrops and several other means.
Many people even now accept bitcoin as a means of payment which is a better option than many of the continent's fiat currencies which is losing value every day.

[jaysabi]

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.

You're right, this is just a crypto fluff piece. There is nothing about the circumstances in the OP that make crypto inherently good for the poor, and the anecdote about the guy could have been done with literally any asset.
 More than anything, the guy just got lucky because he started trading crypto when it was in a larger bull run, and even active traders are likely to make money in a bull run because the overall motion of the price is up, so even if you're moving in and out you're statistically more likely to make money.  (Statistically, you'd make more if you weren't trading and just holding, which is why the concept of the "poor making trading crypto" is pretty meaningless.)

[Beparanf]

Not just in Africa, maybe there are more countries now who prefers to do trading as their job, to get income and to sustain for their living. In my country when pandemic strikes and termination of many jobs happen,there are many individuals who become more curious on where to spend their back pay, though it may not yet take a big percentage of the population but slowly many were noticing it's potential for profit.

[Hydrogen]

You're right, this is just a crypto fluff piece.

I think the main thing you're missing.

Is the average wage for some african countries being something like $4 to $8 a day.

If you can do better than $4 to $8 a day from faucets, airdrops, trading, ICOs. You're doing better than the many african working 8+ hour job days.

Trading crypto for a living may not be an option for residents of nations with higher average cost of living. But for some regions like africa, it is an achievable goal. Especially if one considers zimbabwe dollar hyperinflation and other aspects of the area that are worse than crypto scams.

 

[tippytoes]

You're right, this is just a crypto fluff piece.

I think the main thing you're missing.

Is the average wage for some african countries being something like $4 to $8 a day.

If you can do better than $4 to $8 a day from faucets, airdrops, trading, ICOs. You're doing better than the many african working 8+ hour job days.

Trading crypto for a living may not be an option for residents in nations with higher average cost of living. But for some regions like africa, it is an achievable goal.

 

You actually have a point on this. For people residing especially in third world countries, earning at least 5 bucks a day is already a big deal for them. They can already have more than a decent meal on that amount. Now, if you are lucky to know crypto and know how to strategize in trading, and living in those countries, such amount will already give you a decent life even if you are not subjecting yourself to the tedious 9-5 job. I guess some people will not appreciate earning 4-8 dollars a day, because they have been living within their comfort zone and not looking at other scenarios around the world.

[Darker45]

The story of Aluko is actually full of gaps. If the man is living a hand to mouth life, I doubt he could easily get into Bitcoin trading. If he is so poor that he is constantly bugged by the thought of whether or not he could pay for his next meal, I don't think Bitcoin trading is something he could have easy access to.

The story's transition was simply "when Aluko decided to commit to trading bitcoin." I'm afraid it is not as simple as that in real life. At the very least, Bitcoin trading requires a starting capital, a laptop or PC or a reliable smart phone at the very least, a fast internet, and a whole lot of spare time. Not to mention that trading is not profitable all the time and that the smaller the starting capital, the smaller the possible profit.

[Shasha80]

I agree Bitcoin trading is a way out of poverty, but not all poor people in Africa are capable of doing that. Due to the fact that it is not easy to
get profit from trading, it requires knowledge and expertise to analyze the market. Therefore, many people in Africa are starting to be interested
in learning Bitcoin, because it provides an opportunity for them to be able to get a decent life. We have to remember that there is no free money
on this earth, so if we want to be successful in Bitcoin trading. It takes hard work for we to understand how Bitcoin moves in the market.

[Sithara007]

If they stick to Bitcoin and the established altcoins, then that would be better. But obviously there is going to be a lot of the investors, who will be fooled in to investing in shitcoins. I don't expect noobs to differentiate established coins such as Bitcoin/Ethereum from shitcoins such as Unicore or Behodler. And if they venture into cryptocurrency market without proper research, then unfortunately, they are going to lose most of their capital. 

[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.

You're right, this is just a crypto fluff piece. There is nothing about the circumstances in the OP that make crypto inherently good for the poor, and the anecdote about the guy could have been done with literally any asset.
 More than anything, the guy just got lucky because he started trading crypto when it was in a larger bull run, and even active traders are likely to make money in a bull run because the overall motion of the price is up, so even if you're moving in and out you're statistically more likely to make money.  (Statistically, you'd make more if you weren't trading and just holding, which is why the concept of the "poor making trading crypto" is pretty meaningless.)

Exactly. I have seen tons of traders starting their journey pretty peacefully until there is an unexpected market action which takes away their holdings. I can't obviously agree with buy and hold strategy too as there literally are tons of coins going north and south everyday. This theory would hold true merely in a bullish market. But yes to be specific there is nothing like only crypto can eradicate poverty in Africa.

I see it showing fairness to everyone, in poor countries where people who can make money with crypto will help ease their financial burden. And not only in Africa, but I see it also widely popular around the world, looking to South America or weak economic areas, cryptocurrency is really considered in and brings a better life for them.

Can you please tell me how? It's not that difficult in third world countries to get a demat stock account too so why only bitcoin or crypto trading shows fairness?

[CryptopreneurBrainboss]

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

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

I'm an african and I can testify to this claims been very true and accurate. I have witnessed tremendous changes from users that have taken it upon themselves to learn cryptocurrency trading and practice it and those that have adventured into investing. There's no africa that took cryptocurrency seriously that aren't better than what they were few years back before joining the industry.

The problem is that many aren't always patient enough and due to their gullible nature and greed, they get into situation that cost them some funds or all their funds even before starting their journey in the industry. Those that took their time to understand the industry before joining are doing quite well for themselves, the evidences are everywhere.

Ponzi schemes is another enemies killing the image of the trend in the continent. Assuming this wasn't a growing thread and taking advantage of the features the cryptocurency network offers like peer2peer transaction, instant and borderless transaction etc, we would had been far better than where we are now in terms of our engagement in the industry.

[el kaka22]

I would say "trading" is definitely a good skill to have but also earning bitcoin (or crypto in general) could be even better. With crypto you open yourself for business all over the world, if you have a set of skills that would be good for putting a service for, you could become very good.

For example, the first guy Aluko said to work as soft media, videography and other stuff, if he even knows how to edit, he could had made money from selling his services to all over the world, anyone who wants to make money and in Nigeria making 500-600 dollars is a decent amount, so he would have been capable of earning it, without risking any of his money.

In trading you could make a profit, obviously he did made a profit, but you could also end up losing money as well, but if you sell your services you can't lose money, you either earn it, or not. This is the true power of crypto, becoming worldwide instead of just local.

[Findingnemo]

In countries like Africa, yes it is going to help a lot for the unemployment rate because their daily wages are less than a dollar as far as I know so they can make few dollars with very small capital everyday but it is going to help the everyone in Africa? I don't think so.

One who enters into the market earlier and utilizes it more will be making profits but in the next few years the bitcoin will be out of reach for unemployed people.

[DrBeer]

There is nothing unusual or unexpected here. I have said for a long time that cryptocurrency has become an "entry ticket" for ordinary people to enter the world of exchanges, speculation, and the ability to make quick money. And there is no need to be physically present at the exchange, or to obtain the status of a broker - he sat at home at the simplest computer, went to the exchange, and started trading! The African population also joined this "movement" ...

[magneto]

Whilst I agree that BTC does indeed make speculation/trading easier for retail investors, is it really necessarily going to be in the interests of these investors in the long run to speculate and try to replace their income source from speculative activities alone?

I don't think that's necessarily the right attitude to look at BTC. Just because you have a finance/econ degree doesn't mean that you will be a successful trader - in fact, you're more likely to be overconfident and rack up more severe losses.

Sure, a small proportion of these people might be able to get out of poverty just by doing this - but that will likely be due to an element of luck more than anything else. I'd much rather see these people use BTC as a hedge against fiat and/or to store value for the long run, as opposed to mindlessly following market trends.

[Ayiranorea]

I don't know how this helps with overcoming the poverty prevailing around African countries. In my learning in Africa most people whom benefit from bitcoin trading is the rich ones. The middle class will be in a situation to survive, they're able to make money but the family situation won't let them take take strong decisions and go for investing/trading. Apart from this Africans use bitcoin much on exchange of goods as they need to carry lot of currencies while making cross border businesses like importing from East Asian Countries.

[fahmimajannat]

Yeah actually it is. There is a good chance to get employed by freelancing for them. Bitcoin is one of them. They have a big chance to be self employed. If they take it seriously they can succeed.
It will be good for both of them the people and the goverment.
But they have to gain some knowledge first. So that they can get the proper return of their hardwork.

[Emitdama]

As the article has listed out, there are usually scammers and not everyone is going to be successful with this crypto trading. But it’s good to give it a try and work hard to see where it will lead you to, because you may never know, you can end up being very successful through trading of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

I have seen some people who try to trade cryptocurrency and they either lose their money trading or they get scammed. Some of these people it’s usually hard to convince them to get back to cryptocurrency. At first I was scammed while I was trying to make ends meet through Bitcoin, but what I did was change my mind and decide to be just using it for receiving payments, and along the line I started trying my luck with other means.

[uneng]

Trading isn't a job and actually the only skill that could be considered a game changer in this activity is clairvoyance to view the future others couldn't see, otherwise you still need to be very lucky to not buy right before the market falls or to sell right before the market rises. The only way to escape poverty is to work, to execute any kind of service in order to be remunerated for your efforts.
If there aren't offers like that on the internet hardly you will left poverty even if you are inside crypto universe. Although bitcoin changed the life for some people, most enthusiasts are still in poverty because jobs supply is very low.

[Lorence.xD]

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.

That is because with cryptocurrency being closely tied to USD most of the time, they can get more value out of it when they trade because the exchange rate of their currency and the USD is so big that they can afford basic necessities in local setting. I think that every trader understands the risk, a person that does not understand it is not a trader at all but a gambler. I wouldn't really say that it helped the poor because there are other people that does not have an opportunity to access the Internet to trade or even buy one, it is more like it helps those who opens their door for the opportunity.

[wxa7115]

Not just in Africa, maybe there are more countries now who prefers to do trading as their job, to get income and to sustain for their living. In my country when pandemic strikes and termination of many jobs happen,there are many individuals who become more curious on where to spend their back pay, though it may not yet take a big percentage of the population but slowly many were noticing it's potential for profit.

Unfortunately while trading may seem a good idea since you can earn in this market no matter where you are the most important issue is that you need to have some capital in order to earn and if that capital is not high enough you are better off getting a job where you live.

However if you do actually have the capital that can sustain your lifestyle where you live then trading without a doubt is a good alternative as it is a job that you can do from your home and you can work as little or as much as you want so it is the perfect option for those that have the time, capital and knowledge to make it work.