From Crypto Student to Binance Campus Ambassador: Real #MyCryptoLife Stories

Hear from Jamilu, a Binance Campus Ambassador in Nigeria, on how he started his crypto journey, from trading on Binance to pay for school to becoming a crypto specialist. 

Since 2020, we’ve featured real crypto stories, speaking to Binance users from around the world. In this exclusive interview, we spoke with Jamilu, a Nigerian Binance Campus Ambassador, about how crypto changed his life for the better. 

Find out how Jamilu used Binance to generate passive income and pay for his education. As a self-taught crypto enthusiast, Jamilu is now a student at Crutech, one of the largest universities in the Cross River State in Nigeria. 

Starting From Zero: Jamilu’s Early Crypto Journey

At the young age of 18, Jamilu entered the crypto world for the first time. Armed with a couple of YouTube tutorials and the advice of his friends, Jamilu downloaded the Binance app and initially started trading crypto and participating in Learn and Earn campaigns to help pay for his education. Despite all the resources he’s used during his crypto journey, Jamilu attributes the majority of his crypto knowledge to Binance Academy—a nonprofit blockchain and crypto educational platform. 

“Binance changed my life from a regular Crutech student (tertiary institution in Cross River State, Nigeria) to a well-informed and educated crypto lover and semi-specialist,” Jamilu says.

“My experiences gave me even more access to the Binance community and I was fortunate to meet people like Ben and Emmanuel Babz, the Director of Binance Africa,” says Jamilu.  Through Binance Academy’s hundreds of hours of free content, Jamilu used his newfound knowledge to grow and develop his community’s crypto literacy as both a tutor and Binance affiliate. 

As a leader in crypto education, Binance has equipped beginners and veterans with the tools and knowledge to succeed in crypto. For example, Binance Masterclass has provided free crypto education to over 400,000 Africans since its inception in January, 2020. 

Honoring His Biggest Inspiration—Chris Ani

Jamilu cites Chris Ani, one of Africa’s most well-known crypto influencers and the “man who receives wisdom from the crypto gods,” as his biggest inspiration and role model. In addition to running one of Africa’s largest crypto communities, Ani is a seasoned entrepreneur and the founder of Digital Abundance, a budding consortium utilizing blockchain to drive global economic revolution and social change. Fun fact, he was Binance 2020 Award’s Africa Influencer of the Year. 

“When I look at some of [Ani’s] past pictures, I’m shocked by the transformation from his early beginnings,” says Jamilu. “It was through [Ani’s] teachings and tweets, I was able to understand the level of focus I needed to achieve my goals, which in this case was my final-year project,” Jamilu added. While Ani’s teachings motivated Jamilu, Binance helped him complete the project.

How Binance Helped Jamilu’s University Project

During his time at Crutech, one of Nigeria’s largest tech universities, Jamilu leaned on Binance—from successful intraday crypto trading to withdrawing on P2P—to earn extra money and help pay for his final-year university project, which was a fingerprint-based attendance system inspired by his own pursuit of knowledge. 

After witnessing many of his campus peers missing class or paying money for higher grades and test scores, Jamilu came up with the concept of using biometrics to ensure students attend class. “I would miss class from time to time but I realized attending lectures was important if you really wanted to learn,” says Jamilu. In his final project paper, Jamilu was also kind enough to mention Binance in a short paragraph dedicated to those who helped him along his journey.

“The first thing I would do is open my Binance account and perform some short trades(scalp)...I would use the P2P platform to withdraw my crypto funds,” Jamilu says. “My final-year project, trading crypto, and making money off crypto—Binance made all of this possible.”

On the topic of Binance’s best feature, Jamilu’s first answer was “Where do I even start?” He further added, “you’ve got so many great features like BNB Vault, Savings and Launchpad, but P2P platform is the undisputed king hands-down.” In Jamilu’s country, buying cryptocurrency can be a difficult ordeal. Thankfully, Binance P2P has enabled Jamilu’s crypto journey, supporting “fast and easy zero-fee crypto transactions.”

For The Love of Crypto

For Jamilu, crypto provides so much more than just another way to make money. He sees crypto as the “future of money and the way to financial freedom.”

“I’m in love with crypto,” says Jamilu. “Using crypto has opened my mind to so many possibilities, especially the blockchain aspect. I never knew sending cash to someone in a different country could be this easy, affordable and seamless.” 

Although Africa only comprises around 2% of the global crypto market population, crypto is becoming rapidly prominent among its citizens. In fact, the region led the global market share in total P2P transactions and they engaged in the highest rate of retail-sized crypto transfers, classified as transactions totalling less than $10,000 USD. With around 57% of the population remaining unbanked, crypto has provided a solution to the underdeveloped financial infrastructure found in some African countries. 

Aside from popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, stablecoins like BUSD have provided millions of underbanked people with a fast, accessible and low-fee payment technology. In addition to payments, stablecoins offer more ways to earn from assets, opening up opportunities for nations that are secluded from the global markets.

Life as a Binance Campus Ambassador

Today, Jamilu is the Binance Campus Ambassador for Crutech—one of the largest University campuses in Cross River State—South Nigeria. The Binance Campus Ambassador program connects Africa’s different campuses to the Binance ecosystem.   As a campus ambassador, Jamilu works closely with the Binance Africa team and is responsible for representing his campus in the crypto space, welcoming new users to Binance and organizing fun activities and meetups, both physically and virtually. 

Two years ago, crypto was just a new hobby for Jamilu, but today, it’s his life’s passion. His love for crypto has also extended to his growing network of customers.  “As a crypto vendor, I always ask my customers if they have a smart chain address! If they don't, I help them get one,” says Jamilu. “Crypto has helped me connect with so many new people in my life who in turn have helped me benefit financially.” 

Learn more about the Binance Africa Campus Ambassador Program and find out how you can share your love of crypto to your local campus and community. 

Got a crypto success story of your own? Tag us on Twitter and be sure to include the hashtag #MyCryptoLife.