My Crypto Journey: How Crypto Has Changed the Lives of African Users
Main Takeaways:
Binance envisions a world where anyone can access financial systems to improve their lives and pursue financial freedom.
My Crypto Journey is a Binance Blog series showcasing how the lives of different individuals have been changed thanks to crypto, blockchain, and Binance.
Our very first story features a user discovering crypto’s efficiency as a way to receive cross-border funds for his education, and to minimize the impact of falling fiat currency value.
My Crypto Journey is a collection of inspirational stories from Binance users who have been personally impacted in one way or another by crypto and blockchain.
Since 2017, Binance has been striving to make crypto and financial freedom accessible to the masses. Be it championing tech literacy through our education channel Binance Academy or providing services like digital asset transfer via the Binance app, our ecosystem has done much to benefit our users.
For Africans, crypto has established itself as a means of financial inclusion over the past few years, with its ability to address issues like expensive remittance fees and currency devaluation. As a sunrise industry, crypto and blockchain have provided new opportunities for job-seekers, especially those who live in African countries plagued by high unemployment rates.
Today, we’re celebrating the crypto wins of our African users, who have shared their personal journeys with crypto as part of our new series, My Crypto Journey.
This is the story of Oruche Chukuwebuka Gabriel, who has found crypto to be an efficient way of earning and receiving funds for his education.
How He Started Using Crypto
Gabriel is a 24-year-old student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). As a student, he was looking for accessible, convenient ways to make money using his mobile phone. In 2018, a friend who was a UNN Binance ambassador taught him cryptocurrency basics and introduced him to Binance. From there, he started exploring ways to make use of crypto.
How Crypto Has Changed His Life
“Crypto has not only changed my life but has, in fact, become part of my life.” – Gabriel, 24
Through crypto, Gabriel has been able to receive donations from friends and family both within and outside Nigeria. These crypto asset donations have been instrumental in supporting his education. Gabriel found it easier and faster to send and receive crypto assets through Binance than through traditional banks, especially across borders.
Gabriel also shops and saves in crypto rather than Nigeria’s currency, naira. Due to devaluation, the value of naira is constantly falling, leading to a loss of purchasing power. To counter this depreciating value, he saves in USDT, a stablecoin designed to be pegged to USD, a fiat currency significantly that’s less volatile than naira.
Gabriel's Journey With Binance
Gabriel has loved using Binance since he first signed up in 2018. Apart from having a great user interface, the app works well on Android devices, allowing him to conveniently access crypto services anytime. Upon exploring the features on the Binance app, Gabriel has become familiar with sending and receiving crypto funds securely using his Binance wallet.
Because user safety and security is a major priority for Binance, Gabriel can use the Binance app with peace of mind.
As a long-time user of an app that is constantly being upgraded, Gabriel makes sure to remain subscribed to email updates to keep him informed of the latest updates in the ecosystem.
Gabriel's Advice for Crypto Beginners
Crypto newbies should learn about crypto extensively and pay attention to detail.
If you are using a decentralized wallet, do not give your recovery phrase to anyone. Always safeguard the login details to your wallets.
Do proper research before participating in any airdrop you come across, as it may be a phishing scam that could potentially empty your crypto wallet.
Consider using CoinMarketCap and other reliable crypto data sites when doing research on tokens and projects.
Know when to buy or sell. Don't be a bag holder and retain crypto assets that are falling in value until they are worthless; learn when to cut your losses. And if you miss a buying opportunity, don't give into FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). There are many opportunities in this space!
Start Your Crypto Journey Today!
Inspired by Gabriels’s story? Sign up for a Binance account and take the first step of your crypto journey now.