Crypto Gist: How I lost My Initial Capital To A Dodgy Crypto Investment Firm

Crypto Gist is a series that highlights the stories of real people around Africa around cryptocurrencies. Our guests share their crypto experiences - intro to crypto, wins, scams, losses and lessons. Would you like to tell your story? Don’t hesitate. Fill out this form to share your story.

Hello! Can we meet you?

Hi, I’m Bassey! It’s great to be here. I’m a crypto enthusiast and a Nigerian.

It’s lovely to have you here, Bassey! What would you say if you were to sum up your crypto experience in one word?

Phenomenal! Mind-blowing!

Amazing. That’s two words, though, lol. So how did you get into crypto?

My first experience with crypto was sour. It was in 2015. I had just started hearing about digital currencies. At that point, the mode of buying bitcoin was through this network marketing model. BTC at that time was the major cryptocurrency, still the most popular actually. 

Anyway, I was introduced to an investment platform that gave around 1% interest daily on your investment. This made sense because I was thinking about getting up to 30% interest on my investment in a month. So, I proceeded to buy bitcoin on the platform. 

People I knew who also invested in the crypto investment platform immediately took out their profits. I mean, they didn’t allow it to accumulate. Once they earned a bit of the 1% interest, they would withdraw their funds.  However, I didn’t consider this a lot of profit, and I felt it was more financially wise to let it accumulate. My capital was relatively low, you know, I was still hustling. Therefore, the 1% increase wasn’t that significant. 

So, I used this strategy where I withdrew the initial capital and profit at the end of every week and invested it back in the platform. I grew my initial capital from about $30 to about $100. My target at that time was when I compound my interest to about $100; I’d start withdrawing my funds. I estimated the whole program would crash in six months. 

Why? If I may ask.

It was an American firm with representatives in Nigeria, but I didn’t 100% trust it. But I figured I could win big before anything happened. Three months later, I had almost hit my target; that’s when the whole thing went Kaboom! The month I was thinking of withdrawing my funds - everything burst!

After that experience ehn, I didn’t want to hear anything about bitcoin again. But you know the hustler spirit, Nah! I still tried my luck again, but ahh! the same thing happened. That was it for me!

Sadly, several people also have similar stories of losing investments or getting scammed in crypto.

I know, right! The introduction of crypto in Africa was great; however, it was quickly layered with many scams. I think that made me get totally discouraged from crypto for years. I missed a lot of opportunities in that period. It was like four years later I got into crypto again, but this time money wasn’t the sole focus.

What was it then? What was the push back into crypto?

I’ve always been passionate about accessing global opportunities by working and collaborating with people. I’ve never been a fan of living in Nigeria. All the interest I’ve ever had has been to leave this country.

Japa Gang!

Yes o! Japa! That’s the goal. I love Nigeria and Africa. I’d like to travel, you know, visit places within but not reside in Nigeria - if you get what I mean! 

Anyway, I found out that I could collaborate with companies and get paid in crypto. You know the real deal! When you work with foreign companies, they have to go through SEC, taxes etc. and several bottlenecks before you can get paid. I was told I could get paid in USDT, and that’s… basically dollars. 

This was great news! I could work with people from America, London etc. very easily. I’ve worked with people I never could imagine I could work with and gotten paid in USDT. That was the push back into crypto—the ability to access opportunities from wherever I was and get easily paid in my home. 

That’s great! So, where are you with crypto now, considering how you started?

I’m not really a big fan of trading, and it's not just about crypto. It’s about my personal education and experiences in wealth building. I’d rather focus more energy on something I can control, so trading is secondary for me. I can control how I get paid in USDT but can’t control the crypto market. After my initial experience, I’d rather trade passively. I know people earn big from trading, but it is not my style. I earn using my work skills, and I get paid in USDT. That’s enough for me. 

So, is it okay to assume that most of your crypto portfolio is in USDT?

No! I invest in altcoins as well. I believe there’s a lot of potential in altcoins. In the next few years, bitcoin will still face major competition from these altcoins. Some of these coins have a lot of use cases, and I think they’ll be able to solve several financial limitations in the near future. 

With crypto adoption increasing rapidly across Africa and the world, where do you see yourself with crypto in the next few years?

I’d like to see myself as one of the most influential people in the financial space. I’ll take a more active position in spreading the crypto gospel and educating Africans about the opportunities in digital assets. 

That’s great! Given an opportunity to educate crypto newbies, what would be your advice?

I’ll tell them crypto is really fascinating and that you can’t know everything. If you are really interested in crypto, you can get involved in crypto communities and follow people in the crypto space. Even if you are not actively looking for information, the free flow of information you receive from these platforms will keep you updated about the crypto space. This is one of the most underrated ways of entering the industry.

As they are talking about things, even the ones you don’t understand, you’ll be able to learn new things every day. I’m not that much of a community fan, but you could join a community in the specific field of crypto you are interested in; Defi or game. Just keep learning and growing!

Thank you very much. It was truly a pleasure to have you here.

Thank you also for having me!

Read also: How To Spot And Avoid Crypto Scams

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