Crypto Gist: Meet Kofi: Civil Engineer turned Crypto Advocate

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.

Hi, Can we meet you?

I’m Kofi, a civil engineer, humanitarian and crypto advocate. I also reside in Ghana.

It’s great to meet you, Kofi; that’s an impressive resume you’ve got there. 

Yeah, it’s great to be here.

How would you describe your crypto experience in one word?

I’d say it's been full of lessons, so enlightening!

Cool, when did you first hear about crypto?

I heard about crypto in early 2021 and started later in the year, around when bitcoin hit $40,000.

How did you get into crypto?

Crypto has been trending for a while now, especially with the crypto price gains, so I heard about it multiple times in discussions and on social media. It was just in my line of focus. It was a great idea, and the stories of people making money were definitely the drive to get started.

However, I had a lot of projects on hand, so I kept pushing it back. It seemed like something that would demand my time, and I wasn’t wrong. When bitcoin hit $40,000, it seemed like there was no better time than then. Because while I was waiting to be settled, bitcoin was rising in value. It wasn’t going to wait till I was ready. That was how I got started, I guess

How was it?

Overwhelming! It seemed simple at first. All they’d tell you is to buy low and sell high; no one tells you about the massive information you need to know and the right time to buy or sell. You could buy low in a rush, and the price drops, and you regret that you didn’t wait longer before buying to maximise your profit when you sell.

Fortunately, a few colleagues were profiting from it and were very enthusiastic about welcoming me to their community. We discussed the basics of crypto, history, crypto trading, and NFTs. They were very enthusiastic, as I said.

It’s great to have a strong support system in crypto.

I know, and I appreciate them for that. While discussing, I learned more about crypto but only bought USDT then. I hadn’t bought any other crypto. I love learning, and I believe that if I have all the necessary knowledge, I can minimise the losses and get the best experience if I have all the necessary knowledge. It helped me in school and my career, so I was sure spending more time learning about crypto was in my best interest. However, I missed something.

What was that?

I forgot the impact of experience in making decisions. Yes, my knowledge informs me, but based on past experiences and lessons, I can make analytical decisions.

True, that’s insightful. How did that play out for you in crypto?

The thing is, we had a telegram channel where we shared marketing trends, insights, predictions, analysis, etc. With my knowledge, studying, staying updated with news and completing the market analysis, I could argue or discuss anything crypto with any expert.  But till then, I hadn’t started trading actively, so I was moving on the high of the knowledge I accumulated.

When I started trading, I was confident I wouldn’t be making any losses; if anything, I’d make less profit. I had absorbed a lot of knowledge, felt like an expert, and had some background in stock investment.

So what happened?

I had losses, big, small and, of course, wins. But the losses were tearing me apart. I was so sure of myself that I had a substantial amount invested, and it was shocking to lose funds from them. I regained my losses, but it showed me that I couldn't only trade with the knowledge; I needed practice.

How has your journey progressed since then?

Honestly, it was saddening, but I’m analytical, and I figured out my strategies quickly, thanks to my lessons. I took a slower start and practised with small amounts of money while holding most of my funds in USDT. I slowly began to increase my portfolio, and truthfully, DCA, I mean dollar cost averaging, really helped. I spread out my investment and took lessons, and I can say confidently that I have a growing portfolio now.

That’s great to hear; if you could advise newbies, what would be your recommendation?

Essentially, I’d say you need the background knowledge; that super helped me. However, as I said, it helped, but it is not everything. A mistake many newbies make is that once they learn and know how to do fundamental analysis, they think that’s all - No, that’s not all. You need to practice. Based on my experience, I finally understood why you are told to invest only what you can afford to lose. If you start playing around with small amounts, you will make losses and wins, but it won’t be one to wreck your finances. Ultimately you’d gain the necessary experience, and it would no longer be theoretical. I think that’s it.

Amazing! That was insightful. It was great to have you here with us, Kofi.

My pleasure; I had a great time too. 

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