Chibuzor is a university student who was looking for ways to invest money without being burdened with the traditional way of investing. In eight months of his crypto journey, he believes there is more to crypto than just making money. So he stayed for the future it holds. In this interview, he tells how he started trading, what he discovered and his crypto goals at the moment.
How did your journey into crypto begin?
I started last year in September. I had a friend who always talked about it. One day, I went to him and told him I wanted to learn about it. So he introduced me to the nine23 capital community. Then, I was trading De-Fi tokens, because that’s the rave of the moment. It was the first thing I started with, before gaming tokens, NFTs, and many more. I dabbled into a lot of new projects, but did my research before investing in any. Sometimes, it worked out and other times it didn’t. Rather than losing out I made more in the few first months I started. Though I made some mistakes, having a community allowed me to soften my risks.
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Apart from being in a community, were there other resources you learnt from?
Yes. I was watching crypto Youtube channels. All I had to do was pick the channels that really taught the basics. Although there are a lot of channels that didn’t dumb it down, being in a community helped me in my journey. I started reading a lot too, not just regular books, but long whitepapers, roadmaps, articles, newsletters, and using Reddit. I basically surfed the internet for resources.
Fascinating. What fueled your curiosity?
What got me interested is I was looking for ways to invest money. I found other options but they all required me to be present. And because of school, I wanted to do something that can make me money without leaving my house while still having time for myself. I felt like crypto was the best option. So I started learning about it and discovered there was more to it than just making money from it. In my discovery, I learnt there was a bigger picture.
What did you discover?
Getting in, I learnt there were so many parts to it, web3 in general. What they are trying to do with it is build a system that is decentralized and not controlled by anyone. And if you think about it, that’s pretty cool.
Doing finance the normal way comes with a lot of processes, but with crypto everything is easy and straightforward. I can even sit in my house and buy shares from companies I like or I think are doing well. In web3, companies are not owned by a single person but by a community. That’s the purpose of the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAOs) which is an effective way to manage, own and decide what happens with the companies. Once you have a share, it means you have the power to vote what happens with the company. Like if I am trying to build a gaming company, I don’t need to start looking for VCs, I would just open a DAO and people who are interested in my gaming company can invest, get ownership and make returns. But the process is not the same in Web2.
Hmm.. Interesting ..
Most people think crypto is just about making money. Like just make money and go. For me, I think it’s kind of the future and most people are not seeing it yet. They think it is a ponzi but it is bigger than that. I believe in the next ten years with crypto we can go totally cashless and start using it for daily purchases. It is already creeping in as a payment mode for some business transactions. Maybe we might even have crypto ATMs. Lol!
Do you have any crypto goals at the moment?
I am not where I want to be now. This is because I want to be at the stage where I have liquidity to invest in anything I want to. I don’t want to be unable to invest in projects because I am focused more on making profits than losing money. I want to be comfortable enough to invest whether the projects are doing well or not. Right now, I am just trying to make enough profits.
How are you able to manage your risks without having enough liquidity?
Sometimes you have to do things on a pulse and trust your guts. But I also invest money I am only comfortable losing. Know when to take profits. No matter how well you think the project you’ve invested in is doing, always take profits. Just don’t be greedy.
What are you currently trading in?
NFTs. It feels like it is a safer way to onboard people into the world of cryptocurrency. They are not simple but they are the least complicated in Web3. It is popular at the moment and crypto is all about what has the most attention. There was a time when shitcoins had more attention. Now, I am focused on NFTs until the attention shifts and I have the liquidity to invest in other projects. However, I see it disrupting the traditional social paradigm and transactions in the metaverse. It might even revolve as a means of identification. Or companies making NFTs instead of tokens or shares, as a way for one to get a certain percent of their company. Lol! It is here to stay.
What has trading crypto taught you?
I learnt more about finance in a week than I would have at school. I didn’t know about how compounding interest worked. Something for which I would have had to take courses and spend years in school.
How financially happy are you?
Hahhahaha. I get to afford most of the things I want. But I am not totally there yet but the future looks promising. I can’t wait to surpass the goals I have set for myself.
Explain crypto to me like I’m 10 years old
Hahahha. I would say it is virtual money you can’t see or touch but you can make use of.
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