Podcast Episode 2 — Why are people scared of cryptocurrency?
This week on the Yellow Card podcast we are joined by Co-Founder and CEO, Chris Maurice; Chief Business Officer, Munachi Ogueke; full-stack developer, Garrett Blackmon; and designer and illustrator, Ajiri Omafokpe. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss our first experiences with crypto and why people are scared of it.
Munachi started out with bitcoin in 2016 when he was looking for a payment method for his business, he needed something transparent and easily auditable. After the business ended in 2017, he was left holding a lot of bitcoin, so he started trading it full time. Munachi faced many challenges when starting out, as there were not many places to buy bitcoin. The only people who were selling at the time were forex traders, so Munachi decided to start providing easier access to crypto for others.
Garrett, a self-proclaimed “crypto noobie” didn’t have a ton of experience in the crypto space until he joined Yellow Card as a full-stack developer. He was on Reddit and saw a crypto mining rig, which sparked his interest and led him to learn more about it. A few years later he bought his first crypto — Dogecoin.
Ajiri was first introduced to Bitcoin by a friend, but he convinced her to buy The Billion Coin instead of BTC. It turned out that The Billion Coin was a scam, and there was no way for her to sell it. Ajiri’s next experience with crypto also turned out to be a scam.
Even after TBC there were many more Ponzi and MLM schemes which have further hurt the reputation of Bitcoin. Many people lost trust in crypto and have only recently started giving the industry another chance as more legitimate crypto education has spread across the continent. Munachi’s technical knowledge really helped him to avoid these schemes when he was starting off in the crypto space. Garrett’s knowledge of blockchain technology allowed him to thoroughly vet projects before investing in them. Also, being exposed to MLM schemes before made him skeptical.
Fortunately, after Ajiri lost her lifesavings to crypto scams, she was able to get more funds and get back into crypto. However, she decided to give BTC to a guy who would trade it then give you a return. The market crashed and all her funds were once again lost, the guy running the scheme ended up going to prison. In total, he had lost 1 billion naira ($2.7 million USD) of his clients’ funds.
Bitcoin has been out for a little over 10 years, and there is only a small window of time during which you could have bought and experienced a negative return if you were still holding today. People are looking for that quick buck, but holding BTC has shown to be more profitable.
One of the major takeaways from Ajiri’s experience is to invest with spare funds — only invest with what you are able to lose. You should always do your own research whenever someone tells you about a new crypto. Take what you get and don’t be greedy.
When Chris first got into Bitcoin he took $5k out of his savings to buy Bitcoin to resell. It was stored in a hot wallet, which was then hacked and lost all 21 BTC.
With Bitcoin there is no third party to hinder you, but also no third party to protect you. You need to take responsibility for protecting your crypto. There will always be scams and as money becomes decentralized, it’s more and more important to safeguard your assets.
Selected Links from the Episode
Show Notes
- How did Munachi get into crypto? [0:45]
- How Garrett learned about crypto and bought his first altcoin.[5:20]
- Ajiri first run-in with bitcoin and TBC coin.[8:30]
- How typical crypto scams work and TBC[12:00]
- How did having technical knowledge help you to avoid scams?[16:00]
- Ajiri runs into more problems with crypto schemes.[21:53]
- Munachi thoughts on trading.[24:50]
- Major take away from Ajiri’s experience[27:12]
- Best exchange to buy Bitcoin.[29:00]
- What will Ajiri do differently next time?[29:30]
- Chris’s sad story.[31:00]
- Crypto scams are still around.[32:55]
- Muna’s close call with crypto.[34:20]
- Keep your crypto safe[38:33]
