A Nigerian man named Emeh David Nkem from Abia State of Nigeria has revealed in an interview with Bunnaj about his position regarding cryptocurrency, reiterating that for him, it is the future of money and everyone will eventually come around. He is also working on his digital company which he referred to as EDN_DIGITALS — an E-commerce marketing agency.
Emeh David Nkem is from Ohafia in Abia state, and he is a graduate of chemical engineering from the University of Portharcourt. He is being referred to as an E-commerce genius and a prolific cryptocurrency trader because he is keen on helping people to become financially stable and independent by unveiling different business opportunities in the crypto/blockchain space.
Revisiting Nigeria’s position regarding crypto
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has on the 5th of February 2021, directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs), local financial institutions against having any transactions in crypto or facilitating payments for cryptocurrency exchanges.
The issue came even when the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum are gaining momentum and investments around the world, as Tesla purchased $1.5 billion of bitcoin earlier before the ban “further diversify and maximize” the return on its cash, as the Central Bank of Kenya also announced its decision to use Bitcoin “as a reserve currency to solve the country’s economic problems.”
The ban in Nigeria visited many (youth) as a surprise, but before then, Emeh David as one of the Nigerian youths revealed that through the help of his friend, Gina, he created an account in blockchain, bought his first Bitcoin in 2017 with N20k and within a month, it was already N60k.
He stated that his early move served as ignition to his journey into the Binance world, and he was lucky to meet someone on the internet “who was teaching crypto trading at that time. I made enquiries about his class and as an undergraduate in 300 level, I couldn’t afford his $200 fee which at that time was 70k. So I saved up and paid him 5 months later and took the class. I started trading a week later and started making losses. Before I could realize it, my $100 capital was already $20 and that was solely because I didn’t have anybody to guide me. [I] Felt discouraged and left Binance for some months. And as God may have it, I made some friends in the space that helped me with some materials to study and start trading again with the little funds I had left. I started learning and unlearning which helped me gain my confidence back.”
He continued: “the game totally changed for me when I discovered other ways I can be making steady money in crypto regardless of the market condition. It’s been an amazing journey since then. I also started an online academy where I teach people how to trade and become financially stable and independent and provide them with all the necessary guidance they need to become successful in this space which I never had when I started. I also run a signal group where non-students can also benefit from these opportunities. I’m currently working on a crypto seminar titled “Crypto Skills for the New Economy” where I intend to unveil all the business opportunities in cryptocurrency.”
Nigerian youths forge further despite the ban
Immediately Nigerian banks were ordered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to close accounts within their networks of persons or entities involved in cryptocurrency transactions, many businesses involved in crypto-currency dealings could no longer accept deposits or process financial transactions. This led to criticisms being mounted on the Nigerian government that it “mainly” wants to stifle the livelihood of Nigerian youths who are using crypto as means of survival and to escape unemployment.
Nevertheless, many youths are still using crypto as a harness-able tool for economic growth. Many others are doing it “Peer2Peer” while others are trading it. Emeh David, as a crypto tycoon, when he was in touch with Bunnaj, revealed that he has published a crypto title – “What You Should Know Before Trading Crypto-currency”. He revealed that he has been on it for weeks and finally published it recently.
“Basically, the book contains basic important things every crypto enthusiast should know before trading and while trading. To the entire crypto market, traders will be more enlightened especially on risk management because one of the most important things to take note of in this financial market is risk management. Once your risk management is bad, no matter how good of a trader you are, your losses will always be more. There is a lot of money to be made in the crypto space, while this is true, if you enter it with MMM mentality (Get Rich Quick), you will definitely get burnt. So, the book will also help traders know how to allocate funds to different assets.”
He explained that the book is “free for now so that a lot of people can have access to it.”
Emeh David also spoke about his digital company EDN_DIGITALS, he said he will be launching it soon while revealing he has been working on it for over a year.
“We will be launching soon. It’s an E-commerce marketing agency where we help businesses both big and small gain online visibility, create sales funnels, make more sales and many other things I can’t mention now, but EDN is the answered prayer of every entrepreneur out there and that’s because it’s not usually the best product that wins in the market but the most known (marketing). So, we’ll be bringing magic to people’s business. It’s really a big one.” He said.
Linking Crypto to e-Naira
As early reported by Bunnaj, the Central Bank of Nigeria had on Monday 30th August 2021 said that the country had agreed to partner with Bitt Inc to launch its “homegrown” cryptocurrency, e-Naira. The idea is seen as a welcome development because the said e-Naira would act as a wallet for bank customers to keep their existing funds in their accounts, and the currency will help with financial inclusion and remittances.
However, many Nigerian youths believe that it is incomparable with crypto because the Nigerian government will be using it as a regulated policy, and it can never “boom” like crypto.
For Emeh David, as a Nigerian youth, he believes crypto is the future of money and everyone will eventually come around. He said that the 2008 crisis and the 2020 lockdown already “showed how flawed the traditional bank system is and more and more people are already looking for alternative methods like cryptocurrency. And currently, CBN is engaging a British fintech company to help develop their digital coin. So, the adoption is massive all over the world. The people saying that everyone mustn’t do crypto are in the same group as those who were saying everyone mustn’t do the internet in 1990.”
He concluded that the internet moved from being optional to become a fundamental human right, and as such “crypto is literally money, and I don’t see why any country shouldn’t pay attention to it.”
Educator, writer and legal researcher at Alafarika for Studies and Consultancy.