From cryptocurrency being the biggest use case of blockchain technology, we now have NFTs and Web3 innovation. A lot has changed in the blockchain ecosystem over the years, however, there is still a lot of education and adoption that are needed to be done.
At Blockbuild, we are committed to serving you the necessary information to stay ahead in the space and we have a voice from a leading cryptocurrency and blockchain stakeholder in Africa.
We had a chat with Obinna Iwuno, Founder of the Crypto Bootcamp Community and the Executive Secretary of SiBAN (Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria) who expressed his thoughts on the need for the government to adopt cryptocurrency and blockchain technology while partnering with the necessary stakeholders to formulate policies that will ensure smooth regulations.
Obinna also spoke about the latest development with the Crypto Bootcamp Community and how the platform is driving cryptocurrency/blockchain education and empowering young Africans with skills.
What is the latest about Crypto Bootcamp Community?
Presently, we have expanded our network actively in 4 African countries with Nigeria our largest base, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda.
In May 2022, we held the first intercontinental Bitcoin Pizza Day events. To me Bitcoin Pizza Day is significant because that is the day I call the first day of crypto adoption, making Bitcoin the first cryptocurrency usable when Laszlo Hanyecz purchased 2 packs of Pizza with 10,000 Bitcoins.
More than consuming pizza and taking pictures, we should leverage that significant day to spread the story of Bitcoin and see to its adoption.
We organized the first continental Bitcoin Pizza Day event in Africa held on May 22, 2022, across 20 cities in 4 African countries and that was achievable because we have been able to expand our network beyond Nigeria.
All locations recorded lots of attendees owing to the passion of people and interest to learn about bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
We have also had other events and training over the years, and coming the 21st of November, Crypto Bootcamp Community would be having its Bootcamp 3.0 edition.
The Bootcamp Session is the largest blockchain and crypto education training program in Africa that educates people about what blockchain and cryptocurrency really mean, helping them to understand Bitcoin, financial inclusion, Blockchain, and opportunities in cryptocurrency.
Bootcamp 3.0, however, is coming with a new twist this year as we are focusing on skills that will give participants access to opportunities in the blockchain industry.
We are training on skills including, community management, copywriting, content creation, content, and digital marketing as well as social media management.
The Crypto Bootcamp Community wants to give people access to this education because these are the skills in high demand in the industry.
We want our people, community, followers, and members to be able to access these opportunities by positioning themselves strategically with the right skills.
This training will run for 10 days, after which certificates will be issued to all attendees who successfully complete the program by submitting their assignments, participating in tests, and acquiring at least an 80% understanding of what they have been taught.
We are also expanding our training facilities, such that right after the boot camp session, the participants who want to progress further in a certain skill area that we have taught them during the bootcamp session can join our master class cohorts, so they can be able to get employment in the space.
Crypto Bootcamp is working with brands to supply them with these well-trained people to help build great African brands. One can only imagine what participants would acquire in one training. Obtaining knowledge on blockchain, cryptocurrency, and a skill in addition.
For us at crypto bootcamp, we are aiming that by the end of 2022, we would have trained and educated 10,000 people on blockchain and cryptocurrency through all our sessions, online programs, events, seminars, and conferences that we have organized throughout the year.
And of course, by the end of 2023. We want to be able to have trained at least 10,000, Blockchain developers in partnership with some blockchain companies.
This appears to be a lot for us, but every single thing that we are doing is centered around blockchain and cryptocurrency, to educate, create awareness, equip, empower, and onboard more people into the ecosystem to help projects successfully launch, acquire market acceptance while connecting them with the right audience and partners.
Nigeria ranks high globally in crypto adoption, is this an indication of significant crypto education in the country or more needs to be done?
Yes, absolutely, we require so much, in fact, what has brought Nigeria to this point are efforts from individuals like myself and so many others who have gone out of their way, without any form of support.
We have been training people across Africa, on blockchain and cryptocurrency, most times we do these days for free.
Imagine what would happen if we now get to a point where we are given support in terms of finance, infrastructure, and equipment, Nigeria will be number one.
Globally, Nigeria has the highest rates of retail adoption when it comes to cryptocurrency globally, yet as a country, we don’t even have institutional players in cryptocurrency like what you see in the US, China, and Europe. 80% of the volume coming out of Nigeria is from retailers.
Imagine if these retailers are further empowered and having companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla, it’s going to be way massive and I doubt, we would be standing on the same level with any other country, we would be way higher above them, especially when the governments have delivered a regulatory framework to enable this innovation and to encourage this industry to put policies in place that accelerates growth because we are losing out on a lot of opportunities.
Cryptocurrency is a huge opportunity for wealth creation, economic development, employment, and financial inclusion.
A LinkedIn report ranked Nigeria as the country with the most blockchain talent globally, what is SiBAN’s latest position in driving blockchain and cryptocurrency adoption in Nigeria?
In 2020, NITDA called on us to help develop a framework for blockchain adoption in Nigeria because the federal government wants to generate billions of dollars from blockchain and we know that that is more than possible.
We went ahead to hold a 2-day workshop with NITDA in Abuja, where we developed the proposed framework, and just right after that, SEC came out and said that it has recognized cryptocurrency as a digital asset.
But then, fast-forward to February 2021, the CBN released a circular that went the other way round, and ever since then, we have been engaging with the government, policymakers, the National Assembly, and the federal executive.
We have written, engaged with the media, and spent money, to put the right content out there, so that people will be properly educated. And we have also been asking the CBN for a roundtable discussion.
We want to ensure that emphatically Nigeria has the highest blockchain talent pool in the world, and personally, it is my vision to make Nigeria the number one exporter and provider of blockchain services and skills globally.
Our government needs to take this present advantage by investing heavily in blockchain.
These are the things we are championing at SiBAN, we want a safe ecosystem where everybody can build, innovate and grow.
In all of these, we are ready and willing to collaborate with the government to achieve great things with policymakers, regulators, stakeholders, and with investors.
At SiBAN, we are doing a lot, in fact, recently, last month, we launched 7 ecosystems within SiBAN to handle different aspects of the industry and human endeavor. We have a charity, education, and innovation arm among others.
There is a lot, we are doing at SiBAN to ensure that blockchain and cryptocurrency grow in Nigeria and in Africa.
Your thoughts on Ethereum merge, NFT, DeFi, and Web3?
Well, the Ethereum merge has pros and cons while the merge has made transactions cheaper, it has also exposed Ethereum to some risk.
There is the risk of the network being taken over, there is a security risk because it has moved from a Proof of Work to a Proof of Stake.
With its advantages, comes its disadvantages. However, we are still watching to see how the Ethereum community does better in handling this.
Then, when it comes to NFTs, people need to understand NFTs are beyond pictures. NFTs are not pictures, NFT is simply proof of ownership of a digital asset, verifiable on the blockchain.
The expansion and growth of the NFT industry is going to solve lots of social challenges for us and also create a wealth-generation system with lots of opportunities in terms of service providers, innovators, and jobs.
For DeFi, it will help our population to access financial services, without barriers, or restrictions. DeFi is the democratization of financial services and gives access to anybody who needs them anywhere, at any point in time, you do not need to interact with any human.
And finally, for Web3, it is more of an all-encompassing ecosystem because cryptocurrency, NFT, and AI are all part of it.
It isn’t fully developed yet and it is the third generation of the internet which will enable us to share and transfer value digitally.
Watch out for this space to be the first to know, when the application into Bootcamp 3.0 by the Crypto Bootcamp Community is opened.
Featured Image: Obinna Iwuno, Founder of the Crypto Bootcamp Community and the Executive Secretary of SiBAN
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