Web3 is one of the buzzwords in this day and time that draws people's attention because of what it promises which appears to be more enticing than what is obtainable in Web2. Web3 raises the flag of decentralization and adopts the usage of Blockchain technology in this ever-evolving tech-oriented world.

There are obvious reasons to be excited about Web3 and it's fairly obvious that Web3 is as broad as it gets. The focus of this write-up is to share stories of my experience as an African who's into Web3. It's been a rather interesting adventure and I'm still on this ride. So, you can be assured that there will be a lot to be brought to light as I dig into my Web3 experience as an African.

Self Introduction.

I am Kenechukwu, a Nigerian B.Sc holder in Banking and Finance. I was born into a family where my parents had to work day and night to bring food to the table. They still break themselves in half right now even though they should be thinking of retiring to use the rest of their life for relaxation. Growing up in that life and getting an opportunity to see what life can become for someone who is financially buoyant has its way of messing with one's psyche.

To be fair, I started to pursue a Career in Banking and Finance because I thought that would help me build wealth. I was made to believe that because of how my society hyped that line of work. After spending years gaining the necessary qualifications, I stepped into the banking world as a marketer in one of the commercial Banks in Nigeria. Lo and behold, spending time as a Banker made me realize that "this isn't exactly the life I want".

"Why? Why didn't I enjoy working in a Bank when everyone else would have paid to secure that job?"

That's one of the most recurring questions I had to face. I asked myself that a couple of times and folks also raised that same question. Back then in 2020, white-collar jobs were the trend. Some of my colleagues who have been in the bank even before I got in explained that "this isn't a job they enjoy". They sure didn't enjoy the job and it's partly because inflation was wrecking our fiat while their earning remained the same. Yet, they couldn't do anything about it.

While I was still weighing the pros and cons, the COVID-19 pandemic and the long lockdown that came with it took center stage. We were all forced to stay at home for a couple of moments. It was a very miserable moment in human history and a lot of people got sacked by their employers. Everything that was happening made it pretty obvious that remaining in the Banking sector even after COVID-19 wouldn't exactly count as a good idea.

That was when I became serious about exploring other options. I would have relocated to another part of the world. I tried, but my reality was that I didn't have the funds to make that happen. While exploring more to see what I can get, Cryptocurrency was introduced to me on an online forum. That was how my adventure into cryptocurrency and Web3 as a whole kicked off.

First encounter with Web3.

It started in July, 2020. I came across a platform where writers can publish their content, earn tokenized points, and sell the tokens for Fiat whenever the person reaches the minimum withdrawable amount on the website. The platform is Uptrennd and their token is listed as 1Up on Ethereum Blockchain. The idea of the platform is to just write, engage, and earn crypto.

"That can't be true... This is too good to be true"

Guess who thought that. Haha. That's exactly how I reacted to it. I just didn't believe people could earn crypto for writing and interacting with folks. I didn't have a lot of options though. I just dived in and started to understand how the platform works. Interestingly, it was exactly how it was projected. It wasn't very easy to earn those points, but I had all day. So, I spent a lot of time on the project and got to earn a lot of their tokens.

I thought I knew it all. I waited for a bull run to come so I could sell the tokens I had. Looking back at that moment, I have to admit that I didn't do my due diligence in the right places;

- I didn't look at the market Cap of the project.

- I overlooked the inadequacy of the team that was building the project.

- I also overlooked the liquidity pool of the project.

As far as I was concerned, I enjoyed being there and I enjoyed the hope I got about earning enough to change my future. If only I knew better. My naivety came back to bite me hard when the founder, Jeff Kirdeikis, turned his back on the project in the first quarter of 2021. The price of the tokens I accumulated for over 8 months crashed down to a worthless amount. It was a big pity.

Most of the friends I made on the platform were Asians and I also met some Africans. Going through that sad turn of events made a lot of them turn their back on Cryptocurrency and Web3 as a whole. They didn't know how to recover from that. In my case, I experienced that rug-pull just after 3 weeks of quitting my Marketing job at the Bank. I didn't know the next step to take. I had bills to pay and I also had a future to build.

It was really tough being me at that time. I always wonder how it feels to go through something like that more than once. That has surely been the case for a lot of people in the Web3 space. They have ventured into projects that didn't exactly end up the way they anticipated. It's a devasting experience, but also avoidable to some extent.

With these said, this is where I will draw the curtain on this first part of my Web3 experience. There is more to share and I would surely like to share more details about the following;

- The things that can be done to avoid getting burnt too much by rug pulls and shady projects in the Web3 space.

- Security in Web3

- Building connection in Web3

- P2P experience as an African in Web3.

- Dealing with Government attacks as an African in Web3 and whatnot.

Be on the lookout for subsequent parts of this post. There is so much to be shared about my experience and journey as an African in Web3.

Thanks For Not Missing Any Full-stop or Comma.