Blockchain technology has come a long way from being a altheoretical concept to disrupting real-world fields in ways never before imagined. Although we could not have imagined the perks we are currently seeing ten years ago, it is worth appreciating that decentralization and trust have been introduced in the world.
From bitcoin, which was primarily invented to foster cross-border payments and send large sums without government restriction, the decentralized space has evolved to having NFTs and Decentralized Finance. While both have different use cases, they have been touted to be viable means to reducing world poverty.
Digital Artists have used non-fungible tokens to reduce the rate of counterfeiting art pieces. Billions of dollars were lost in the previous year to fake art pieces, and this has not put into consideration the problem of not giving due credit to artists. Some claim the space is over-hyped with no real value, but these were the same words they used when bitcoin was at $400.
The best you can do is hold their words with a pinch of salt and understand how to position yourself to make the most from this space strategically. Like the popular quote says, critics make noise; they don’t make money.
The DeFi space, on the other hand, has also received its fair share of criticism. Even though this concept is extremely useful in cutting out the Go-Betweens and many intermediaries, having bugs in its most important component, the smart contract, has rendered this space a cautious ground for many investors to tread.
Even with this, there exists a myriad of opportunities in the DeFi space, and the earning potential here surpasses those of traditional banks. Liquidity pooling, staking, and lending, are some of the popular perks of DeFi, and who knows, you might want to have a taste of Eth2 staking. It’s readily available at https://redot.com/eth2/.
Seeing as the two distinct spaces, first founded on the Ethereum blockchain, have taken the world by storm, the argument has ensued if they really can end world poverty. The two case studies we will be looking at in this article are testaments to that. Let’s see them.
1. Brenda Gentry.
It takes a lot of gut to leave a paid job in order to explore an uncharted territory in cryptocurrency service provision. Brenda is one of the few people to do that, as she still stands her ground on cryptocurrency being one of the direct methods to breaking the cycle of poverty in lineages. Known by her Twitter name, MsCryptoMom, she has an advisory platform for DeFi and NFT projects that is worth around 20ETH in revenue monthly.
Her story is quite unique as she left her job of sixteen years as a banker and broke even in just a few years. She was able to retire her parents just in time and has gone on to be a popular crypto influencer.
Her company, Gentry Media Productions, might not be the most popular but is definitely making waves in the DeFi space.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, she explained that her first contact with cryptocurrencies was in 2020. Partially fuelled by the lockdown, with the other half caused by the disgruntle faced with her banking role, she decided to buy some coins with her savings and stimulus cheques. It did not go as planned, but she decided to stay put as a resilient person. Her decision not to quit paid off, and she is now focused on helping people understand easier routes into the cryptocurrency space. After her first investment, Gentry took out time to learn about the DeFi space. There was a lot to learn, but she took it a step at a time. Now, she has started helping people stay safe within the DeFi space via blogs and seminars on how to avoid malicious actors and smart contracts.
If you think that the way she got on her feet in crypto space within two years was because she had some other alternative plans, I suppose you might be wrong. The only support she got was from her immediate family, and ‘it was amazing to have your close circle believe in you that much.’ She manages a defi sports betting platform called Bundlesbets.
To extend the hand of love and help to others who do not have the privilege of blockchain, she plans to go on a world tour to help break the cycles of poverty. This might not be done physically, as the internet has made interconnectivity easier. The tour will start with Kenya, which might be the only physical location she would visit. Her NGO, “educate a child,” will be the first beneficiary of knowledge transfer on the blockchain industry and cryptocurrencies.
While lots of research will be needed for anyone that wants to join, Gentry aims to give them the head start with basic knowledge and red flags to avoid with regards to rug pulls and scams.
2. Ghozali
Ghozali, the second example on our list, made over a million dollars by selling non-fungible tokens of his selfies taken for over 4 years. The listing was done on Opensea, and each token sold for $3,000 ( as at the time of sale), giving his 317 selfies a total of $1million.
Although these platforms are still hindered with Ethereum being a proof of work consensus, the extent to which a change will occur with its migration into a proof of stake is still unclear. The transition is expected to be completed by the end of 2022, and the details can be seen on ethereum explorer.
