Binance has launched free classes to Ugandans as it continues in its mission to increase the freedom of money for users, drive blockchain adoption and enable greater accessibility, it remains dedicated to crypto education globally.
“Through Binance Academy, a one-stop guide to all things crypto, and ongoing free crypto education classes in Africa, where crypto interest & adoption continue to increase, Binance remains at the forefront of blockchain education, equipping crypto beginners with resources for lifelong financial and career development,” the company says.
Since its inception in January 2020, the Binance Masterclass is said to have provided free crypto education to over 400,000 Africans. Due to many crypto beginners often being victims of crypto scams from bad actors, the free webinars were primarily targeted at helping users understand the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies, how to identify scams and keep their crypto safe as they get started on their crypto journey.
As the global pandemic surfaced and many individuals lost jobs, lost income and were forced to stay home, the classes also focused on teaching new skills such as crypto trading and careers in blockchain development.
By the end of 2020, over 70,000 Africans were educated in the first year of the launch of the Masterclass. Binance has since doubled down on its efforts, providing education resources to over 177,000 Africans in Q1 2021 and over 179,500 in Q2 2021- creating the education infrastructure Africans need to be financially free and informed.
“Blockchain education is at the heart of our focus in the global market. As a blockchain infrastructure provider, we are committed to ensuring that more and more people have access to the right information about the workings of the ecosystem. Africa is a very important market for Binance because we see the profound opportunity blockchain brings to the entire continent.” said Emmanuel Babalola, Director at Binance Africa.
Noah Baalessanvu, Head of Technology, Savannah; Secretary, Blockchain Association of Uganda and Chairman, National Information Security Advisory Group believes that cryptocurrencies are soon becoming mainstream.
“Cryptocurrencies are soon going to become mainstream and stop being headline news. Africa is the world’s fastest growing crypto market and its just a matter of time. Traditional finance is soon going to imitate crypto. We have less to loose, in Africa, by embracing new technologies since our legacy systems are still not as distributed,” he observes adding that:
“Due to the near ubiquity of the internet, we now have that ability to leapfrog and technologies like blockchain gives us the tools that allow us to embrace the new future of finance.”
Pearl Bank Made Christmas Feel Personal Again with Pearl SantaHe adds that blockchain is going to become center stage of systems and dependence of centralized systems is going to be put under pressure because centralized systems come with centralized trust which is breaking down. He notes that the explosion of cryptocurrencies is an indicator of that frustration.
A report published by PWC states that in the next 10 years, Blockchain technology alone will add over $1.7 Trillion to global GDP
In addition to training newbies and enthusiasts, Binance is also dedicated to blockchain developers and equipping them with tools and skills required to build solutions and emerge as exceptional blockchain talent. In Q1 2021, Binance trained over 1,000 blockchain developers in Africa and allocated a $1million fund for African developers. The 8-week masterclass was concluded with a demo show by top attendees showcasing newly built products using blockchain technology and skills acquired from the developer course.
Opeyemi Olabode, one of the Binance Masterclass graduates states:
“The 8-week Masterclass exceeded my expectations. I got to learn so much technically as well as the business side. Also, being given the opportunity to lead a team also helped to boost my leadership abilities considering students with diverse backgrounds, cultures and timezones. My team won third place, and with the promise of support and resources from the facilitators, I see this as a big opportunity. Lastly, I got the opportunity to share what I knew with other students, and I have met very talented developers like myself who are surely going to make Africa proud.”
Some of the channels Binance Africa has used to provide crypto education & accelerate financial inclusion include:
- Newbie Walkthroughs – A webinar series for newbies that provides an introduction to cryptocurrency and the Binance platform, ensuring beginners have access to the right information about the workings of the crypto ecosystem.
- My Binance Class – A campaign that creates an opportunity for tutors to get rewarded for their efforts in spreading knowledge about crypto and blockchain to all. The goal of the campaign is to decentralize and deliver sound crypto education through the creation of smaller learning communities.
- Blockchain Student Corner – An AMA webinar series for students across Binance communities in Africa opportunities in blockchain, the basics of cryptocurrency trading and much more.
- Hackathon Workshops – Most recent hackathon spanned 21 days and saw participants building DeFi and NFT solutions to solve real problems identified in the African systems in place today. 20 teams kicked off the hackathon building DeFi & NFT projects covering Savings, Lending and Borrowing, Swaps, Royalties and Renting, Elections, Identity Management, Land Ownership, NFTs marketplaces. The community engaged in weekly workshops, as the hackathon progressed.