Losing money in a Ponzi scheme is not the ideal introduction to the cryptocurrency ecosystem. Fortunately, Mark Dave Manansala He gave cryptocurrencies and Blockchain technology a second chance and discovered a new passion.
It all started when an acquaintance invited Manansala to join a very popular cryptocurrency project in 2017. The project team asked him to create a video of himself in exchange for free tokens. After this, he was advised to reinvest the profits. Lured by the high returns, Manansala ended up pouring more money into the scheme only to discover that it was a scam.
“After studying and putting my money in for about three months, it became clear that it was a scam. I did my best to recover and get what I could out, and was able to salvage some of the investments before their tokens totally crashed.”
When asked about how the experience changed his perspective on cryptocurrencies, Manansala noted that he did not perceive cryptocurrencies as something negative despite being “totally pissed off about that particular platform.”
Since life gave Manansala lemons, he made lemonades. “As a result of the meeting, I was curious about cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and the technology behind it,” Manansala said. The Ponzi victim told Cointelegraph that he started educating himself, and after being sure of the life-changing opportunities within the industry, he wanted to share what he knew so that others would find crypto too.
“After learning quite a bit about it, I started a weekly meeting on GenSan. It was either a somewhat simple and informal seminar or ‘open talk’ in a coffee shop, inviting anyone who wanted to learn about cryptocurrencies and blockchain”.
Back in 2017, Manansala began his cryptocurrency crusade with the person closest to him: his girlfriend. The crypto evangelist said that she was studying to be a pharmacist, but ended up turning to the crypto industry.
“From there, we became a kind of tandem. We had a common language which was cryptocurrency, our topic all the time. Then together we started the meetup in 2018 when we were sure of what we knew”, Manansala said.
After that, the Filipino bitcoiner passed on to friends and family. He then opened the meetup for anyone in his city who wanted to learn about crypto or blockchain. After a year, he started getting invited to speak at schools and events and was able to go to countries like Vietnam and Indonesia to spread the good news about Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain.
The speaker shared that many of his audience have very little knowledge about crypto and blockchain. For this reason, during his talks he spoke above all about the history of money. “Blockchain is too technical for some, but if you just wanted to know the basics of cryptocurrencies, it’s important to understand where the money comes from,” Manansala said.
“Some thought that Bitcoin and blockchain were the same thing. So we had to work on that. I gave them examples and explained that Bitcoin is just one way to use and apply blockchain technology. I also explained the possible use cases of blockchain. “.
According to Manansala, many of the former attendees of his meetings became merchants.. Right now, the cryptocurrency advocate says he is training four students who started with zero knowledge. It is also building an advanced team that is learning how to make smart contracts and advanced web pages.
Manansala dreams of a time when his audience has enough skills to get a job with what they learned from him. He said he wants to become an advocate for opportunity by educating others. The crypto advocate believes that even if markets go down, knowledge can allow people to work and earn a living.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
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