He however called on Nigerians to up-skill in order to enhance their productivity using AI tools.

Dr. Akindeinde made the remarks during his remarks at the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters Association (NITRA) Conference in Lagos recently which hosted industry players to brainstorm on the prospects and also proffer solutions to challenges of Artificial Intelligence’s adoption in Nigeria.

Tagged NITRA ICT Growth Conference 4.0, the event has the theme “Impact of AI on National Development: Prospects, Policies, and Challenges in Nigeria”.

To discuss the topic Dr. Akindeinde started with the challenges facing AI adoption in Nigeria which includes a phobia that it would disrupt and sack people from their jobs.

He assured Nigerians that AI would not take their jobs, maintaining that the problem with Nigerians is that there is always fear whenever a piece of technology is introduced in the country.

“Any time there is new technology that comes in, there is that phobia; fear that it is going to be disruptive. Yes, it is disruptive but when a piece of technology is disruptive that means it can do things cheaper, it can do things faster and it can do things better. But some of the challenges are based on the assumption that AI is going to take our jobs, and because it is going to take our jobs, the first thing is to push it back and will not allow it.

“I am here to assure that AI is not going to take anybody’s job, it is the same thing about 25 years ago when we started hearing about internet, even Journalists felt at a time, are we still going to have newspaper, anybody can just go online and have a blog and start reporting, you know, are we still going to have TV since somebody would go on YouTube and upload a video. And if you look back you recall how information was consumed back then, when something happened you probably wouldn’t hear about that event until, maybe, 7 o’clock news or 9 o’clock news or the following day when the newspapers will report it, but when the internet came, it democratized information dissemination. The same thing is happening with artificial intelligence,” he said.

Akindeinde further stated that rather than take away jobs, Artificial intelligence is going to help Nigerians, adding that the intelligence is still artificial.

“Whatever you are currently doing is going to help your operation, it is not going to take your job because at the end of the day AI is artificial intelligence. Now for it to work that means something has existed which is human intelligence. That human intelligence has been with humans for ages, which it put together to make artificial intelligence and the thing about AI is that the things humans find difficult to do, that is what AI is doing.

“The things we find easy to do, AI cannot do them. For instance, if I keep my phone on a platform and I say go into the room and pick my phone on the table, now the AI because you programmed it for the table, it will come back to tell you I can’t find your phone. But the human being will say okay, it is not on the table, it is elsewhere, he will pick it, but what humans find difficult, is what AI does better.

“As a Reporter, AI would make your job better; there is an app in the phone that as I am speaking, it is recording and not only recording, once I say stop, everything is recorded, it would transcribe everything. Another person who doesn’t have it would use one hour transcribing the recording but the AI would do that seconds, so right now you can be more productive.

He said AI can also be used in the movie industry, saying that AI can listen to every conversation in a movie and transcribe in two minutes what would take one week or more to transcribe. He muted the idea of the need for training for Journalists on AI so that they will understand the workings of AI for proper information dissemination.

Speaking about the impact of AI on education, he said that Africa is wired for consumption, adding that they don’t produce and they don’t do things that affect the global economy all because of the educational system.

He gave the instance of China where their educational system permits them to teach their children in their local language, the language they understand. “With AI when you are teaching in English it will be appearing to the person in his own language, everything is converted on the spot, it is not as if they are going to translate it, it is not as if you are going to teach Igbo teacher mathematics, no, AI can do that for you on the spot.”

Dr. Akindeinde disclosed further that AI can also help a vision impaired person by deploying a vision model to know what is happening around them.

He decried the absence of skilled personnel among professionals for adjudication and or regulation of issues relating to IA, he therefore suggested that lawyers, Journalists, doctors and others should go for training to up-skill their knowledge on the workings of AI.

During the panel session he also tackled the question if Nigeria has the requisite skill to embrace the concept of artificial intelligence, he said that Nigerians do not have the requisite skill right now.

“So, one of the things we have noted is that we don’t have that skill, even the regulator as well because the challenge is that technology will always precede regulation but if you want to regulate you can’t regulate what you don’t understand.

“How come we had protests and we cannot use AI to identify those who were looting, stealing or causing destruction, I know in other climes they have a database where they can actually tell you the person. But in order to do all these you need the skill, you need the understanding of the piece of technology that you are going to be dealing with.”

He added that AI as a piece of technology is a general all-purpose technology that can be used across several industries, just like the internet.

The Founder of Hyperspace Technologies said,

“It is technology for everybody and there is no special internet engineer because everybody has internet skills, because we know it will help us.”

BionicBox represents a significant step forward, making large language models (LLMs) more accessible, adaptable, secure, and fast.

The AI Readiness Report 2023 highlights a surge in demand for generative AI technologies, similar to Chat GPT, across various sectors.

“Yet, challenges like specialized expertise, domain-specific requirements, and security concerns often hold companies back”, says Oluseyi Akindeinde, the founder of NeuRaL AI.

Speaking on the needs BionicBox would address for enterprises, Akindeinde, said:

“BionicBox stands for enhanced customer experience. Our on-premise RAG system personalizes customer interactions, boosting satisfaction and loyalty, leading to increased goodwill and profitability.

“Operational Efficiency: Our solution, featuring Chat GPT-like capabilities, facilitates quick interactions with live documents, enhancing decision-making and productivity, thereby boosting profitability”.

“It enables increased profitability, because our AI models enhance operational efficiency, unlocking new profitability levels. The secure on-premise deployment ensures data privacy, overcoming limitations of traditional models”.

“Innovation in Products/Services: Our RAG integration supports the development of innovative products or services, driving growth and diversification”.

These opportunities, the founder said, are practical and in line with industry trends.

“Our hardware and software suite democratizes advanced AI capabilities for more enterprises, demonstrating our commitment to value-driven technological innovation”.

Enterprises considering generative models face choices between open-source, Cloud API, or in-house development. Neural AI’s BionicBox caters to these diverse needs.

“Open-Source Expertise: We optimize high-performance models like Llama 2 7 and 70B with extended context lengths. Our support extends to enterprises needing this level of fine-tuning.

“Cloud API Security and Control: Our on-premise solutions offer enhanced security and control, mitigating risks associated with cloud-based services.

“Adaptability and Quality: BionicBox provides a flexible, secure, high-quality alternative to traditional generative AI, tailored to unique business needs.

He further described BionicBox as representing a significant step forward, making LLMs more accessible, adaptable, secure, and fast.

“It addresses key challenges in inference speed, pretraining, fine-tuning, privacy, and RAG. We’re bringing cutting-edge language modeling to industries that need it the most”, Akindeinde said.

The experts sitting as panellists at a webinar organised by the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) in partnership with Sterling Bank, this week, reiterated that adequate education and awareness would mitigate the fraud in the financial sector.

A report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) shows that at third quarter of 2023, the Nigeria banking sector lost over N9.5 billion naira to electronic fraud.

Also, a fraud and forgeries, First Quarter 2023 report by FITC, underscored the pressing need for proactive measures in the face of escalating cyber threats.

To this end, the NCS webinar which was sponsored by Sterling Bank had the theme ‘Information Security in the Financial Sector’.

Leading the discussions, Professor Adesina Shodiya, the immediate past president (IPP) of NCS said that education and awareness are very important in promoting financial security.

Sodiya said that training of the employees was vital because ‘what you do not know is bigger than you and what is bigger than you can cost one a lot’.

He said that training of employees, creating awareness and education of customers would mitigate the challenges of fraud faced by financial institutions.

According to Sodiya, digital payment is a good development because of the convenience, however, the challenge is that majority of the people using such platforms do not have sound knowledge of information security “and are not bothered”.

“The way to go is education, training and security awareness because a lot of attack is going on in the financial sector, not reported.

“Employees must have training and knowledge about best practices and such training should be done in such a way that it would be of interest to the employees.

“So, the financial industry should continue to prepare against any form of attack because we will continue to see new wave of attacks. They need all forms of mechanism to protect their systems,’’ he said.

According to the IPP of NCS, it is also very important for financial sector to conduct research so as to protect resources entrusted to them.

Dr Tombari Sibe, the lead forensic examiner, Digital Footprint Nigeria Limited, said that Ransomware has been of concern in recent times and financial services sector is the most impacted.

Sibe said that financial service sector is data-centric hence the increase in ransomware threat and vulnerability attributed to new technology trends.

“As Financial service sector and customers, these things are real and it is good to take it seriously. It is also good that NCS and Sterling Bank are bringing it to fore burner’.

According to him, there is need for education, need to know what to do and not to do such as clicking on link of suspecting source or give out   information on phone.

The security expert also said that one should not hop on any free WiFi because it is easily hacked and financial vectors should take care of their enterprise; have an incidence response plan, business continuity plan, among others.

He however commended the financial sector for the compliance level with regards to the Nigeria Data Protection Law.

Also speaking at the panel discussion, Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, the founder and chief executive officer, Hyperspace Technologies Ltd., said that a lot of organisations have ditched capacity training for their employees due to the brain drain syndrome witnessed in the country.

Akindeinde said that the training, capacity building, competence development and education should be reintroduced.

According to him, investigation carried revealed that the human compromise is a threat to information technology security; “a lot of internal people that were trained and administrators of the information security are now out-of the country and sabotaging the system”.

He said inspite all, capacity building should be maintained and all time monitoring system should be set up.

Speaking on the need for regulation, Akindeinde said that innovations proceeds regulation and one cannot regulate what one does not understand.

He said that in trying to regulate, policy makers are over-regulating hence they (policymakers) need to have sound knowledge about technology to develop helpful regulations.

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) led by Dr. Muhammad Sirajo Aliyu as the president, is the umbrella organization of all information technology professionals, interest groups and stakeholders in Nigeria.

The Lagos-based Web3 startup specializes in next-level smart security infrastructure and key management systems.

Developed within the Hyperspace Technologies Limited’ research and development (R&D) division, “cipherCHIP tap2verify” system presents a novel approach to product authentication by integrating Near Field Communication (NFC) tags, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), and blockchain technology.

Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, the lead inventor of the MFA that is poised to enhance a security system that requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories of credentials to verify the user’s identity.

Hyperspace Technologies Limited had in August this year secured patent for cipherKEY tap2sign MFA (Multi-Factor Authentication), a next-generation security system designed to leverage the decentralized nature of blockchain, the robustness of public/ private key cryptography, and the convenience of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to provide an unprecedented level of security against identity theft, phishing, and social engineering attacks.

Meanwhile, the cipherCHIP tap2verify’s patent certificate from the Industrial Property Office Registry, Commercial Law Department, Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, was granted on December 14, 2023 and signed by Stella Ozo Ezenduka, the Chief Registrar on behalf of President Bola Tinubu.

On the other hand, the Trademark for cipherCHIP tap2verify was granted on October 20, 2023 under the Class of Scientific, nautical, surveying, electric, photographic, cinematographic optical, weighing, measuring, signaling, checking (Supervision), life-saving and teaching apparatus and instruments; apparatus for recording transmission in reproduction of sound or images; magnetic data carriers recording disc; automatic vending machines and mechanism for coin-operated apparatus; cash registers, calculating machines, data processing equipment and computers; free-extinguishing apparatus.

It will be published in the trademark journal.

Commenting on the journey to securing the patent and trademark, the intricate workings of cipherCHIP tap2verify, Dr. Akindeinde highlighted its potential to revolutionize product provenance and authentication.

“In an era where counterfeiting has become increasingly sophisticated, ensuring product authenticity is paramount. cipherCHIP tap2verify addresses this challenge by combining the unique identification capabilities of NFC tags with the immutable nature of blockchain technology, further enhanced by the uniqueness of NFTs”.

He added that cipherCHIP tap2verify offers a groundbreaking solution to product authentication challenges.

By seamlessly integrating NFC tags, NFTs, and blockchain, it provides an unbreakable chain of trust from manufacturers to consumers.

Among these names is Oluseyi Akindeinde, with over two decades of expertise in the technology and information security sectors. 

Akindeinde has not only embraced the transformative power of blockchain but has also harnessed it to pioneer exceptional solutions, notably the cipherKEY tap2sign authentication system.

The Appointment as a Subject Expert: Bridging the Fintech Divide

Akindeinde’s good works recently earned him the prestigious title of Subject Expert from The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in collaboration with FinTech NGR and Financial Services Innovators (FSI). 

His role involves crafting study materials and training modules for the “Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency,” a foundational segment of the Fintech Certification Programme. 

This initiative, designed to bridge the knowledge gap between finance and technology, highlights Akindeinde’s zeal to empower the banking and financial services sector with cutting-edge knowledge.

Empowering Through Education: Nurturing Fintech Professionals

Education is the key to unlocking new frontiers. Akindeinde’s involvement in this program signifies a goal to broadening knowledge and nurturing high-performing Fintech professionals not only in Nigeria but also across Africa. 

By upholding the standards and regulations of financial technology expertise, this initiative provides an enriched platform for innovators and stakeholders to explore Fintech ideas and solutions.

Aligning with National Vision: Building a Tech Talent Pool

In the wake of the Nigerian Government’s approval of the blockchain adoption policy, Akindeinde’s work becomes even more vital. This policy reiterates the urgent need to develop a proficient tech talent pool that aligns with national progress and global technological advancements. Akindeinde’s efforts focus on building capabilities that can navigate and leverage the multifaceted world of blockchain and cryptocurrency, paving the way for a more innovative and inclusive financial ecosystem.

Will Cryptocurrency Make You Retire Rich? Oluseyi Akindeinde Expounds

For Oluseyi Akindeinde, the future isn’t just about technology; it’s about empowering people with the wisdom to use it positively. With a target to excellence, he shares his extensive expertise not only through advisory roles but also by immersing himself in cutting-edge research. His recent foray into web3 and blockchain technology demonstrates his dedication to enhancing enterprise security and advancing web and product authentication, identity, and access management through smart contracts.

Innovation in Action: The CipherKEY tap2sign Revolution

At the heart of Akindeinde’s innovative endeavors lies cipherKEY tap2sign; a groundbreaking Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) technology. This system leverages the robust security of public/private keys, blockchain, and Web3 technology, coupled with contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) cards. 

The unique combination of factors, including the innovative concept of “proof of possession,” makes tap2sign incredibly secure and user-friendly. 

This technology not only promises a passwordless, contactless, and trustless MFA experience but also offers a low-cost and secure cold storage solution for digital assets.

Honors and Awards

His contributions to the field have not gone unnoticed. The innovator’s accolades include being the Global CyberLympics Africa Regional Champion, a showcase to his exceptional skills in the realm of cybersecurity. Akindeinde’s association with esteemed organizations such as the NSA, CBN, ISSAN, CCIBN, and EFCC further solidifies his position as a respected authority in the industry.

In the world of blockchain and Fintech, Oluseyi Akindeinde is more than an expert; he is a visionary, a trailblazer, and an educator. Through his innovative solutions and educational initiatives, he is shaping the future of Fintech in Nigeria and beyond, one blockchain at a time.

Developed within the Hyperspace Technologies’ research and development (R&D) division, cipherKEY tap2sign MFA is a next-generation security system designed to leverage the decentralized nature of blockchain, the robustness of public/ private key cryptography, and the convenience of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology to provide an unprecedented level of security against identity theft, phishing, and social engineering attacks

Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde has been credited as the inventor of this MFA that is poised to enhance a security system that requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories of credentials to verify the user’s identity.

The patent application was officially filed on June 22, 2023, and the patent certificate, sighted by our reporter, indicates that it was granted on August 28, 2023.

In the age of digital transformation, security is paramount. As individuals, businesses and nations increasingly rely on digital platforms for everything from banking to social networking, the need for robust security measures has never been more critical.

One such measure is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), a security system that requires more than one method of authentication from independent categories of credentials to verify the user’s identity.

Today, Hyperspace Limited has introduced cipherKEY tap2sign, a groundbreaking MFA technology that leverages the security of public/private keys, blockchain, Web3 technology, and contactless Near Field Communication (NFC) cards.

It utilizes the concept of “proof of possession” and a fourth factor of authentication – “something you do”.

In the case of cipherKEY tap2sign, “something you have” is the cipherKEY NFC card, and “something you do” is the action of tapping the cipherKEY NFC card against your phone.

This unique combination of factors makes thetap2sign system incredibly secure and user-friendly. Before securing the patent, the Blockchain technology-driven MFA was subjected to rigorous reviews and tests.

Dr. Akindeinde’s inspiration for creating this MFA stemmed from his advocacies for blockchain technology-driven authentication processes.

“In a world where our digital identities are increasingly under threat, where a single misstep can compromise your entire network, where every transaction we make leaves us vulnerable, we understand your concern. We understand the sleepless nights. And that’s why we’ve spent years developing cipherKEYtap2sign MFA – your ironclad solution to security threats.

“Imagine a wall. A wall so high and so robust, nothing unauthorized can get over it, under it, or through it. That wall is the cipherKEY tap2sign MFA, and we’ve designed it to protect what matters most to you – your identity, your data, your peace of mind”, he said.

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In recent years, advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing have paved the way for the development of chatbots that are capable of engaging in conversation with humans in a natural and intuitive way. One of the most impressive examples of this technology is ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by OpenAI that uses the GPT-3 language model to generate human-like responses to user input.

With ChatGPT, users can have realistic, engaging conversations with a machine, exploring a wide range of topics and ideas. But ChatGPT is more than just a fun way to pass the time – it also has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with machines and perform a wide range of tasks.

In this article, we will take a closer look at ChatGPT and provide a few examples and demos to showcase its capabilities.

What is ChatGPT?

At its core, ChatGPT is a chatbot – a piece of software that is designed to simulate conversation with human users. However, unlike many other chatbots, which are limited in their ability to understand and respond to complex inputs, ChatGPT uses the GPT-3 language model to generate highly human-like responses to user input.

GPT-3, or Generative Pretrained Transformer 3, is a large-scale language model that has been trained on a massive amount of text data from a variety of sources. This allows it to understand the nuances of human language and generate responses that are highly realistic and coherent.

The key feature of ChatGPT is its ability to generate responses that are coherent and contextually relevant to the conversation.

This is achieved through the use of advanced natural language processing techniques and a large-scale neural network. ChatGPT is also able to maintain a consistent persona throughout the conversation, allowing for more engaging and enjoyable interactions.

The potential applications of ChatGPT are numerous and varied. It could be used in customer service to handle inquiries and support requests, providing quick and accurate responses to common questions. It could also be used as a personal assistant to help users with tasks such as scheduling, reminders, and general information. Additionally, ChatGPT could be used as an educational tool to help students learn about a wide range of subjects.

The development of ChatGPT represents a significant milestone in the field of human-machine interaction. It brings us one step closer to a future where machines are capable of engaging in natural, human-like conversation, blurring the lines between humans and machines.

One of the key features of ChatGPT is its ability to generate responses that are coherent and contextually relevant to the conversation.

This is achieved through the use of advanced natural language processing techniques and a large-scale neural network. ChatGPT is also able to maintain a consistent persona throughout the conversation, allowing for more engaging and enjoyable interactions.

There are many potential uses for ChatGPT, including:

• Customer service: ChatGPT could be used to handle customer inquiries and support requests, providing quick and accurate responses to common questions. This could help reduce the workload on human customer service agents and improve the overall customer experience.
• Personal assistant: ChatGPT could be used as a personal assistant to help users with tasks such as scheduling, reminders, and general information. This could help users stay organized and on top of their daily tasks.
• Educational tool:  ChatGPT could be used as an educational tool to help students learn about a wide range of subjects. It could provide answers to common questions and help students develop their knowledge  and  understanding of various topics.

Here are a few examples of how ChatGPT could be used in real-world scenarios:

A customer contacts a company via a chatbot on their website to inquire about the availability of a certain product. ChatGPT responds with accurate and relevant information about the product, providing the customer with the information they need.

A user asks ChatGPT for help with scheduling a meeting. ChatGPT responds with suggestions for potential dates and times, allowing the user to easily select the option that works best for them.

A student asks ChatGPT for help with a homework assignment. ChatGPT responds with relevant information and explanations, helping the student understand the material and complete the assignment.

One potential benefit of ChatGPT and other similar chatbots is that they can help to improve the efficiency of certain tasks by automating repetitive or time-consuming interactions. This could potentially free up time for humans to focus on more meaningful or creative pursuits.

Concerns

On the other hand, the development of advanced language models like GPT-3 also raises concerns about the potential for automation to displace human workers in certain industries.

As language models continue to improve and become more capable, there is a risk that they could eventually be used to perform tasks that currently require human intelligence, such as customer service or content creation.

The rise of chatbots like ChatGPT also raises important ethical and social questions. As machines become more advanced and able to engage in increasingly sophisticated forms of communication, we must consider the implications for employment and the role of human workers. We must also consider the potential impact on our personal relationships and the way we interact with each other.

Regardless of the potential ethical and social implications, there is no denying that ChatGPT and other chatbots represent a major step forward in the field of artificial intelligence and human-machine interaction.

As the technology continues to advance, we can expect to see even more impressive developments in the future.

The Future of AI

ChatGPT is a powerful and versatile chatbot that can be used in a variety of settings to provide quick and accurate responses to user inquiries. Its ability to generate coherent and contextually relevant responses makes it a valuable tool for improving customer service, assisting users with tasks, and providing educational support.

The future of human-machine interaction is an exciting one, with ChatGPT and other chatbots paving the way for more seamless and natural interactions between humans and machines.

As technology continues to advance, it is likely that chatbots like ChatGPT will become even more advanced and capable, further blurring the lines between human and machine.

Conclusion

In the meantime, ChatGPT is a valuable tool that is already making a significant impact in the world of human-machine interaction. Its ability to generate human-like responses and engage in engaging conversations is a testament to the progress that has been made in the field of natural language processing.

Overall, the impact of ChatGPT and other similar technologies on humans will depend on how they are used and how they evolve over time. It is important for society to carefully consider the potential benefits and drawbacks of these technologies, and to develop strategies for addressing any negative impacts that may arise.

As the world continues to embrace the potential of chatbots like ChatGPT, the future of human-machine interaction looks bright.

About the Author: 

Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde is the Co-Founder/ Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Digital Encode Limited. He is a speaker on matters bordering on Blockchain Technology, information security and fraud detection, and has presented technical papers on a wide range of IT security and risk management topics for a number of high-profile financial service providers at different retreats and forums.

• With the Nigerian currency devaluation, people are running to other assets, especially virtual assets that can at least hold value over time and cryptocurrency just happens to be one of them
• People lose money in crypto because of FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out
• Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in general are essentially the future of value transactions 
• If you want to retire rich, it’s best to start early and before diving in, you must understand the market, technology, the ups and downs, tricks of the trade, the investment landscape, macroeconomic factors, and everything that affects it
• If you’re 25 to 50, you can take a bit more risk; there’s a lot of time for you to work, earn and recover even if there is a loss
• You should have a long term view, it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme

What’s your view about cryptocurrency? How much do you know about it? Can it help you retire rich? What’s your take on this? 

Well, the lack of or inadequate understanding of cryptocurrency has held a lot of people back from enjoying the benefits it brings in the long term. While some hold back from investing in crypto, others go ahead to invest, lose so much and get back out.

Dr Oluseyi Akindeinde, the Co-founder and CTO of Digital Encode Limited emphasised that this loss comes with inadequate understanding of the crypto space, whereas, it can give you a return rate that no other investment in the world can give and is infinitely high and valuable.

Despite the initial ban on cryptocurrency in Nigeria, it still managed to get a boom in the country’s market. What would you say was the responsible factor for this?

I don’t actually think it was banned, what was banned was the financial services sector having anything to do with it, it wasn’t banned in the sense people could not buy or trade but they just didn’t want the bank to be a conduit through which people would interact with cryptocurrency. You’re free to buy it off exchanges using peer-to-peer and impressing transactions but you can’t go through the bank. 

If you look at the statistics, Nigeria is probably the second largest country that trades in cryptocurrency by volume. It’s not farfetched, with the Nigerian currency devaluation, people are running to other assets, especially virtual assets that can at least hold value over time and cryptocurrency just happens to be one of them.

Secondly, it is decentralised and stored on the blockchain so it’s not like a bank account where the government can freeze your account or stop you from spending your money. It is actually a digital asset that can be stored on the blockchain and is censorship resistant, meaning that there is no one that can have access to it. 

Over time, it increases in value and it will help you preserve access to your funds better because we know the naira is losing a lot of value and in order to forestall that, a lot of people, especially the millennials are investing in crypto. It is easier to buy, unlike opening a bank account. You have to go through a lot of processes, look for guarantors and all.

For crypto, it’s online, open an account with an exchange and you have it already in your wallet. That’s why lots of Nigerians are going towards that digital asset sector.

What about situations where people lose so much in crypto?

As with any market, there are ups and downs. You have to remember that the reason why crypto became very popular is that it started going up in price, when Tesla, Elon Musk and others started talking about it, they brought it to a lot of people’s consciousness.

The truth is, for every market, there’s the up and down cycle just as we have with the traditional financial system. So most people that bought in at the very top have made a lot of money, although there has also been losses. 

The requirement is that you buy low and you sell high. The time to buy is when the price is low and the time to sell is when the price is high but you will find out that most people have what you call FOMO – that’s the fear of missing out. When the price of crypto is going up, people are more incentivised to buy, but when the price goes down, they are no more incentivised to buy, they start selling.

They need to wait for the price to come down before buying, and selling when it’s going up. 

Secondly, most people should have a long-term view of it. So it’s not something that you want to buy today and sell tomorrow, you must have a year, two years or even three, four years in view. You should think of it as some kind of savings. 

Would you say cryptocurrency is an essential requirement in the lives of everyone?

Well, not in the lives of everyone, it depends on your investment outlook. If you’re a younger person, fresh out of the university, you’ve just gotten your first job, there’s room to take more risk. Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology in general are essentially the future of value transactions. If you’re 25 to 50, you can take a bit more risk; there’s a lot of time for you to work, earn and recover even if there is a loss.

It is an asymmetric bet because even if you invest $1,000 in cryptocurrency, the highest you can lose is $1,000 but the highest you can gain is infinity. That money can become $100,000 within 5 years. It’s a bit of a risky play, it’s an asymmetric risk.

With the continuous increase in the dollar rate, should we be rest assured that there would be no loss in crypto investment or there can be a downfall irrespective?

It’s a market, any market, whether it’s a housing market, stocks, shares and bonds, every market has its ups and downs, even business, there’s a market cycle. There’s no guarantee, nobody knows what will happen in future, if everybody knew, everyone would be buying it.

But, if you’re willing to stay long term, if your outlook is anywhere from two years to five years, you can be rest assured that the price will go up because the crypto itself is a definitionary currency especially Bitcoin. 

There’s a limited amount that you would have so after a while, you wouldn’t be mining and there wouldn’t be new ones being distributed and the ones in existence would automatically become more valuable.

But the thing is that you should have a long-term view, it’s not something that you put money in today, you make money tomorrow and it’s not a get-rich-quick scheme. 

Is it possible for a person to leave other jobs and focus on investing in crypto?

Of course, some people have done that. But before I advise anybody to do that, you must understand the market, the technology and what you’re getting into. Just like with everything, if you start any business today, there’s no guarantee that you would make money, but make sure you know the ups and downs, the tricks of the trade, and understand how everything works before you resign from your current job to focus on crypto. 

Once you do that and you have the conviction that this is a future then of course you can go for it. There are so many people that have also done it, they’ve resigned from their lofty jobs to start investing in crypto and it’s working out perfectly for them 

What is the assurance that cryptocurrency can help a ‘healthy investor’ retire rich?

As I said, you can only do that if you have a long-term view. Taking myself as an example, I started buying Bitcoin when one was less than $500, today, one Bitcoin is over $23,000 so imagine the gain and I started this in 2016. Just within a period of six years, $500 has become $23,000. Imagine if someone had bought 10 for $5,000, it would automatically be worth about $230,000 now. There’s no other investment in the world that would have given you that kind of return. 

That’s why I always say if you want to retire rich, it’s best to start early and then it’s also best to be buying and accumulating it in steps, buy like $100 worth or any amount each month, consistently so that you can do what is called dollar cost averaging. 

Over a year or two, you would have accumulated so much, just leave it and let it do its thing and by the time you’re retiring at the age of 60 or 65, obviously, it would have increased in value. But it is not a short-term thing, it’s a long term. If you are planning to do it for a long time, you have to start now and you must be consistent with the investment, otherwise, you would not retire rich.

It’s not a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s not automatic that you would become rich but with consistent effort, adequate understanding of the technology, market, the investment landscape, macroeconomic factors, and everything that affects it. Ultimately, anyone that gets in at the right time and is consistent in investment will retire rich. 

How do we term ‘now’ as a good time to start when one Bitcoin is over $23,000? How would a graduate earning between N100,000 to $150,000 be able to take part in this?

We can start small. Crypto is like gold; if you want to buy one ounce of gold, you don’t go out to buy the entire thing, you can buy 0.01 ounce first and go up gradually. 

For instance, someone that is earning N100,000 to N150,000 can be setting aside N10,000 every month. It doesn’t have to be Bitcoin, Ethereum is less than $2,000 and there are others that are smaller. So you do this for two or three years and let it increase in value. You don’t have to buy one at a go, buy in bits over a period of time.

Is there a best platform to buy crypto from or anyone goes?

There are food platforms but one has to be very careful. There are some licensed in Nigeria — Binance, Gundo, Luno, FTX, Quidax, Bundle, Patricia and there wouldn’t be need for fear that they would crash one of these days. The only thing you should not do is buy from someone on Telegram, WhatsApp, etc, they are full of scammers. 

Rather than giving a friend or anyone to trade for you, it’s best you do it yourself so someone doesn’t run away with your funds, it’s not hard at all. Just open an account on Binance for instance, register and all the processes are there to direct you on what to do. 

Recently, a lot of cybersecurity issues have been linked to crypto, what are your views with regards this?

Generally there are cybersecurity issues, not just in crypto. Most organisations are also hacked and anything that stores value, hackers are going to target it. What we advise is that you should be careful with how you access your crypto, don’t store your password, there will always be attacks on crypto so it’s a normal thing, just be careful. Most of the exchange too are implementing security measures to forestall those hacks as well.

Akindeinde, will be speaking on the theme “Impact of Blockchain Technology in a Digitalized Nigeria” and will examine the potentials of Blockchain technology to disrupt digital interaction in our economy and society.

And how the technology’s rapid and dynamic technical development is driven by startups and incumbents alike, creating a myriad of applications across economic and societal domains.

This year’s Beacon of ICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series is slated for Saturday, May 28, 2022, at the prestigious Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos.

According to Ken Nwogbo, CEO, Communication Week Media Ltd, organisers of the BoICT Distinguished Lecture/Awards Series, “the choice of Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, CTO Digital Encodeis deliberate because of his exceptional career in exploring the security issues faced by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Financial Transaction Systems (FTS).”

Dr. Oluseyi Akindeinde, is a speaker on matters bordering on information security and fraud detection, and has presented technical papers on a wide range of IT security and risk management topics for a number of high-profile financial service providers at different retreats and forums.

Furthermore, he has delivered several information security and ethical hacking training courses to delegates from diverse industries including finance, manufacturing, oil and gas, telecoms as well as State and Federal Government Agencies.

He has administered security analysis and penetration testing courses to representatives of the National Assembly, Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) through the annual Hacker Counterintelligence Program (HACOP) where he’s been involved as a resident trainer and technical consultant for the last couple of years. He also delivers monthly presentations to industry stakeholders at the CBN’s Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NEFF).

Past speakers include: Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, then executive vice chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC); Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, former Director-General of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC); Biodu Omoniyi, Managing Director/CEO, VDT Communications; Ayotunde Coker, Managing Director, Rack Centre Limited; and Peter Adedayo Arogundade, managing director and chief executive officer, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited, among others.

The events drew top politicians and government functionaries as well captains in the ICT industry as well financial institutions.