Image: Chinedu Hilary Azubuike, CryptoHills Founder

A Case Study of Crypto Hills Academy

In Africa, one piece of the multi-colored fabric that makes up her culture is the animated presence of village squares where goods, stories, and knowledge about traditional or cultural concepts are passed down. The fulcrum of this widespread practice is community and in today’s world, we see the evolution of the village square construct into what we know as digital communities.

This is simply an online space of engaged users with collective interests and like the real-world model of village squares, spread across the African continent, digital communities can now be found in virtually every industry. The crypto industry is not left out.

The bigger the crypto world became, the more interest in digital currencies spiked. The result of this is organic development that has shaped crypto communities into what they are today. The benefits are transformative, for founders and members alike.

In this article, we will explore some of these benefits as shared by a leading voice in the drive for blockchain adoption and literacy in Nigeria Chinedu Hilary Azubuike, Co-Founder of Crypto Hills Academy; an online community of crypto enthusiasts from different parts of Africa and the world at large.

Over breakfast, Hilary shares his inspiring story of pursuing a dream for financial empowerment and inclusion for all on the wings of blockchain literacy. In a heartwarming one-hour interview, the blockchain expert holds nothing back as he reveals some powerful tips that have contributed to the success of Crypto Hills Academy.

Q: When was Crypto Hills founded and what inspired you to start an online community for blockchain education?

A: Crypto Hills kicked off in 2020 officially. Conceptualization was in 2019. We founded Blockchain University of Benin on February 1^st, 2020. I remember Crypto Hills was in October of the same year.

The vision of Crypto Hills is to create digital opportunities for its members and expose them to financial opportunities so they can be independent, and empowered and also enjoy financial inclusion. Driving social and economic change goes a long way to reduce the rate of fraud and other vices. We foresaw this and just started building the academy.

Q: That’s truly amazing. Can you tell us what people around you thought when you shared the vision with them?

A: Well, some people downplayed because they didn’t understand the vision and there were people who the future we were reaching for and believed. The first set of people were folks who saw Bitcoin as a Ponzi scheme.

Some of them advised me to drop the idea due to the regulatory challenges at the time. The government was fighting cryptocurrency and blockchain so to them, it was a lost battle.

During this beginning phase, Avelous Ujiri, my friend and co-founder was my biggest support and co-founder though he now focuses on other things. Generally, God sent me a team for each phase and for the infancy stage, we had Avelous. Here, we did a lot of blockchain events in different parts of Nigeria.

Crypto Hills was also a community partner in other events: driving adoption and teaching blockchain at zero costs. We have empowered lots of people through these events. This extends to our arbitrage community which is a subset of Crypto Hills and was spearheaded by Stephen Eriki and Daniel Ikogho (Investor Odafe).

These guys understood the vision and made a lot of people millionaires. It was after this era we began to focus on community building and the testimonials have been awesome. We had a woman in the academy who was struggling to pay rent and tuition for her children but by coming in contact with Crypto Hills and the opportunities provided in 2020, she was able to pay bills and also save up to cover rent for the next few years.

So, we’ve just focused on exposing community members to opportunities like crypto trading, community management, DeFi, and others. After a while, we then had Crypto Hills Academy under the remarkable leadership of Prosper Ayere and Kelechi Endurance as team members.

Q: It’s inspiring to see all those years of hard work boil down to what we know and love today as CryptoHills.

A: Yeah, it is.

Q: So, how did the community grow? Was there something strategic you were doing consistently that birthed the results we are seeing today?

A: Truth be told, it involved a lot of things. There was a lot of leveraging offline and online presence through crypto meetups, partnering with events like FiverChain Benin, AEX, SuperEx Benin event, Cyberchain Benin Meetup, Woo Network Lagos Meetup, Blockchain Uniben conference 1.0, and many others across different spheres of the blockchain industry: NFTs, DeFi, Web 3 and Metaverse.

During this process, we also organized giveaways and free tutorials, gave out merch, and exposed people to digital opportunities. Anything you can think of, we’ve probably done it. The major thing is being committed to giving value. This is what attracts people. This value could be job opportunities, skill acquisition, and collaboration with other communities not just crypto projects alone.

Q: Brilliant insight. The consistent effort has paid off. So, with all these groundworks laid down, what are the major benefits enjoyed?

A: I will categorize this into three. First, we have successfully empowered members to become relevant in the digital space by providing them with access to skills particular to the industry of their choice.

Some of these skills include community management, DeFi analysis, marketing, operations, and others in the gig economy. We’ve transformed mindsets by exposing our community members to practical ways to attain financial independence.

Our members are not the only ones to enjoy benefits. Building Crypto Hills Academy has connected my team and me to industry experts, influencers, and well-experienced players. We’ve gotten access to speaking and travel opportunities in several parts of the country, educating people about cryptocurrency and blockchain. We’ve received funding from a couple of projects to help us work on this shared purpose.

In exchange for funding, we provide some of these projects to users. So far, I’ve worked as an ambassador or business development manager for Binance, NewsCrypto, AEX, Alpha Fortress, and a couple of other projects. As these projects sponsor events we give them sign-ups, and active users and also contribute to their goal of increased trading volume. This is a summary of how we’ve been able to give value.

Q: Have there been any regrets so far?

A: None related to the community. In terms of bad crypto trades, there’ve been some but I see every one of them as an opportunity to learn.

Q: Thanks for being honest with that. Is there any advice you would give to anyone gearing up to build a crypto community from scratch?

A: One, have your vision clearly stated. You need to know what your vision is. You don’t just start up a crypto community by opening up a Whatsapp or Telegram group and just adding people randomly. That’s not what a community is. You need to first understand your vision and what you hope to achieve.

Ask yourself why you are creating the community because if you don’t have a why when you’re not getting the results you want, you will be forced to close down your community like a lot of communities I know of. Your vision is what keeps pushing you even when challenges come up.

The second advice I’ll give is to have a team that wants the same thing as you; a team with a shared purpose. Having a synchronized team where everyone works together means the job is already half finished.

The last two tips I’ll recommend are consistency and collaboration. Folks should also be committed to asking questions, learning, and testing different things to know what brings out the best in the community. You can’t run a community and then just be dogmatic about your principles. Find out what the community wants because the community is for the community not for you.

Closing: Well said. It’s been a pleasure. Thanks so much for your time.

A: You’re welcome.

The inspiring journey of the Crypto Hills community and its team brings light to the most effective way to hack community building. As Founder, Hilary Azubuike rightly said it’s not about you and what you want only. That is why we’ve summarized the five best tips on how to build a crypto community from scratch:

1. HAVE A VISION AND TARGET AUDIENCE

A singular objective helps to shape and drive every course of action. This includes identifying a target audience. Knowing the demographic to target in the crypto improves community management which in turn keeps the team focused and productive.

2. ESTABLISH ONLINE AND OFFLINE PRESENCE

The presence of social media makes this easy to do. Online communities require social media profiles to amplify the community's voice. Leveraging content as well as conversations that resonate with your target audience ensures that the right people are paying attention to the community and joining up.

The building process is not limited to social media alone. Physical meetings where possible accelerate community influence while fostering bonds and a unified mindset when it comes to the shared vision. Strategies like partnerships and collaboration also pack more punch for any team on and offline when building any crypto community.

3. PROVIDE VALUE

Consistently providing high-value content speeds up active community participation and is the frame on which community building pivots. Members can only give back when they benefit from the community. That is why building a loyal community from scratch is about the community itself and not the founder or team members. A digital crypto community must be able to provide the value and benefits that members need. This goes a long way to boost organic growth and community participation.

4. HOST COMMUNITY EVENTS

Community events build a relationship and strengthen the community. These events include physical panel discussions, presentations, workshops, and networking opportunities that allow members to connect with experts, learn, and share insights. Virtual events, on the other hand, enable global participation and discussions. Throw in some community contests, and collaboration with influencers, or other communities and you have a fast-growing, fully active crypto community that is committed to the vision.

5. IMPLEMENT INCENTIVES

Acknowledging community contributions and providing incentives establishes dynamism that boosts empowerment and participation. A quick tip to note here is that incentives don’t always have to be tokens. They should also be used judiciously to avoid over-reliance on them. Community engagements should be organic for them to be truly genuine.

Conclusion

Other community-building strategies to maximize the power of transparency, communication, and feedback. Losing the trust of a community is one of the fastest ways to send a community downhill. Teams can also get the opposite result when they become intentional about communicating effectively and listening to what the community is saying.

Generally, crypto communities form the backbone of Web 3 and serve as roadblocks against traditional financial institutions capable of hijacking blockchains in the nascent phase.

However, for crypto hubs independent of an umbrella project like Crypto Hills Academy, the way to build a loyal community that endures all market seasons or government policies is everything we’ve outlined in this article.

All you need to do now is get to work.