Muranga County, Kenya

Hilary Kibitok

I believe in Bitcoin for new opportunities.

Hilary wasn’t immune from the hardships that struck the world in 2020. He lost his job and found himself struggling to make ends meet. “I was hopeless because I couldn’t afford to pay for my bills, rent, and food,” he said. Like so many of us, Hilary relied on the help of his friends to get through a tough time.

A light at the end of the tunnel

One friend in particular gave Hilary the greatest gift of all—an introduction to Bitcoin. He introduced HIlary to Paxful and helped him get started by creating his own Bitcoin wallet.

While this was a great start, he faced another challenge—not having the funds to start his Bitcoin journey. With just having lost his job, another supportive friend lent a helping hand with a loan of $500.

With a support group that helped him back on his feet, “I started trading and I joined a paxful peer program where I started onboarding my friends to paxful and within a short time, I was an expert trader,” he said.

A bright future ahead

To Hilary, the Bitcoin community is “a swarm of cyber hornets serving the goddess of wisdom, feeding on the fire of truth, exponentially growing ever smarter, faster, and stronger behind a wall of encrypted energy.” As the world becomes more modern, our financial systems should be keeping up. With Bitcoin, we can. 

He believes that Bitcoin is the answer to a lot of problems in Kenya and around the world. Bitcoin creates jobs for those who find themselves unemployed, and it can be a helping hand to those who struggle to meet basic needs when faced with hard times.

Thriving, not surviving

Both Bitcoin and Paxful have completely changed Hilary’s life. He went from struggling to make ends meet, to purchasing multiple pieces of land and a car for himself, he paid school fees to help his siblings, and most recently he is in the process of building his parents a modern home. 

But it doesn’t stop there. His Bitcoin journey has allowed him to pursue his Masters of Science in Applied Statistics at the Jommo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). The best part? “I use the profit I earn in Bitcoin trading to pay my school fees and meet accommodation and other expenses,” he told us.

Looking forward

Hilary believes that more governments will make Bitcoin a legal tender in the next few years to help aid economic issues most countries face. When it comes to his home country, “I believe bitcoin will curb the issue of unemployment in Kenya and be able to create jobs through trading,” he said.

In order for this to happen, there needs to be more Bitcoin education and awareness. If this critical education is circulated, Hilary is confident that Bitcoin will change the way the financial and internet systems work through low-cost and high-speed payments.