Ground Truth: Community Research
Objective
In Nigeria and across African communities, we observed a growing shift toward crypto as a means of savings, cross-border payments, and small business transactions. However, during a series of informal surveys, one-on-one interviews, and community discussions across Abuja, Lagos, Uyo, Portharcourt and Kaduna, we uncovered a painful pattern: people are losing access to their digital assets because they cannot securely store or recover their seed phrases.
We interviewed 37 crypto users including students, small business owners, traders, and new investors. We also ran surveys on X and conducted a live space conversation that lasted 6 hours.
Research Activities
Community Observations
This problem directly affects new crypto adopters, individuals and businesses hedging against inflation, traders and freelancers paid in USDT, students saving in stablecoins, and diaspora families trying to reduce remittance fees.
In a nutshell, the crypto and digital assets growth is thriving, but more so is the loss. It is a real, urgent grassroots problem, not theoretical.
Date: November 2025
Location: Lagos, Nigeria
Observations:
71% admitted they wrote their seed phrase on paper, many had lost or damaged it due to water, fire, or moving homes.
43% said they screenshot their seed phrase even though they knew it was unsafe.
18% had already permanently lost funds due to forgotten or misplaced seed phrases.
Interviews Conducted
Interview 1
- Date: November 2025
- Interviewee: Small business owner, age ~35 (crypto user & USDT merchant)
- Location: Lagos, Nigeria
- Voice Note Link: Available upon request
Key Questions Asked:
Can you walk us through your current process for storing and retrieving your crypto key phrases?
What security concerns do you have with your current storage method?
Have you ever lost access to a wallet due to a lost or compromised key phrase?
Key Responses:
Uses multiple wallets (e.g., Metamask, CoinKeeper, X1 Wallet) and writes seed phrases in a physical notebook.
Primary concern is misplacing the notebook or losing pages rather than being hacked.
Has lost access to wallets multiple times and relied on external help or education to recover when possible.
Interview 2
- Date: November 2025
- Interviewee: Web3 enthusiast & retail crypto investor
- Location: Abuja, Nigeria
- Voice Note Link: Available upon request
Key Questions Asked:
What Web3 products do you currently use and how do you store your key phrases?
Have you experienced any security incidents or wallet compromises?
What would an ideal key phrase storage solution look like for you?
Key Responses:
Uses Phantom and Sophie wallets; stores seed phrases on paper.
Has not lost access due to key phrase loss but experienced wallet compromise and fund theft.
Expressed dissatisfaction with wallet provider support during security incidents.
Believes account abstraction (phone number login + verification codes) is a more usable solution.
Interview 3
- Date: November 2025
- Interviewee: Student crypto user, age ~22 (first-time adopter)
- Location: Uyo, Nigeria
- Voice Note Link: Available upon request
Key Questions Asked:
What concerns you most about storing your key phrase?
Are you aware of any recovery options if your key phrase is lost?
Would you use a secure Web3 vault if available?
Key Responses:
Biggest fear is accidental loss of written seed phrases rather than hacking.
Not aware of any reliable recovery processes offered by wallet providers.
Willing to test and adopt a Web3 vault that reduces the risk of permanent asset loss.
Interview 4
- Date: November 2025
- Interviewee: Web3 community participant (anonymous), NFT trader
- Location: Port Harcourt, Nigeria
- Voice Note Link: Available upon request
Key Questions Asked:
What are common discussions around key phrase storage in your Web3 community?
How do users typically handle recovery issues?
Key Responses:
Community widely acknowledges that decentralized wallets require seed phrases, unlike centralized platforms.
Users often revert to custodial solutions after experiencing loss.
Limited trust in existing recovery mechanisms.
Interview 5
- Date: November 2025
- Interviewee: Mixed group (developers, traders, students) – X Space discussion (~6 hours)
- Location: Online (X / Twitter Spaces)
- Voice Note Link: Not recorded
Key Questions Asked:
What challenges do users face managing seed phrases today?
How do users balance security and convenience?
Would automation or AI-assisted recovery improve adoption?
Key Responses:
Strong agreement that manual seed phrase management does not scale.
High interest in automation similar to traditional password managers.
Cautious optimism around AI-assisted security, with trust as a key requirement.
Evidence Repository
Voice Note Link: Available upon request
Problems Identified
Problem 1: Frequent loss of access to crypto wallets due to misplaced or forgotten seed phrases
Users repeatedly lose access to funds because current keyphrase storage methods rely on memory or fragile physical backups.
Problem 2: Unsafe seed phrase storage practices driven by lack of better alternatives
Users knowingly take risks (screenshots, cloud notes, messaging apps) because existing “secure” options are inconvenient or inaccessible.
Problem 3: No reliable, user-friendly recovery mechanisms for self-custody wallets
Once a seed phrase is lost, most wallets offer no meaningful recovery path, leading to permanent asset loss.
Problem 4: Complexity of self-custody excludes non-technical and first-time users
New users struggle to understand keyphrase responsibility, leading to fear, mistakes, and eventual abandonment of Web3 tools.
Problem 5: Reversion to centralized platforms after loss events
After experiencing wallet loss, users return to custodial services, undermining decentralization and reintroducing trust and custody risks.
Community Pain Points
Pain Point 1: Financial loss with real-life consequences
Lost wallets translate into destroyed savings, collapsed small businesses, lost school funds, and broken remittance flows, especially in inflation-prone economies.
Pain Point 2: Emotional distress and loss of trust in Web3 systems
Users experience anxiety, frustration, and regret, often leading to permanent disengagement from decentralized technologies.
Pain Point 3: Fear of irreversible mistakes during onboarding
The risk of “one mistake = total loss” discourages adoption and limits meaningful participation in the decentralized economy.
Next Steps
After gathering ground truth, proceed to Formulate Insight to identify patterns and themes.