Valentina Drofa
Co-founder & CEO at Drofa Comms
What role does crypto education play in your business, and how do you approach it?
At Drofa Comms, we provide PR support and build strategic communications for financial and fintech companies, including crypto projects. Understanding the crypto industry underlies what we do – being the bridge between businesses we work with and the media. In fact, with our work, we contribute to the development of the market and industry, contributing to crypto education – we tell a wider user about our clients' complex products through the media and opinion leaders, thereby expanding their knowledge of the market and its tools.
I should add that from an internal perspective, we also took the initiative introducing financial and crypto education for the employees.
At Drofa Comms, we have a complex system of onboarding and financial literacy modules that all new employees go through, including modules on the workings of the cryptocurrency and blockchain market. Our team developed a custom-made internal educational product which receives overwhelmingly positive feedback from our employees. Having an in-depth approach to our clients’ products and being as niche as we are, we see it as our priority to develop an internal knowledge base. I had a direct hand in crafting these modules, selecting and organising all information in a way that would allow my employees to work effectively with our clients and create high-quality materials to use in PR campaigns.
What changes have you seen in the crypto landscape in terms of audience communication and education since you started working in the crypto industry?
Unfortunately, during my time in this landscape, I can’t say that I’ve seen any significant changes. Although there was a clear development in educational programs in the market over the years, those efforts rarely yielded any worthwhile results. And now, such initiatives are becoming increasingly rare.
Many companies see education more as a ‘gimmick’ to attract customers and not as an important part of their mission. As a result, education programs often fall by the wayside, while companies instead focus on marketing initiatives to get their name out there. In general, we have seen similar initiatives in other markets, where training started as a marketing part and was at the top of the funnel in attracting clients. The downside of the above practices is that the user’s understanding of the markets, their advantages and risks is too narrow to sell a specific product, rather than provide education that will allow them to make the right decisions with their finances.
However, even in this context, I believe any educational effort has its value, as it allows people to gain more information and understand the market better. I see it as a necessary development stage, however, it is also important to move on to the next one, and not get stuck or roll back.
What tools can be useful for businesses seeking to engage in crypto education?
The way I see it, any number of methods can work, from simply making a page on the company website with useful materials to the creation of specialised educational portals. But before talking about tools, I would argue that it’s essential to determine what exactly people need to be taught in the first place.
Familiarising them with the nuances of the crypto market is important, but overly technical details aren’t really necessary for the average person and will likely fly over their heads. Instead, the focus should be on explaining fundamental concepts, such as what cryptocurrencies are and the basics of how crypto exchanges, smart contracts, stablecoins, and DeFi operate. Also, the dangers of fraud — people need sensible guidelines on how to protect themselves from falling victim to bad actors in the crypto space.
These things form the backbone of the crypto world, and clear information about them should be accessible to anyone entering the space.
What do you think industry organisations and regulators should do to improve the situation with crypto education?
Organisations and regulators should put greater focus on the end users. As things stand, financial literacy remains an acute problem, both in the UK and globally. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough resources from both the business and the regulatory side that are dedicated to explaining crypto to people.
Using purely business resources is not enough at this point. There is a requirement for a leading role that will allow providing the full scope of knowledge about the market, not narrowing it down.
Meanwhile, people continue to lose money to scammers due to a lack of basic knowledge about the market, and they often don’t even know where to turn to in order to report the crime. This is something that requires urgent attention from all market participants, including crypto companies, regulators and industry associations.
For our part, we are ready to join any educational initiatives, using our experience and expertise. For over 17 years, I have been personally involved in finance and financial literacy, as well as projects in the field of educational e-learning. I also regularly speak on this topic at industry events and talk about the importance of working with financial literacy, as I see it as a major priority for market development. It is high time to spread the word on crypto education and I am glad that on the pages of this project, I can outline our position and offer the market my help, experience and expertise.
