"Trading is self-mastery before chart mastery." Benjamin, teacher, TradingView addict, and Fintokei Star from Ghana
A $20 deposit, a wiped account, and seven years of trial and error later, Benjamin found his edge. And then won a $100k Fintokei account through a giveaway on X. Since then, he's banked $2,000+ on a single USDJPY trade and caught a sniper entry on USOIL that most traders would only dream of. Here's how a full-time teacher built a trading career one lesson at a time.
- What almost blew up his account before he even started?
- How did he go from a $100k giveaway win to a $2,000+ USDJPY trade?
- What's his trick for surviving a losing streak without spiraling into drawdown?
"In a split second my account was gone."
Let's start from the beginning: what made you think, "yes, I'm going to start trading"?
Honestly? Money. After I withdrew a small amount of profit in my initial stage, even though I didn't really know what I was actually doing.
That's a pretty honest answer. 😀 So how did the whole thing actually start?
It all started in a WhatsApp group back in 2019. I didn't know anything about trading then. The group moderator, a guy who goes by Nana Yaw Forex, ran a free beginner course in the group, but I couldn't join in time.
A few days later, he messaged me directly, asking if I wanted to join his advanced class. I told him straight up that I had no idea what he was talking about. That's when he realized I'd missed the beginner session, so he sat me down, explained what forex trading actually was, and helped me open a brokerage account.
He added me to his signal group and showed me how to read his signals. I deposited $20 and started trading off his calls.
I withdrew early on just to check whether the whole thing was legit. Once the withdrawal actually landed, I figured this was a real, lucrative thing. Funny part is, I noticed his profits were massively bigger than mine on the exact same signal, so I asked him why.
Turned out it was all about lot size; he was pulling in hundreds of thousands while I made a few bucks. So on the next signal, I bumped up my lot size to match. My account was gone in a split second. 😀
That blowup is what flipped the switch for me. I saw a real path to financial freedom and decided to learn and master forex properly. Even though I couldn't afford advanced mentorship at the time. But here I am.
Do you remember your first actual trade?
Not the exact details, but I remember it was a currency pair — either EURUSD or GBPUSD. I took it with Nana Yaw Forex's help, and it was profitable. I withdrew straight away just to verify it was real, because I'd been burned by online scams before.
Did you have a mentor, or someone who inspired you along the way?
Not really a direct mentor who sat down and taught me, but I watched a lot of YouTube videos. Guys like Mambafx, FxAlexG, Waqar Asim, Cue Banks, Jeffery Benson, Habby Forex, Kojo Forex, and Tradebysci got me started. More recently, Kelvin Talent, Techriz, DAX, and FZ Nation have taught me a ton.
Was there a pivotal, "okay, now I get it" moment in your journey?
Yeah, actually just this year. Before that, I was stuck in shiny-object syndrome, hopping from one strategy to the next, chasing whatever looked like the next holy grail. I kept failing until this year.
Where do you actually go to learn? Books, YouTube, both?
Both. I read a lot of books on trading and the financial markets in general, then hop on YouTube to watch other traders. I pick up one or two ideas from each of them and combine them into my own edge.
What was it about trading that pulled you in, out of everything you could've picked?
The independence. I saw a window of opportunity I could use to get to the shore of financial freedom.
Start with Fintokei. The next story could be yours.
"I blend retail, SMC, ICT — and never risk more than 1%."
How would you describe your trading style these days?
I blend different concepts I've picked up along the way: smart money concepts, ICT, and a few others.
And risk management, what's your rule?
0.5 to 1% of my account per trade. I'd call myself a conservative trader. I barely go above 1%. Usually it sits between 0.5% and 0.8% per trade.
What do you enjoy trading most?
Indices, S&P 500, US30, and JP225.
Favorite trading platform, and why?
TradingView, hands down. It's got more functionality than any other platform I've used. It makes analyzing the market so easy, with alerts you can set for when your trade gets triggered, and the customization gives me the latitude to set up the chart exactly how I like it.
"My first big win came on USDJPY — and I slept right through it."
So how did you actually land on Fintokei?
I entered your giveaway on X (formerly Twitter) and won a $100k account. That's literally how I found out about Fintokei.
That's a heck of an entrance. When did your first big win happen, and how did you react?
May 6, 2026. I sold USDJPY during the Asian session and just went to bed, since it was nighttime on my end. I was excited like never before when I woke up to it.
What's the best trade you've had at Fintokei so far?
Still that USDJPY trade: it brought in $2,000+ in profit.
Trading can mess with your head. How do you deal with the stress and pressure?
For the past seven years, I've been through a rollercoaster of emotions, until I realized I can't control the market, but I can control my emotions. That mindset shift is what's kept me focused throughout this journey. I'm not under pressure to hit any profit target. I trade, and I take whatever profit the market gives me.
And losses? Every trader eats them eventually. How do you handle them?
At first I panicked at every single loss, until I learned to control my emotions by accepting that losses are just part of the game, same as the wins. The only difference is I make sure my losses stay minimal while my profits outweigh them. On a losing streak, I cut my lot size in half and keep trading consistently to recover, then go back to my standard size once I'm out of it. Yeah, it can take a while to recover that way, but it keeps me from sliding deep into drawdown.
"I knew tension in the Middle East would rise, so I placed the entry and waited."
Walk us through one of your best trades at Fintokei.
It was a USOIL trade. I caught a sniper entry going into the weekend. I knew tension in the Middle East tends to spike on weekends, and oil rallied up and broke the previous high right before the close. That candle became my new support level, and I placed my entry right there. Price triggered it just before the market closed, and then tension in the Middle East did rise over the weekend. The market opened with a gap, and I was sitting on a huge profit.
Was that call technical, fundamental, or just gut instinct?
Honestly, a blend of all three. I'd studied the pattern of market manipulation around weekends tied to the Iran-US situation and figured a similar scenario could play out again. I placed my entry at the previous high once price broke above it; that level flipped into my support and became my entry. The trade triggered right before the Friday close, tension rose over the weekend as expected, and when the market opened, I was in a huge profit.
Looking back, would you change anything about how it played out?
The plan was for a 1:5 risk-reward, but I locked in profit so early that I stopped myself out before hitting full take-profit. I ended up with 1:2 instead of 1:5, and the trade actually ran well beyond that afterward.
"I trade on my phone between classes."
What does a typical trading day look like for you? Any rituals you never skip?
No specific rituals, but I do pre-market analysis most of the time before the market opens. I go in knowing what I'm expecting, but I stay open to it changing if my bias doesn't play out.
Do you get time for anything outside the charts? Family, hobbies?
I'm actually a teacher, but I've gotten so good at trading on my phone that I blend teaching and trading easily. I love reading books, so when I'm not trading, I'm reading, mostly to sharpen my trading knowledge, but I'm also into self-development books.
"Trading isn't a scam; it's self-mastery before chart mastery."
What's the biggest myth about trading you'd love to debunk?
That trading is a scam, and that people who trade only make their money selling signals and mentorship rather than actually trading.
Last one: best piece of trading advice you've ever received?
That trading is self-mastery before chart mastery. If a trader can master his psychology and emotions, he can master the chart. And if he stays on the chart long enough, he'll be profitable in the end.
Thanks so much for sharing your story with us, Benjamin, and here's to many more winning trades ahead! 😉
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