Crypto Clarity

0:08Okay. I love that. That’s That’s the reason to be here. Uh, okay. Oh, wow. Boom. Somebody else. Marian, I see you got your hand up. I got that point, please. And so can I ask you Maryian what would be like your like if you had a question like what’s your first question? I got that. What is it and how does it work? Okay.

0:50Ditto. Okay. Perfect. Roselena, what about yourself? Is that who this is? Rosa Spence. Yes, it is. It is Rosa Spence. Um, well, I I’m I’m curious and and I would love to be in access to provide this for people who have been impacted by violence and disaster and um poverty. So, I’m I’m really curious to hear what you have to offer and and um I don’t have a lot of um experience with crypto. My kids do, but I don’t.

1:32Okay, I got that. I got that that you’re really passionate about this subject and better understanding, right, these financial systems, especially as they pertain to and impact and can be leveraged by those, you know, experiencing poverty, impacted by poverty, etc. Um and I’m excited that we got so many blank slates. I think that’s a fantastic place to be. Um, mom, what about yourself?

1:58Hi, can you hear me? I’m driving. Um, yeah. I even though you’ve been involved in this and passionate about it for quite a while, I realized that I really don’t have an understanding certainly not enough of an understanding to dive into that world. And so, uh, it seemed like I should take advantage of this thing that you’re doing to get people, um, more informed.

2:29Okay. Well, thanks. Thanks for being here and and I got that. I’m excited that you’re going to get to be more informed. Definitely with me having this course, I’ll be able to speak with more clarity to people myself. I feel like I I can be all over the place sometimes when I’m just talking to talk, which I is how I get when I feel like I’m just being passionate and I’m not always clear in whether or not people are actually keeping up with me. So, this time it’s for the people and not for me. Thanks, Mom. Uh Paulina

2:57um I I was kind of avoiding the topic for quite a while. uh mostly because of how volatile the that’s that is I wouldn’t say currency but this finances and I know a lot of people playing it uh getting a lot of money and losing a lot of money over a short period of time and um because of that I kind of didn’t give a lot of attention to it like it’s not settled yet thank Yeah, I got that. You’re welcome. Thank you. I I’m really clear that the volatility has made you somewhat disinterested, kind of led you to kind of keep your distance. You’re kind of

3:42uncertain what to make of it and just like how serious or how pertinent it is, right, to understand it given that it seems right now like a a giant scary casino to many and it sounds like you might find yourself in that lot.

3:56Yes. Thank you for the creating game. Thank you. Absolutely. Uh Dr. Austin. You’re like, “Which one?” Huh? Miss Robinette Austin. Yes. Um, unfortunately, I don’t know much at all. Um, so I’m excited to to hear and learn as much as I can.

4:20Okay. Fantastic. And Allison, last but not least. Hey. Um, I think I am just here for a general curiosity. I don’t know much about cryptocurrency other than what you hear in the news. Um, so why not have a starting point?

4:41Okay, fantastic. Well, that’s that’s literally what this is designed to be. I um I myself I got into the cryptocurrency space at the end of 2021. So, it’s it’s crazy to me to even tell myself I’ve been learning about this stuff for four years. I feel like that seems improbable. It seems impossible. And I feel like time has really just flown by. Um, and what I had a podcast. I had a podcast called Weed Them Nicks where I was interviewing black people working in crypto, discussing identity, interested in journalism on a lot of fronts actually. And what led me to kind of switch into the blockchain

5:13cryptocurrency space was actually noticing how little content there was that really made what is crypto and blockchain and how do you use it very accessible to everyday people. Um, inside my podcast, my focus was less on making it accessible to everyday people and more actually tracking how people were finding their way into the industry, becoming professionals, so young people likeelves could actually be able to consider or explore or pursue a career in the blockchain industry. Um, this startup industry that is even more unheard of than most of what what what blockchain and Bitcoin actually is. And so really being able to bring that to communities of color, communities just

5:50in general, right? young people who are thinking about what their next steps can be. Um, and in the process of that, I went beyond have my podcast. I found a executive producer or patron who was supporting me financially for a year and a half to go and learn about the industry and create content. Um, and this course isn’t just an opportunity to continue creating content or educating, but really it’s something that I’m also doing to fund the completion of that project. So, I have over 70 different interviews with black people working in the blockchain industry, software developers, founders, people working in BC, lawyers, creatives even. Um, I’m

6:24really interested in making sure all that content reaches a global audience and people really get to see my content not as news per se, um, but really as a window into the story of how this technology has been evolving, um, and who people of color are that are leading this technological revolution. And so this course is my introduction to the everyday person around about what the revolution is and how they can participate and keep themselves ahead of the curve. So thank you all for being with me here tonight. You all are officially my first students and uh and thanks for being with me for my first

6:54lesson. Yeah, Maryanne. Yeah, thank you. I I just realized I remembered um becoming aware of blockchain technology gosh I don’t know many years ago and what was exciting to me about it was the potential to actually have anonymity built in so that it was uncorruptible, right? and and a community could actually have resources in a structure that everybody could could have confidence and trust that our investment was going to go where they said it was going to go. And I was like, “Oh my god, this is like this is um world changing.” And then I was s surprised to see that it just became currency. I was like,

7:39“What the hell happened to that? That was so cool.” So I don’t know whether that has any part in this conversation, but I would love to understand that. Yeah. So that will be less the subject of this conversation but absolutely the subject of the course. Right. What you’re speaking to is this notion that it’s decentralized that it’s leveraging the blockchain with and the blockchain is a infrastructure that it’s like a decentralized data or information database right where it’s actually able to keep track of transactions. That’s what you’re speaking to. And people

8:11they just have wallets and they have these essentially online bank accounts which are not tied to a formal bank but instead tied to this technology and this this code which is maintained by computers around the globe right that’s what uh bitcoin mining is and so this this course won’t be going so much into those technical details but absolutely you know explaining it conceptually as you just spoke to but then beyond that looking at like what are the actual emergent use cases where are these emergent use cases actually happening um the US isn’t the highest adoption for day-to-day crypto usage we have a lot like advanced services already available

8:41is the best way I’d put it. But a lot of people don’t have access to like Apple Pay or Cash App or PayPal, right? Services like that that allow for instant money sending. Um, and so environments like that where there isn’t uh such a structured industry available that is so high functioning these there are a lot of people using this.

8:56Um, and so I’ll be speaking as well to that kind of stuff. Okay, great. Thank you. Thanks, Miss. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Marian. All right. And so now I’m going to begin sharing my screen so you all can see my presentation. Can you Okay, click here. All right. Welcome to your cryptoclarity preview. What’s happening with the money? Uh we’re here to be your compass in the digital economy. Can you see my screen?

9:36Yes. All right. Fantastic. So, what is We Them Worldwide. Um, so We Them Worldwide is an evolution of what I have been up to over the last few years. Uh, for most people, crypto is inaccessible, confusing, or predatory. As I just told you, most of the content online is more focused on on showing you different products or things people are building and they are actually leaving everyday people with a real critical understanding of how this stuff actually works. Um and I partic and I personally think that that leaves us in an environment where it’s hard to really know what’s going on and We Them Media is

10:06here to change that by really connecting with builders on the ground. Um Aba here in Ghana she organized this event called Ethra. It’s the biggest tech technologist focused event that happens in uh Western Africa every year uh in September. Over here my friend Jed, he’s he’s a participant in my community and a content creator. Uh he’s doing coverage at an event in Nigeria. down here on the bottom right you can see us uh at Ethereum Denver which is a major Ethereum conference which happens in Denver every year. It’s the biggest blockchain conference in North America. Um and Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap and it

10:40exists essentially uh to envision a world where what you were just speaking to Marian where any kind of financial product can exist on chain where we can integrate applications and money in any kind of way while preserving that anonymity and lack of a middleman which is kind of the the immediate power right of the blockchain

10:56right and so we’re here to change this confusing narrative and really give you clarity by giving you a window into what’s actually happening on the ground with the brilliant people wondering what the future can look like and what a more just and financially fair or ethical future can look like. All right, so let me tell you what’s actually happening with the money. Um, so Bitcoin is the conversation that most people think of first they think of cryptocurrency. Um, most people don’t really understand what it is though and I think the place to start is actually looking at what’s happening with the money. Um, and that’s why that’s a big

11:28part of the title of this of this course. So the place that I like to start is ddollarization. Does anybody know what ddollarization is? Nope.

11:38Okay. Well, darization is this premise that uh the value of the dollar is is going down. And it has to do with the fact that countries around the globe which have been using the US dollar as their reserve currency since World War II are beginning to lose confidence that we are actually the best place to store their value. As the US continues to print more money, um as countries find themselves less aligned with the values or actions the US is taking, um countries are looking at alternatives and so other countries being dependent on the dollar is becoming less of a currency and a lot of countries are

12:11looking at how do they reduce their dependency which which reduces demand pressure for the dollar. Um you can consider bricks. The bricks expansion is a is a new economic alliance where countries are designing their own reserve currency that exists outside of the power of just one country. Whereas the US dollar is obviously under the power of the of the US, right? When we print money, not we, but really the the Federal Reserve. Oh, look at that. My father’s joined. When the Federal Reserve prints money, it impacts the whole globe. Um and so in this expansion there are countries such as Russia, Brazil, India, China, South Africa,

12:42Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Indonesia are already countries in the conversation to look at how can they move away from the dollar. Um and so Bitcoin is and really blockchain at large is an opportunity to explore what are ways that we can use technology to explore this world of creating new kinds of reserve currencies and that’s that’s what Bitcoin is. is an attempt at solving this concern around centralized power around reserve currency like like gold is um is scarce but it’s not finite. Bitcoin is in fact finite. It’s only 21 million bitcoin and so it’s meant to be the store of value that people can purchase and hold on to that

13:17whether or not governments are doing well or doing poorly. Uh Bitcoin is a store of value that can exist outside the nation state standard you might say. And people are exploring what it looks like for the the order, right, of of currencies and economies changing, right, as the US loses its its standing in the on the global landscape, you might say. Uh people are looking at Bitcoin as a way to, I guess, set step outside of that arena while things kind of recalibrate.

13:44Yeah. And so the money’s foundation is shifting. And really, this course is about helping you understand exactly what that looks like. um and being able to look at the news and think critically about what that means for us here in the US. Um Bitcoin aside, just being someone working and living inside the US economy, it really is critical the value of the dollar. Um and so we’ll be learning to really be able to think more critically around how inflation impacts us around what the source of inflation is and what people are doing to hedge against inflation uh both in a short term and a long-term way

14:14so that we can be more effective in planning for and envisioning our financial futures. So right now there are two bets on the future. There are talks uh where people can bet on established corporations and legacy financial systems. Um, this allows people to look right at what’s tied to traditional growth. Uh, people can see the the the companies that have historically done well. You can look at big tech, you can look at oil. Um, and people already have a pretty clear understanding for the most part who do participate, right? And how to understand and value those things. Uh, the concern here again is that we don’t

14:46really understand what the long-term potential is around the US economy. And so people are looking at the global digital economy and cryptocurrency as an access to it. Um it’s meant to be an opportunity to have access to decentralized finance. And so while many people around the globe don’t have access to the New York Stock Exchange, um decentralized finance is meant to make banking products and tools and applications just available to anyone anywhere in the globe. Um on the planet, there’s over 50 million people who are unbanked and this is really a technology designed to solve that problem for people and really give them more upward

15:16mobility and access to resources. Um, yeah, and so that’s that’s one thing I’m really excited to help people understand what that looks like and how it works. And so people will actually be able to do their first transactions in this course. Um, I spoke to traditional stocks being tied to the leg legacy financial systems. We’ll also be discussing in this course exactly what it looks like for the legacy financial systems to actually begin adopting blockchain and crypto and and what that’s looking like right now. Are there any questions? All right. No, I I actually do have a question to say. I just couldn’t figure out how to raise my hand on my phone.

15:53Okay. You said there’s or did you say there were 21 billion cryptocurrency in existence? Is that what you said? I couldn’t tell you how many cryptocurrencies there are in existence, but there’s I was saying there’s 21 million Bitcoin uh total that will ever exist.

16:11Bitcoin. Okay. 21 million Bitcoin. Okay. So, what does that actually mean? Yeah, I appreciate you asking. So, what it means for there to be 21 million Bitcoin. I was kind of speaking to inflation a little bit. Do you know what inflation is, Maria?

16:27Yes, I know what inflation is. You know how it works? Um, I I maybe don’t. Can you explain it? Yeah. And so the when we look at inflation, the way that it was explained to me and the way that I continue to think about it, right, is this notion that the the Federal Reserve is able to print money for different things and when they do, they’re increasing the overall supply of dollars, right, in the globe. And in doing so, the actual value of our dollars goes down like on a dollar for dollar basis.

16:53And so while we look at the way that I would think about it first, right, you look at minimum wage, minimum wage in most places stays the same for a decade at a time, if not longer, right? Okay.

17:02And inflation happens every year. So the value of dollars are going down every year, but people aren’t actually seeing that translate into their wages in a way that treats them fairly.

17:11And so it actually turns out to be a massive tax on the everyday working class person. And so the premise of Bitcoin is that you can now store your value outside of the I guess the framework, right, that the dollar exists in or particularly inside of really any currency tied to a nation state or centralized power. Um, and so with most cryptocurrencies and scams that you might see, uh, there’s there’s generally one person who knows exactly how much of a currency there is and they can even print more kind of like right the central bank can um, or the Federal Reserve. And so a lot of

17:41people they might buy a crypto and be excited about it and then that person might print more of the token and then sell it themselves and now that person is kind of the system and that happens in crypto, sure it’s scams, but it also happens right inside of our own our own government, our own country.

17:55Okay. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. That was a really great explanation. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. What were you going to say? Just no. I I can see it. So, it exists outside of the current structures that give it exists outside of the current structures that we have access to as like regular people living our lives that can bank and all of that. It’s like a whole different um space that this exists in is what I’m getting.

18:21Yeah, absolutely. And you can access it through the internet and you can buy Bitcoin or other digital assets, right, through different platforms, Coinbase, Kraken, um there’s there’s many of them, right? But the the premise is that once you have access to that, then many people are using that as a way to hedge against inflation. And so while the dollar uh may be worth more or less a year from now, right? Someone is buying Bitcoin with a concern that you know a year from now the dollar will be worth less. And I think many people think that when they see Bitcoin, they’re gambling on a future where Bitcoin is doing

18:51really well. Um, but for most people that are actually buying Bitcoin or these different digital assets in like a serious way, thinking long term, they’re actually buying it with the concern that the US dollar may not do very well in the long term. And so they’re considering how to hedge against that.

19:05And it might not be just the dollar. It might be someone in a different country, right? And in Greece, there’s there’s been a lot of inflation from what I understand. In Nigeria, I know there is actively hyperinflation. Um and so in a lot of countries around the globe actually people are holding the US dollar because it is more or less volatile right than the US dollar. Um and now people are beginning to wonder what is the less volatile asset than the than the US dollar right exactly.

19:30Okay. Did that make sense? Yeah it did. Yeah. Go. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So I’ll keep going. But then that premise right that there’s 21 million is that we know there will never be any further inflation. Um, and so the value just comes from that ongoing demand from it, assuming that people continue to look for ways to hedge or hold value, right, outside of these uh centralized entities like banks or governments or countries.

19:56Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Maria. Does anyone else have any questions they want to ask at this point? All right. Excellent. So this is our solution. This is our course, right? The one that I’ll be leading. And so in session one, we’re going to look at this economic shift we were just speaking to and why it matters right now. So I’ll be breaking down Bitcoin. Maryann, you were asking about how it works in the technology. We’ll be breaking down what is the blockchain. Uh looking at a quick video which kind of explains it. I’m intending to have a founder on actually it can speak to

20:34their own participation in the crypto industry. Um the second course will be looking at getting started. will help people set up your wallets. Uh you’ll get your first airdrop so you can actually begin to do transactions and look at how to read transactions on the internet. Um the premise is that this is an uncensorable bank account now you have on the internet. So you can join communities and participate by voting on different kinds of contracts and things like that. Um there’s these things called DAOs. We the media my project we exist and have aspired to be a DAO. A DAO is a communitygoverned cooperative you might say. Um that uses crypto to

21:05kind of hold money and steward money. Um and I could do that with my friends. all of us could deploy a crypto wallet right now. We all have a vote in how we spend that money and we could set out some values and guidelines and we’d be an internet organization like none other, right? And so we explore what it looks like to participate in those. Um, and a lot of people are envisioning public goods that exist and are governed that way. Um, leveraging the blockchain and I’m I’m super excited about that space. Um, and so we’ll be seeing what those look like. We’ll be setting up wallets.

21:34you’ll be able to have your first crypto and be able to look at it and trade it online both on your phone but also on a web browser and and yeah, that’ll be a lot of fun. The third week I’m looking to have a tax professional on my friend CJ. Uh he’s super talented. I’ve seen him speak a number of times and I’ll be reaching out to him this coming week actually and so stay tuned to see if we can confirm him. But I’m committed to having a tax professional in this conversation so that you all can really know how to operate, you know, and stay

21:58above board for yourselves as you explore getting your your confidence and clarity. think that’s that’s an important part and I don’t want to overlook that. Um and so yeah, we’ll be looking at additionally what’s happening in the US policy landscape. Uh we’ll be looking at what’s happening abroad in terms of adoption and things like that. And there’s a lot of exciting information needs to be able to keep up with and if you don’t really have uh the news sources or the jargon per se or know who the guiding lights are, it’s kind of hard to do that. And so I want to set you all be able to do that after

22:25our course is over. Uh in session four, we’ll actually be having presentations. So during the course, I’ll actually have pods and so you’ll be broken up into groups of four and you will come on the final session with a presentation of one thing that you learned or thought was interesting after having gone out and found a story pertaining to blockchain that you see as legitimate and speaking to the kind of difference this stuff can make. I’m committed that when people complete this course, they’re actually able to be the person in their life who when that Bitcoin or crypto thing comes up, they really have something to

22:53contribute and can leave people clear and oriented. Uh like we’re here to provide the clarity and it’s not just me. I’m inviting you all to join me in being a community where we make that available to people. And that’s what I’ve been doing over the last four years, traveling throughout the industry and connecting with black professionals and professionals thinking about public goods and media and the future of the African continent. Um, and I’m just inviting everyday people now into that conversation where you can be surrounded by people who know so so so much. Um, while being somebody who can ask your questions because I do know

23:20that when the world is changing fast, it’s hard to go on the internet and know where to go to get the information that you might be wanting. And so our community exists to give you that that support for as long as you’re present and active. And as of now, you can actually go in our link tree. Our discord is available for free. Anybody can join. Um and you can come to our community calls and ask your questions. That’s that’s just available to everyone.

23:41I see your hand is up. Paulina, yeah, I just have a question. Um you can finish and then I will ask. Um I’m complete with this slide, so you’re welcome to ask your question.

23:52Okay. Thank you. So um I have two questions. So, Bitcoin is only one um cryptocurrency. Um will you explain the difference between Bitcoin and others?

24:05Absolutely. In the course, not right now. Absolutely. Thank you. And the second question is uh I remember like several years ago like I had a friend she was so excited about Bitcoin. She like had so much settled for for that. And then one day she came and said like oh it was uh banned in United States all the operations have been banned. Um so where is it right now like uh in terms of um you know relationship with US government?

24:37Yeah it’s a fantastic question. Um so right now there’s there’s the Genius Act was passed earlier this year. The Genius Act is looking at how the US can issue the dollar as a digital currency actually leveraging the blockchain. Um and so right now as companies create these digital issuance US dollar traded coins actually have to begin buying US treasuries um which creates more more demand for the dollar actually and and creates this this debt fly we’ll go into more during the course as well. But right now the US government is looking at how they can leverage this giant financial shift actually to support them and hedging against their own debt

25:11because the US has a whole lot of debt. Um and so you see Donald Trump talking about making the US a crypto capital. Um we are seeing institutions approve ETFs. Um we’ve seen Black Rockck launch a Bitcoin ETF in the last year and Ethereum ETF as well I believe. Um and so really be looking at what does the industry look like here in the US and what are companies as well as state governments. There are state governments now looking to buy cryptocurrency and create crypto reserves. Uh people speculate the US will be launching a crypto reserve. the US government has actually um collected from uh different

25:43people who they’ve arrested a whole lot of Bitcoin and so the US actually already has Bitcoin on their balance sheet um and there are people who even track that. So right now the the US I think is being very quiet. Uh many assert that if the US were to announce they’re going to start holding Bitcoin to hedge against the future that every government around the globe who’s holding the US dollars would raise their eyebrow and wonder like am I going to be late to the party, right? Right. And they they definitely don’t want that because that would create a tail spin. So right now we’re really in the moment

26:11where the foundation of you know the next phase of uh where the US and the global economic system land are really under development and under construction. And so this is really a prime time to be in this conversation actually. And your question is perfect.

26:27Thank you. Fantastic. And yeah and I think that’s that’s once again why I really want to have session one focus on why this matters right now. Um it’s like sure we can speak to the conversation you were speaking to Marian about the technology and why it’s exciting and revolutionary and privatizing things and also creating public goods around money. Um but I also really think it’s critical just for us to understand the way that power and money are are I guess changing hands right now in the global order. Um and and who what age we’re living in really as it’s happening. And so inside of the first two sessions,

27:04you obviously get that over that understanding of why it matters right now and how it and then inside sessions three and four, Paulina, what you were asking about is really that landscape component. really get to understand what’s happening in the world of regulation and policy both domestically and abroad as well as actually who are some of the major products and companies building the major products um that people are using every day now and how do we think about them right uh what I was speaking to before was these notions of decentralized entities or entities which aren’t you know run by one central power um and so we have some of these

27:34monetary systems that are being built as public goods or communitygoverned products while we also have you know more corporate adjacent products being built um and so I’ll also teach you how to distinguish between those two um and how to participate in whatever way you want to. There’s no right way to participate but it is really critical for everyone to understand what those different paths are.

27:54Fantastic. And really I spoke to my existing so I actually already have uh you have your pods in the course which I think I’m really excited about. I think as you kind of come into crypto having people around you that you can look at as your peers is a privilege. That’s what I’ll tell you. And you know, coming into it myself, my college roommate, he was really my guide. Shout out to Drew. And you know, in my first several months, him he was participating. He had made like like over $50,000 from NFTts and I was like working as a buster. And I’m like, what the heck is all this stuff

28:29you’re doing? And essentially come home from work and be like like pestering him to explain things to me. Um, and I’m really grateful that he did, but I don’t think that I really would have spent months of my senior year of college researching this stuff and coming back to him and asking questions because if he weren’t there, because he wouldn’t have been there. And so I think it’s really motivating to have people around you, not just holding you accountable, but keeping you a breast to what exciting stuff is happening. And so your pod exists uh to create your project with and presentation with, but also to

28:54be able to speak frankly about what’s challenging you in the course or confusing to you um without having to feel necessarily intimidated by being in a larger group. as well as to really be people who are keeping up with stuff. And so even if you’re not the person who keeps up with the news as much or is going to be doing that, uh the goal is to have the pod be access for you to have somebody who is working to keep you a breast and looking at that stuff. Um yeah, and I’m super excited about that. And there’s also a level two that will be existing uh coming after January. And

29:21so I’m intending to be teaching this course in January, February, and March. And then come April, I’ll be teaching a level two where people will actually be able to where you all would actually be able to learn about how to participate in the online economic systems um which exist in decentralized finance. Um this opportunity to do what what you call staking and participate in other ways to generate interest by participating in the financial systems that exist online. Um you could do things like put your Bitcoin per se in a yield generating wallet or account online. So they’re people who have designed a lot of fascinating and interesting things.

29:54Um, yeah. Before I proceed to the final thing, I want to show you all who We Them Media is. So, now I talk to you a little bit about my journey and about what crypto is. Um, I’m actually going to let Gabrielle share her screen and she’ll be able to show you videos that, you know, demonstrate the kind of work I’ve been doing over the last several years. As I mentioned, uh, We Them Media was a platform I I developed really looking to learn myself what is this crypto stuff and educate people in the long term. and We Them Media has kind of become my

30:22entity for telling that story. I’ve found a team in Nigeria who’s been helping me shoot content. Uh we were at an event in N a couple events in Nigeria this year, an event in Ethiopia, um an event in Ghana, an event in Kenya. Um, and for the last several months I’ve been at home while they’ve been out shooting stuff and working on stuff. And we actually uh right now working with our first B2B client as a media agency and and I’m super excited about that because that’s a massive breakthrough for us to for me to go from having no media team to having a team that people

30:48want to work with to tell the story of their businesses. Really means that I’ve done a good job and and I’m excited about that. And so I want you to be able to see the kind of content we’ve been working on. Um, which will actually exist as support to you, right? It gives you an access to knowing what’s going on right now while you’re in the course but also afterwards. And so you all will also actually be and this is bonus be added to our we them newsletter starting next month. Yeah. So thank you all. And uh Gabrielle, are you ready? All right. Then I’ll go on mute and I’ll

31:18let you do that. I can’t hear it. Okay, I think you might have to like start sharing again and make sure that it is enabling you to share the audio. Um, this first video I um I muted you G you Gabriel. Um but I was just going to say this first video is a video that was shot in Nigeria at the Webq Legos conference which happened in September um and edited by our guy Super Bio who was there before running over to Ghana for the event. Uh you saw the picture from earlier. I know. You know, I remember And so that that’s one of our videos and

33:40other kinds of formats that we do our interviews. Um, and so Gabriel is going to show one or two more videos and that kind of give you a sense of what it is participating in the in the weed media ecosystem. So, thank you

34:19Yes. Yes, Marie. That that is our logo. And so the logo that you see in the corner there is our is our newer logo uh which B our media lead has created and the one that you see on the wall there and on the shirts is actually our older logo that I made uh with Chachi Boutique a couple years ago.

34:49Thank you for telling me that the sound is in and out Paulina. Yeah. Is that what you’re going to say, Marian? Yeah. I’m wondering if everybody had that experience. The sound did not uh communicate smoothly. H. Let me see if there’s something that we can do about that.

35:09Not necessarily for now, but you might want to check that out. Playing a video on playing a video on um you know a a player like this

35:17Zoom or or Google Meet. I’m not sure how that works, but it didn’t work very well. Yeah. Thank you, Marian. I got that. You’re welcome.

35:25Okay. My apologies. I’m doing my best. Oh, uh, Gabby, I think it might be a technical issue. You know, it might not be actually approp might not function well. I I don’t really know, but it’s worth checking out, right?

35:44Let’s try this next one and let me know if there’s still the same issue. Okay, thanks, Kevin. Yeah, it sounds kind of like It sounds kind of like Alvin the Chipmunks.

36:06Something’s not right. Yeah. In this video, right, this is that Ethanoo. Ethanu was um a software developer residency and builder residency that happened in um in eastern Nigeria in Anugu. And uh my guy Kelvin, he organized that. I was actually had the the opportunity to travel to some of the events that Kelvin was organizing around Nigeria when I was there. Um, and I got to speak some university students when I was there, which was which was fantastic on his account. Um, is it the Maria said maybe it’s the video speed needing to be reduced

36:35maybe. And so I wasn’t actually at this event. This was in um September um or maybe late August. I think it’s late August. Um, but some people from my community were there interviewing people who participated asking them to offer one word to describe their experience. I am going to say if this one is

36:53I did reduce the speed. Should I try it again? Yeah, go ahead. No. What I can do is I can try and share my screen for the last one.

37:14Okay. Thank you, Gabrielle. Thank you. And so I’m curious in this moment, what are some of the things that you all are learning in this conversation? Are you finding this conversation valuable?

37:44Yes. Yes. It’s like I’m learning a new language. And a new way to think about the money. The a new way to think about money in the world. And the money as you said. Yeah. Like seriously, a new way to think about abundance in a way too, you know.

38:09And so what is you say that like first and foremost like what stood out to you most, Maria? like freedom from the current structures that are controlled by the dominant paradigms of like the billionaire class basically and the ineffective political structures that exist that are like foundationally undermining humanity.

38:29Like I see it as a way out of all like it’s it’s like freedom from all of that. Absolutely. But it’s also really like me I’m I’m literally learning these concepts for the first time. So, thank you for doing this, Mo. And um so I’m still absorbing it.

38:47Yeah, absolutely. I’m I’m glad that I can see why people are excited about it. Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. All right. So, this is the last video I’ll be showing you all. And this is a video interview I actually shot when I was in Ethiopia earlier this year. I was there for a developer residency organized for a lot of builders from Eastern Africa. And so, here we have Gloria. She’s from Kenya. um and she was speaking both to the event we were participating in as well as how she herself first got into the blockchain space.

39:18Personally, I didn’t buy Bitcoin, but I’ve heard from like parents and um relatives talk about how it’s a pyramid scheme and all. So, that was my idea of blockchain at the start. So,

39:30I’ve learned more about like web three side of things and I’m loving it. Yeah. of the week. Don’t you hear them speak? It’s only Monday.

39:49It’s been quite interesting. I’ve really gotten new perspectives, new um lessons, and just exploring the culture in Ethiopia. It’s amazing. And what is a pop-up city? The pop-up city is a meet up of web3 builders mainly in Africa to use web three as a tool to develop the continent and make it better. Yeah.

40:12And so how would you say your perspective on that has shifted over being here the last 2 3 weeks? I don’t think much has shifted. Well, okay. The only thing I would say is I didn’t expect as many builders to be there, but I was shocked by the numbers. There can still be more though. It’s a good shock. Yeah.

40:28Uh, when was the first time that you first heard about blockchain? August last year. Yeah. And I had to unlearn my hate for it cuz all I knew was Bitcoin scams. But um, yeah.

40:41You said all you knew were Bitcoin scams. Yeah. And what was your experience with Bitcoin scams? Uh, personally, I didn’t buy Bitcoin, but I’ve heard from like parents and um, relatives talk about how it’s just a pyramid scheme and all. So that was my idea of blockchain at the start. So I’ve learned more about like web 3 side of things and I’m loving it. Yeah.

41:01Do you feel like blockchain is important for the future of Africa? The possibilities of how it can be integrated in different industries like my specialtity women’s sports tech.

41:10So I’m here to just learn as much as I can and see how it can be moved into or merged with women’s sports. Yeah. Very cool. I’m coming back. I’m getting my video turned back on. I was thinking it might have been slowing down the video to have both live. Can you see me?

41:52Yes, we can. Yeah. Excellent. And so you can see my podcast went from me being in little boxes like this to me getting to travel the globe and actually interview people who are on the ground thinking about what it means to be someone working in the future of this industry leading it and one day being mentors to young people who are going to have to look up to. And I have had the privilege of getting to go out in the world and interview them and document what’s going on in these spaces and in these environments. And I’m committed to making the network that I’ve been

42:18building across the globe available to my students um as we continue to grow as a giant community, you know, here to make sure the world knows what’s going on. Um and really all these applications are looking for products and users. And so my goal in the long term is to be able to partner with community built products like products built by people in our community so that people yourselves and myself can be using products that we know are building into economies that serve us. I think one thing that we we don’t always get to understand in the traditional system, right, is the externalities of where we

42:46bank or how our money moves and the systems we participate in. And so with blockchain, that stuff is is transparent, is available, and and our commitment is to be in the watchd dogs. So you have friends and family and peers that you can speak to who know what’s going on and you know that when you participate in these different environments that you have people who are attesting to, right, or advocating for the platforms that you use. And so we’re here to create the trust that the blockchain is here to make available as a community network as well.

43:12Very cool. All right. Fantastic. And so that that is the conclusion of my presentation and and I’m wondering who of you all is interested in participating in our cryptoclarity course come January.

43:26Mio, can you talk about the nuts and bolts of the course like the time commitment and like how it works and Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I appreciate that, Maria. And so come January, we’ll be meeting every Wednesday from 7:00 p.m. to 10 p.m. The line will be available. Um the intention is for it to be about 2 and a half hours a session. And so the session will begin with intros quickly and then we’ll begin going through the material. Um and there’ll be opportunities for people to participate throughout. So you’ll be able to speak to what you do know and begin to ask questions about what you don’t know. And

43:5530% of the way through the night, you’ll actually go into a breakout room with your pod where you have a quick 20 minute section where you’re able to discuss what you’re learning in the course, do research, look up things that pertain to the discussion. Um, and then when you come back, we’ll be able to break down what questions showed up or what narratives were present for you all as I gave you different research topics to go and focus on as a group. And then we’ll proceed through the remainder of the presentation. Um, on different days, we’ll actually have guest speakers. Um, and so I’m looking to have a founder, as

44:22as you’ve seen, I have a lot of professionals in my network that work in the industry. And so I want to have people come and be able to speak to the kinds of different products. Um, and I’d love for input from the actual participants, right, around what people are interested in. So I can actually be able to identify guests that make the most sense given the curiosities or industries of interest to participants, you might say. And then in the end, we’ll have 30 minutes where people can just ask me questions. I’ll call it office hours. Um there’ll be assignments which should take you no longer than 30

44:48minutes between weeks, between sessions. Um and if you didn’t complete that or you want to get it done early, you can stay with me in those 30 minutes and complete it. And then at the end, there will also be 15 minutes for you to sit with your group and discuss some of the things that you researched. And in the final two sessions, you’ll actually be able to or the second and third session, you’ll actually be able to use that second 20 minute time slot to be working on a presentation or researching a topic that you want to present about in the final session. And so in the fourth

45:13session, it’s not actually me teaching you all. You get to give me feedback on how I was as an instructor. Um what you learned in the course and what you had to go and research on your own. Um you’re allowed to invite friends and family. And then you’ll be presenting on maybe it’s a startup that interests you or a side of the crypto industry. Maybe you care about agriculture and how it’s being impacted by this technology or creating public goods around education or information distribution, whatever people want want to present on. And so the final day will be you getting to present what you learned and

45:40showcasing the truth that you came out of this course as someone who can give people clarity. Maryanne, um did you say it was 90 minutes? I didn’t quite catch what the length of each session.

45:54So the the the sessions will be two and a half hours uh generally at longest the actual session and then there’ll be 30 minutes of Q&A or just hanging out if you want to be in discussion and conversation.

46:03Okay. And you also said that it was going to be on Wednesdays. Mhm. Yes. From 7 p.m. And all the dates on your website are Thursdays, just so you know.

46:11Yeah. I knew I was I knew I was going to register, so I checked my calendar to see how it would work, and I got them blocked off already. And I And then they’re Thursdays, but it’s not going to be Thursday. It’s Wednesday.

46:22Yeah. Yeah. I appreciate that. Okay, great. I looked and I realized that the website had the calendar from 2024 in it. And so that’s why all the dates were off even though the the dates themselves were correct. So yeah. So all the so all the all those appointments that I put put in just one day earlier is that correct?

46:40Absolutely. Exactly. Okay, cool. Thank you. Appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you. And how many weeks is it, Mo? Is it four weeks or is it It’s four weeks. Okay, got it.

46:51Okay. Yeah. Any other questions? All right. Excellent. Can you put your website in the chat? Yeah, put my website in the chat. And the course is $250 for these four weeks. And I actually have a a discount code for you for being here. And so the discount code is uh Oh, here. Actually, let me go and uh I guess yeah, it’s okay. I was going to go and turn off my live stream so people watching can’t come in last minute, but it’s open to you too. You guys, you all are lucky. And so the the discount code I’ll put here in the chat as well. Okay. So

47:29we them.xyz XYZ is a link to the website and uh here maybe htt oh wow that’s not what I want them.xyz XYZ. Okay. Yeah. So, you can click on that link. I added the the little syntax or whatever you call it. So, there would be a clickable link. And then the discount coupon code is community 50. And so, the course will be $200 as opposed to $250.

47:57You can put that in the coupon line. Excellent. When does it start? Mo. Um, and so it will begin on January 7th at 700 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

48:19Okay. And then four weeks consecutive. So the 7th, the 14th, the 20th, the 28th will be the sessions. Okay. Yeah. And over the next 72 hours, you’ll actually be able to share that that code community 50 with anybody in your life and refer them. And because now you’re part of the community, you can invite them and they can have the community 50 $50 discount off the course as well. And you get to have your friends join you, which I think is a blast. As I mentioned, having peers as you go on this intellectual journey, which is what I’ll call it, uh, makes a lot more fun.

48:52And it’s a big part of why I’ve been building the community I’ve been building, so that anybody anywhere can can jump in and, you know, have people they trust who can speak to them on on things they don’t quite know a whole lot about yet.

49:06All right. Um, I’d love to hear from some people. What were some of the things that stood out to you this evening? What did you learn? Um, yeah, I’d love I’d love to to hear your praises and I’d love to hear your critiques.

49:18I have one. Yeah. Run it. Uh, well, I so I clicked on the link and um I said, “Yeah, I want to join.” And I then the page was, “Okay, it’s 250. Okay, I’m going to put my code in.” I clicked like next and it processed with my credit card for the full amount. It like I never had a chance to put in the code.

49:41Oh, interesting. So, there wasn’t like a place. Okay. Wait, wait, wait. There’s a whole lot going on. I can’t hear you all. Yeah, I put myself Sorry, it’s not you, it’s me. It’s not you, it’s me. Um, so you’re saying that when you just put in You didn’t even see a place to put in the coupon code is what you’re saying. Mm- I click on the link in the chat

50:03that has the the uh you know the URL and um the only link that was on there was the uh join us the free you know free preview

50:14but if you go to pricing and you click on the course then it processed my card just so you know tell me that yes and I’m fine with paying the full amount

50:26but you should know the coupon there was no place to put in the coupon code just so you No, I appreciate you telling me that and and I appreciate that. Um I definitely would like to get you your $50 back just I said that’s what it is.

50:39It’s fine. That’s fine. Yeah. Okay, I got that. And um is anyone else having that issue or not seeing that not seeing that show up? I am going to open it myself now to double check. And Pauline, I see your hand.

50:51And it might not work the same for you because it has your background information, right? But as a as a new user on the site, that’s how it went. Yeah, it should just take you to Stripe. Like I haven’t actually did go through this, but it should take you to a different checkout page. And I’m not sure.

51:10Yeah, that link actually takes you to the homepage where it says join free intro. Yeah, it’s doing the same thing with me like it’s about to process it without requesting the code.

51:22So there’s a step missing maybe. Yeah, that’s what it seems like. Let me make sure. It seems like maybe I haven’t enabled that. Set up the coupon today. I think that what I seemingly didn’t do was put up maybe

51:39I suppose that’s what it seems it must be. Um Paulina, I see you have your hand up. It’s just only to like say thank you very much for the presentation. What I got is the um the the background of why it actually did shows up on the first place. Like that was my biggest question. Why it somebody come up with this idea? What was what was behind that? And um yeah, that’s it. Thank you. Like really great. Thank you.

52:18Thank you. I’m glad that you’re able to really understand why it kicked off. I do think that’s a critical grounding part of the conversation. If you don’t have a sense why cryptocurrency emerged in the first place, I think the rest of it all occurs as insignificant and potentially arbitrary. And so we want to get people really present to that from the beginning so that they can really run with the rest of the course and be able to leave with like how do I want to participate? What’s my style? Uh, and yeah, so I got that the this code isn’t working right now and I’m trying to revise my dashboard. And what

52:52I can say is that by 8:15, uh, this link will be live so that you’d be able to do that. Um, yeah, that’s just that’s just what I’m going to say for the time being because I have not troubleshooted this yet and my computer is not letting me do a whole lot while I’m also on here with you all.

53:10Um, It’s okay. But I love to hear I love to hear anything from any um any thoughts, any questions, what stood out to you. Yeah, Marian. So I just want to acknowledge you and thank you because I’m present to you know wanting in the background I wanting to understand this and um you know the pace of change is accelerating and I still have all the things I have to do and manage in my real life right

53:47um on the ground and so if I had to go do this research and learn this. That’s why I haven’t I I haven’t done it because I’ve got, you know, my my commitments, the time I have to commit I if I was going to study this, it would come from my well-being time,

54:09right? Stay up late, get up early, right? So to have you share this is your passion and and to share this with with others to me that’s like the epitome of teams and teamwork. So thank you.

54:25Ah thank you. I appreciate a lot. Yeah. Yeah. You’re welcome. Thank you. Booyah. That’s what I like to say. It’s really great. Thanks and Gabby. I know you have your I you you’re in the background and maybe you’re even in the foreground, but thank you both. Yeah.

54:44Yeah. Gabrielle’s had the opportunity to actually come with me to some of the different conferences I’ve gone to. She came with me to Ethereum Denver last year. Actually interview, if you go on YouTube and look up We Them Media, see me interviewing Gabrielle on what she learned there. She’s actually involved in um an organization. I was speaking to the communities that are governed by the community and she’s in the community. It’s called the DAO and we’ll learn about those as well called Athena DAO where they actually use um cryptocurrency to fund women’s health research. Um and so they’re looking at new paradigms for funding uh research

55:14and they’re calling it decentralized science by really trying to get outside of these institutionally driven um and incentivized like research paradigms. You can speak to that a little more if you want to Gabrielle, but

55:26throwing you in there. Okay. A great explanation. Um yes, Mo has um really been my um started my knowledge into cryptocurrency. Um I have done a um kind of breaking things down crypto course about two years ago now. So I’m excited to be in this course and get um MO’s nuance takes and further information myself. Um, and it’s been great to dabble into his crypto world like you mentioned through going to ETH Denver. Um, there were also a few crypto events at um, Art Basil happens every year in Miami. Um, and also just hearing about Melo’s adventures all around the world and the different people he’s been

56:14able to meet and their impacts on cryptocurrency has really been or really just um, what they’ve been able to take from their involvement in cryptocurrency and apply to their lives and their communities. um and making an impact has really been a great experience to to witness and hear about.

56:32Very cool. Awesome. Thank you, Gabrielle. All right. Uh Allison, uh Miss Robinette Alustin, uh JS mom, you have anything you want to add anything before we we wrap things up? I think for me I it was kind of helpful to see like what cryptocurrency can do on the global scale because you know it’s just you don’t really have too much information other than what’s presented to you directly and so um just seeing how it could benefit more than you know in your mind I think you visualize Silicon Valley techies and it only really applies to them but it’s seeing how it can affect you marginalized communities around the

57:27world and help develop their communities as well. I think that was kind of nice to learn about the possibilities there. Very cool. Thanks. I’m going to jump off. Thank you very much.

57:43Yeah. Thank you. And yeah, Gabby, Maria, Paulina, all the people know already. Yeah. Thank you. Bye. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Same. Same. I’m gonna go to this was great, Mo. I acknowledge you as well. Congratulations. This is fantastic.

58:00Yeah, thank you for being here. My first pupil. Wonderful job, Mo. Yeah, you did a fantastic job. Super inspired. Okay, thanks. And great backup, Gabby. Yay, Dr. Alston.

58:13Yeah, I acknowledge you, Gabrielle, for having my back and support me with the videos. Yeah, it makes a difference to have a team. Yes. And to Mo’s mom and dad. We love him so much. I am.

58:27Okay. Bye, guys. Bye, Maria. All right. Um, Aaba, anything you want to say? Mom, anything you want to say?