\n<\/p>\n
In November, Miami mayor Francis Suarez \u2014 who has vowed to make his city the crypto capital of the world \u2014 announced <\/span>that he was taking his next paycheck in Bitcoin<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Not to be outdone, then-newly elected New York City mayor Eric Adams <\/span>tweeted<\/span><\/a> that he would be taking his first three paychecks and throwing them into the cryptocurrency pool. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIn New York we always go big, so I\u2019m going to take my first THREE paychecks in Bitcoin when I become mayor,\u201d Adams tweeted. \u201cNYC is going to be the center of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n And then it all went to pot. For both men. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n On Jan. 21, Adams, Suarez, and the rest of the world watched as cryptocurrency tanked, taking a <\/span>47% nosedive from its all-time high in November<\/span><\/a>. Folks didn\u2019t lose their shirts; they lost their pants, shoes, socks and underclothes. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Just look at Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who elected to take his $750,000 salary in Bitcoin. It was a huge gamble that hasn\u2019t paid off. After Bitcoin\u2019s crash, Beckham would net somewhere around $35,000<\/a> off that salary if he cashed in now. Don\u2019t worry about poor Odell though \u2014 he still has several team-based incentives that could net him some $3 million this year, so he\u2019s going to be fine. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But for the paycheck-to-paycheck workers who can\u2019t gamble a year\u2019s worth of pay on what essentially amounts to Monopoly money, cryptocurrency has become a pipe dream or a mythical golden ticket to wealth and financial freedom that might as well be about as real as a 7-Eleven in the middle of the Mojave Desert. <\/span>Some Black people truly believe<\/span><\/a> that cryptocurrency is a bridge to close the wealth gap, or that it has the magical ability to undo years of redlining \u2014 which <\/span>effectively ruined property values<\/span><\/a> for Black people \u2014 and the economic impact of racism in financial institutions. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2021, Time magazine covered the <\/span>Black Blockchain Summit<\/span><\/a> on Howard University\u2019s campus. This was the opening paragraph of the piece: \u201cAt the Black Blockchain Summit, there is almost no conversation about making money that does not carry with it the possibility of liberation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A study<\/span><\/a> found that in 2021, Blacks and Latinx make up 32% of the U.S. population and 64% percent of the country\u2019s unbanked. After decades of being systematically frozen out of banking or forced to pay higher interest rates or more transaction fees than their white counterparts, it makes sense that cryptocurrency would seem like a way to wealth. But, is it even worth the trouble?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I don\u2019t say that lightly. I spent days researching cryptocurrency to have a firm base and depth of understanding, and I still have no idea what it is. Well, that isn\u2019t entirely true. It sounds like Disney dollars but less tangible, less transactional and less stable. Seriously, this is an actual definition of cryptocurrency I found on a page called, \u201c<\/span>What is Cryptocurrency? [Everything You Need To Know!]<\/span><\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cCryptocurrency is an internet-based medium of exchange which uses cryptographical functions to conduct financial transactions. Cryptocurrencies leverage blockchain technology to gain decentralization, transparency and immutability.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Despite these intense definitions and the use of something called a \u201cblockchain,\u201d it hasn\u2019t stopped Black and Latinx people from investing in the highly volatile mystery money. Some 23% percent of African Americans and 17% of Hispanic Americans own some form of cryptocurrency compared to 11% of white Americans, according to recent surveys conducted by <\/span>Harris Poll and provided to USA Today<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I don\u2019t know that all first-time get-rich-quick investors involved in cryptocurrency fully understand what they\u2019re investing in. Still, something tells me that hearing the stories of small investments turned into large profits <\/span>being shared on social media<\/span><\/a> might have something to do with it. Add to that years of being denied fair banking, or being charged larger fees for nominal transactions, or completely being devalued as a customer, and I understand the fascination with hopping on the money train earlier, even if you don\u2019t have all the facts. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI usually ask people two questions when they come to me wanting to put their money into cryptocurrency: What is your goal and what is your time frame?\u201d Joel Harrison, head of Harrison Affiliates, who spends his days investing, coaching, and consulting about all things stock-related, told HuffPost. \u201cThose are the questions most people can\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n And that might be because, during the onset of digital currency, people of color were bombarded with celebrities pushing crypto on them as if it was a new underground railroad out of financial slavery. It almost felt predatory.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Cobinhood got <\/span>Jamie Foxx to endorse what they claimed was the world\u2019s first free cryptocurrency exchange<\/span><\/a>. Cobinhood started as one of the biggest crypto exchange sites, but in 2021, it started cutting integral pieces of its setup, including <\/span>live-person customer service<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2018, boxer Floyd Mayweather and producer DJ Khaled were paid promoters of the now-defunct Centra Tech cryptocurrency. The whole thing turned out to be a scam, and Centra Tech founders Raymond Trapani, Sohrab Sharma and Robert Farkas \u201cwere found guilty of trying to defraud investors with their ICO (initial coin offering),\u201d according to <\/span>Bleacher Report<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n When CashApp began accepting Bitcoin, they needed someone to hit the right audience with their message. That person was the CEO of Hot Girl Enterprises, MC Megan Thee Stallion, who noted during her commercial, \u201c<\/span>Bitcoin for Hotties<\/span><\/a>,\u201d that \u201cWith my knowledge and your hustle, you\u2019ll have your own empire in no time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Mike Tyson even has his own Bitcoin app, \u201cMike Tyson Bitcoin.\u201d <\/span>The branded wallet, which was created by the company Bitcoin Direct, allows<\/span><\/a> users to store, purchase or sell the digital currency bitcoin. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cTyson is a universal star,\u201d Bitcoin Direct\u2019s CEO, Peter Klamka, said in a press statement, per CNBC. <\/span>\u201cPeople around the world of all ages know Mike Tyson, and as such Tyson\u2019s potential to expand the Bitcoin market is dramatic.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n And that\u2019s it exactly! If people believe in the endorsement of Mike Tyson, or flamboyant millionaire Floyd Mayweather, or famed music makers DJ Khaled and Megan Thee Stallion, <\/span>then they don\u2019t necessarily need to know what they\u2019re selling to want to buy into it. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Don\u2019t listen to me, though. Listen to the sage financial advisers the Wu-Tang Clan. In 1993, the Shaolin Island <\/span>natives gave us the helpful acronym to remind us of the importance of sound financial decision-making: \u201cC.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me).\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2017, It was announced that Wu-Tang member Ghostface Killah was starting a cryptocurrency company.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of the company\u2019s top brass was leery of the rapper\u2019s influence on people who might listen to his pitch without fully understanding what he\u2019s talking about. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI think the interest of celebrities is a bit of a double-edged sword,\u201d Brett Westbrook, chief executive at Cream Capital, told <\/span>CNBC<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI personally think that anything that puts cryptocurrencies in front of the eyes of everyday people is a great thing for the markets overall. On the other hand, I believe it\u2019s important that celebrities know the importance of their endorsements and understand the underlying principles of blockchain technology,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe last thing we need is a household name promoting what turns out to be a scam ICO.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n And therein lies the rub. Digital currency is such a place of possibility for many folks who\u2019ve felt spurned by traditional banking. They see digital currency as an alternative way to make it rich. Sadly \u2014 and this is the soft part that won\u2019t get said out loud \u2014 the most susceptible group, most likely to see cryptocurrency the same way they would the roulette wheel in Vegas, are people of color. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere has been a long history of discrimination in investments,\u201d John Gerzema, CEO of the Harris Poll, told <\/span>USA Today<\/span><\/a>. \u201cAnd that could be why we have seen a wide demography of interest and inclusivity in crypto \u2014 because it\u2019s new, open and seemingly has fewer barriers to entry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n