In the District of New York. Two crypto believers are passionate about educating and engaging the community to help both increase wealth and fight inflation, highlighting the challenges facing the community here. Julio Barrios Julio, founder of Bronx Crypto, explains why cryptocurrencies offer some solutions. Welcome to the show. Hello Jennifer. Thank you so much for having me. Of course, thank you for being here. So let's start from the beginning. Well, tell us a little bit about the Bronx community that you're working with. And what inspired you to provide this type of education to these people? Okay. So Bronze crypto is a community platform that I created when I became interested in cryptocurrencies. About 8-10 years ago, I realized that there wasn't enough inclusion and representation, and I wanted to find out. And as I get deeper and deeper into cryptocurrencies and understand the technology, I hope that people in the Bronx, in my community who are underserved and disenfranchised, will truly recognize this and change their lives. I realized that there was an opportunity to do so. For those who have never been to the Bronx, can you tell us a little more about it? What's going on in these communities? Why is cryptocurrency a solution that could change their lives? So, if you, I don't know if you noticed, in New York City in 2021 A study by the Consumer and Workforce Protection Bureau found that 306,000 households in New York City are unbanked. That was unacceptable. And I feel like one of the fundamental things about cryptocurrencies is accessibility. Therefore, as long as you have an internet connection, you can access financial services. So I think this is a really important thing that we need to leverage here in the Bronx and New York City. It's interesting that you bring up that statistic. When you think of the unbanked, I don't think many people think of big cities like New York. In 2021, you're saying that more than 300,000 unbanked people living in New York will be conducting business outside of the banking system. Talk about crypto education. Because we've heard that opening a bank account and setting up an application that lets you manage your money looks easy. However, even those who have them find it difficult to operate with cryptocurrencies. Please feel free to ask us about onboarding education. What are the challenges you face? Therefore, one of the biggest challenges I face as the founder of Bronze Cryptocurrency is to remove the stigma in this space. There were a lot of scams and there were also a lot of polls like FTX for example with massive bankruptcies. Well, some people are tired and some people don't really understand. But at Bronze Cipher, we try to give them trust when they get information from people similar to them, but they let their guard down more than they would just search YouTube and get information from strangers, and they actually seem to be able to receive information better. That's really interesting. They seem like they can relate. They see someone from their community who has had the same problems and has grown up facing similar challenges, and they feel like this person is trustworthy. What kind of feedback do you get from them? Do you know, what are they saying? Take me into the mind of the person you are working with. One is that some people think that cryptocurrencies are a get-rich-quick way, right? It can be a little more complicated than that, right? We need to learn the technology first, learn how these digital assets work, and where the potential and investment opportunities lie. One of the things I'm working on is working with government officials to make the crypto space more secure. I don't want to hurt anyone. Like many people who were hurt by the collapse of FTX. That's why I reached out to Congressman Richie Torres. And together we passed legislation called the Cryptocurrency Consumer Investor Protection Act and the Cryptocurrency Exchange Disclosure Act. This is, firstly, to ensure that these crypto companies have these assets and capital on their balance sheets to prevent them from going bankrupt. Regarding exchange. Also, the Virtual Currency Exchange Disclosure Act ensures that if these cryptocurrency exchanges are going to do something with your funds, they will need to give you your consent and they will need to disclose it to you. It is something to do. Therefore, my relationship with my broker should be sacred. It should be as sacred as your relationship with your doctor. Well, when did you start working on this bill? This is 2021, how is the progress? It's still being debated in Congress. You know, there's a lot going on in Congress, and I'm optimistic that the bill will pass.What am I optimistic about passing? The reason I ask this is because the virtual currency-related bill has not yet been passed by Congress. There was a glimmer of hope late last year, but it seems to have disappeared. Now, the general consensus is that no crypto-related legislation is expected to be enacted this year. Why are you optimistic that this will gain traction? I think the number one reason is, uh, ETF S recently passed. This is a good sign. And the other thing is, we need to speak up, right? We elect those in political power, so we need to hold them accountable and make sure they're working for us. Because we are the ones who put them in this position. So no matter what city you're in, what state you're in, we all need you. If cryptocurrencies are important to you, you need to make your voice heard. And that's what I've been doing. And once you realize that the space is evolving and maturing, um, I'm back now, I'm here at NFTNYC, and the projects, the growth, the buildings, the community are here and thriving. But it's not going anywhere. It keeps getting bigger and bigger. That's why I can be optimistic. Now, I want to go back to the Bronx and talk about the people you work with. The reason I want to talk about this is because I think about my mother. She has a bank account, but she is not unbanked. But she really loves cash. Cash is king for her. That's what she prefers above all else. That's what she puts her trust in and she feels it's her own bank. Are you finding the same thing too? I called this a barrier to cryptocurrency boarding, especially when talking about people handling cash, but who would consider it more trusting than anything else? Yes, that definition definitely sounds like a boomer claim. I certainly understand. But look at how technology is advancing and look at all the payment methods available to us. We have Venmo, Google Pay, Apple, Pay square, and paypal. All this leads to the digitalization of money. One of the reasons I was interested in Bitcoin was because I wanted to preserve my wealth. And if many Americans really don't know what's going on in the world. And what's happening now is that our money is worth less and less. We are losing purchasing power due to inflation and the government's irresponsible monetary policy. So I think people also need to realize that it's okay to have liquids. You need cash, but it's also good to take matters into your own hands and take responsibility by allocating to this area. I mean, I work in cryptocurrencies, so I'm very, very accepting of what you're saying that the people you work with are accepting of this. Yes, about 70%. Yes, 30%. No, there are many people who still don't believe it. Well, I'd like to go back to a question you asked me earlier. We are all waiting for Jerome Powell's speech. What is the Federal Reserve going to do? Are they going to lower rates? Are they going to keep the rates the same? Are they going to be raised? And even if interest rates are left where they are, it seems like it will only strangle the middle class. It's not sustainable because it puts a lot of pressure on the middle class. There is a huge debt on top of the system and it is impossible to change this with marches and rallies. That's why the invention of Bitcoin is genius. What do you think needs to happen? Oh, I didn't mean to bother you. please. No, um, let's move on to the first question you asked me. I think Gen Z and Millennials relate to it and are interested in it. They want to know what's on the cutting edge of technology. That's the 5050 split, and we're going to get young people to take this on, learn this, and be ready to take advantage of this. But there are still baby boomers who are obsessed with cash and real estate. So what do you think needs to happen to truly mainstream for what you're doing for the Bronx community to be widely disseminated across all unbanked communities? So one of the things that I believe needs to happen is we need to start using technology to solve problems. So one of the things that I personally do is I reach out to distributors, I reach out to companies in the Bronx, I explain to them, if I join via Web 3, I have access to capital, access to customers. The goal is to teach you how to increase your Use cryptocurrency as payment. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to sound an alarm. We must start using this technology and empower each other with it. On the other side of that question, what do you think needs to happen to start dispelling the stigma that we talked about earlier? I think we need to get common sense regulations from the government. You can't make laws that strict enough to exclude the little guy. Sure there are real possibilities for things like money laundering, but we also need to allow enough skin in the game for the little guy to get involved. And I just want to stay on this little guy for a little while. Suppose that regulations in the United States become even stricter. We see that seconds are regulated by enforcement. For example, suppose that no clear law has been enacted for many years. Suppose a cryptocurrency company starts moving offshore. We are already seeing it happening. What do you think that means for this little guy? Yeah, that's actually terrible. We need to keep it here because it will push jobs and innovation away from the United States. Therefore, if the United States wants to stay on the playing field and stay ahead, it will need to adopt these technologies. And I've heard art mail that Bitcoin is not environmentally friendly, but it's not. There are many companies that are using green energy to mine these cryptocurrencies. That's what we need. It takes everyone's full commitment to make Julio thrive. It was so great getting to know you and what you do for the community. Thank you for joining First Movers. Thank you very much, Coin Desk. We look forward to seeing you all in Austin, Texas.
