Banking the Unbanked: How the Crypto Community Can Make a Big Impact

For tech-savvy young adults in communities often overlooked by traditional big business, the crypto and blockchain industry offers opportunities that others don't.

Apr 30, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 8:35 a.m. UTC

CDLLa Front Page Spotlight Branded — Photo by Richard Ciraulo on Unsplash

For tech-savvy yet unbanked young adults in communities often overlooked by traditional big business, the crypto and blockchain industry offers opportunities that others don’t.

For more episodes and free early access, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, IHeartRadio or RSS.

“Hodl” has become quite the rallying cry in the crypto industry today. But to boost adoption, that might be the wrong trend.

So says Carlos Acevedo, director of sales and the regional lead of Latin America for Brave, the crypto-powered web browser. In this episode of CoinDesk Live, hosted by Consensus organizer Stephanie Izquieta, Acevedo seemed to invoke the giving nature of early bitcoin enthusiasts such as Roger Ver, who would give away bitcoin to anyone and everyone he met.

According to Acevedo, that’s the best way to get more people interested in the technology. They’ll not only be interested from a price perspective but become more curious about how crypto could offer efficiencies and benefits in other areas of their life.

For people in lower-income communities that are unbanked or underbanked, it’s introducing a whole new concept of finance they didn’t have access to before.

“The movement is so small but so, so powerful,” Acevedo said.

Listen in to hear more about:

Acevedo's work building the Crypto Community Project in the Bronx (N.Y.) and his broader crusade to help the unbanked
What he learned what interests students during his time as a teacher
The missing topic in young people's education about money: personal finance
What has the largest impact on a person's scholastic success?
How to use Brave and its Basic Attention Token (BAT)
Monetizing your attention
The Brave web browser and, specifically, its crypto rewards functionality as a gateway drug for going further down the blockchain rabbit hole
How crypto could help push people out of poverty
The fork that allows you to use Brave just like Google Chrome; why would you ever go back to using data-extracting search engines?
Crypto stimulus and helping the unbanked

Next up:

CoinDesk Live: Lockdown Edition continues its popular twice-weekly virtual chats with Consensus speakers via Zoom and Twitter, giving you a preview of what’s to come at Consensus: Distributed, our first fully virtual – and fully free – big-tent conference May 11-15.

Register to join our fifth session Thursday, April 30, with speaker Hudson Jameson from the Ethereum Foundation to discuss private transactions, client improvements and dealing with FUD, hosted by Consensus organizer Nolan Bauerle. Zoom participants can ask questions directly to our guests.

Then, of course, join us at Consensus: Distributed May 11-15 where all the guests you hear on CoinDesk LIVE will be speaking in more depth.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.