Yes, US women. And really -- why is crypto important to people who are not currently blowing up your Twitter feed with weird apes smoking cigarettes in different colored shirts? Sound familiar? Let’s chat. Take a seat.

Crypto, DeFi (decentralized finance), NFTs (non-fungible tokens), DAOs (decentralized autonomous orgs), and blockchain are all important to our future worlds (metaverses?) in web3, and we should understand the basics.

I’m starting this blog series as I begin my own crypto learning journey and figured that I might as well take you along for the ride. I’m not an economics PhD or engineer, but I am kinda an expert in metacognition and learning something as quickly as possible. I have been working in education the past 15+ years and started an edtech company on the African continent. You can learn more about me here.

But I am 100% a newbie to this and will be learning with you. So, if I say something dumb or wrong, and you know your stuff in this whole cryptoverse, correct me please. (And cite your sources so we can all learn why.) I’m following the DYOR (do your own research) mantra and documenting it as I go. So, LFG!  🚀

We are all asking ourselves at this point… Is this a fad? A glorified Ponzi scheme? (Answer = kinda. But what isn’t driven by hype and social media these days?) Why should I care about crypto if I’m an activist, educator, thought leader, social impact person, or just comfortable in my career? 4 reasons, y’all:

Defi can change wealth distribution. This article, “Crypto is a Solution to Rising Inequality,” by Tascha Labs is what got me excited about crypto. As an economist, Tascha has studied these trends and sees a huge opportunity for an individual, plagued by a lack of generational wealth, to benefit. Crypto assets can be a way for the common person (pleb) like me to build wealth amidst a world where inflation is unstoppable and real estate or the stock market may be inaccessible or not worth the dedication or ROI. (i.e. When you can earn 8% APR by merely opening a savings account in a stable coin, then why would you invest in the stock market?)

Maybe this is the gold rush of the modern age with the only barrier to entry being an internet-connected device? 👀  On verra.

Check out this article about how Nigerians have more faith in investing in crypto assets than their own stock exchange. There aren’t a lot of opportunities like this in a lifetime, so it’s best to wise up and see how we can help those who have been traditionally pillaged by capitalism benefit from this new opportunity. 💁

Many are saying that if 2021 was the year of NFTs, 2022 is going to be the year of the DAO. We are seeing DAOs emerge like trilobites during the Paleozoic (yes, I’m a nerd) in NFT purchasing, gaming, and investing. But I’m convinced that every field is going to be influenced by this decentralization trend. Read more from Gnosis Guild on digital cooperativism.

In education, for example, we might see trends towards global curricula focused on educating children around the world through content that will make them globally aware & employable— language learning, coding, critical thinking, etc. Decentralized groups will offer educational opportunities inside and outside metaverses, (Yes, there is more than one metaverse -- don’t let Zuck fool you into thinking otherwise.) opportunities that do not align with any nation’s rigidly mandated curriculum. Now, a Discord channel is not gonna replace the nation-state in developing curricula (and promoting patriotism through a national curriculum) any time soon, but we are moving away from central authorities having the power to decide what should and should not be learned. 😲

Oh yes. In the past, many digital spaces were owned by only a few people. You probably had close to zero influence on their product roadmap, and they harvested and sold your data like they were beanie babies on eBay. But FINALLY, it’s time for the people to have the power in directing and dictating what a virtual thing should do and be. It’s time for you to own a piece of the internet and profit from it. It’s time to get a piece of that crypto pie and have the confidence to know when you’re probably getting scammed.

Mirror itself is a nice little experiment and learning experience for me in ownership. I could mint this bad boy on mirror.xyz and maybe earn a little something for these words. In the past, I thrusted thoughts onto my Tumblr, feeding my hungry little ego with views and clicks while keeping my bank account barren. (Teacher salary = 😢.) Now, I can mint my words on the blockchain, creating an interaction that lasts forever. Someone else can own them or a piece of them in the future. (Confession - I chickened out this time, but I might feel cute and mint this post as an NFT later.) But, how exciting is this for creators, artists, and inventors when patents are inaccessible to the common Josianne? Sign me up! (And learn more about the NFT below here.)

I saved the most important aspect for last. Spend 2 weeks in CT (crypto twitter) and what you’ll observe is that it feels very bro-y. We need more diversity and representation in this space asap. We need more women, people of color, people from traditionally pillaged countries to be talking about how blockchain and crypto can benefit their contexts. We need people with lived experience to create solutions for their people, not importing solutions from the U.S. or China. What I fear is that if we don’t engage, another generation is shut off from the opportunity to build wealth. And also -- the art has got to get better than apes y’all! 🙈 (See South Park clips for a little fun.)

What I have been impressed at though, is the democratic, open nature of many in this space. There is a sense of “wagmi,” (we’re all gonna make it 🙌) which makes so many people feel open to asking questions and understanding each other’s perspectives. We can make this community exponentially better by bringing more voices to the table. Although many keep themselves anonymous on CT, I’m writing under my real name and profile, because I want other women to know that you don’t have to be a 20-something dude who studied computer science to be a part of this community. You can be here too. (I just found this community of women… Look at you on Discord already!)

So frens… come with me on this learning journey as we build wealth and enter this unknown sphere that might just be the big shift in our capitalistic lives.

In my next post, I’m going to talk about how to get started. And spoiler, it involves following a lot of women who are smart AF.