Three Truths Black Women in Crypto Need to Accept
Truth #1 - The Plan vs. Reality
The Black woman urge to be constantly busy has me pursuing another degree. This time, I’m thinking about a Ph.D. in blockchain or cryptoeconomics. It looks like the best of two worlds—a cool way to try to save the world and make a lot of money. But before I invest more cash and years of my life in academia, I wonder: what can I realistically accomplish as a crypto Blacktivist?
Most Black women get jobs in education, nonprofit, nursing, or social work because (a) they’re the low-hanging fruit for gainful employment, and/or (b) they’re reliable, though meager, ways to earn a living while making a difference.
Honestly, I’ve already sacrificed too many formative years of my career earning barely enough in order to save lives. So settling for anything less than a six-figure check is non-negotiable. A lot of friends and YouTube influencers tell me tech is the way to go, but I’m not ready to 100% sell my soul for a dollar (which, from several horror stories, seems like what I’d have to look forward to in that industry).
Cryptocurrency is the part of tech that has the most Black fans. Virtual coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum have a higher adoption rate among Black Americans than any other group. The continent of Africa isn’t far behind, either, as it’s one of the fastest-growing crypto markets (in third place globally).
That explains the uptick in Black #finfluencers. Since 2020, the finance content genre, especially related to crypto, has become an almost guaranteed way to go viral. Creators like the Earn Your Leisure crew and The Broke Black Girl are consistently publishing videos, checklists, and graphics to inspire* Black people to find a way to build generational wealth.
Truth #2 - The Problem
I need a huge asterisk right here, not as shade to any of the creators I just mentioned but as a reminder to aspiring #finfluencers like me to do some introspection. The blessing and curse of social media is the low barrier to entry for creating passive income as a self-proclaimed finance coach, with or without the credentials to back it up.
The Black diaspora community has the most to lose from bad financial advice and, sadly, has been the group more likely to fall victim to scams. Forty-one percent of Black Americans were targeted for fraud as of August 2021, and 19 percent of them actually lost money as a result. One of the biggest cases of crypto fraud happened in South Africa, with $588 million stolen.
People—Black people—may not question the intentions of their favorite TikTokers until it's too little, too late. Sadly, the average person isn’t doing a thorough due diligence check or probably wouldn’t know how to even if they tried.
Truth #3 - The Solution?
Lately, I’ve been asking myself to slow down and really understand what’s my reason for learning and teaching about crypto markets to my community. Who am I empowering, excluding, or exploiting in my work? Getting a research degree in the topic won’t make me any less susceptible to taking advantage of people desperately looking for a way out of financial misery.
For example, am I coming into this from a place of entitlement? I see some #finfluencers, though credentialed and trustworthy, lacing their content with classism and respectability politics. Social media thrives off of bravado and shock value, so I’m not surprised that these content creators lay the savagery pretty thick for the clicks and shares. I, however, REFUSE to shame my people for not rushing into a highly volatile and insecure get-rich-quick scheme.
I read a quote from Tavonia Evans, the creator of GuapCoin, where she says “I…had to be the evangelist that is prepared to educate masses of people” (emphasis added). And I immediately wondered how we avoid sounding like we’re pathologizing our people in pursuit of our mission? Have we asked permission to become their saviors? How do we differentiate our priorities from theirs?
Given the history of predatory financing in our community, I can’t fault Black people for not having the time, energy, or patience to understand yet another system promising to take them out of poverty. It might take a slow, click-bait-free approach for them to fully understand the impact crypto could have on their lives.
Which brings up my next question: how quickly is my Ph.D. going to change lives? Like Earn from Atlanta said, some people are too poor today to think about investing for tomorrow. People need the money they’d use to mine Bitcoin to eat TODAY. So building a credible platform for Black people to own crypto coins or learn blockchain is not really solving all the problems income inequality is causing RIGHT NOW.
So what’s the endgame? How do I define success as a financial Blacktivist? Is it just the knowledge people have, even while their paychecks stay the same? What does accountability look like on the road paved with good intentions that we’re speeding through to become the next, big financial guru?
How do we not do more harm than good?
We can start by not talking in absolutes and extremes. “I’m just here to make some money”, “Don’t worry about what the haters say”, “Your friends and family won’t give you the right information, but WE will”, “Don’t be intimidated - it’s easier than you think!” All of that needs to get out of our vocabulary if our goal is truly to inspire people with our platforms.
We can confide in and offer to mentor one another. I’m blessed to have people like William Callahan and Dorinda Foster who I’ve reached out to as I think through the purpose of my next career steps. As easy as it is to pick up a phone and press record, I’d rather talk behind the scenes with people that I trust to tell me when my thoughts around this topic are or aren’t going in the right direction.
Finally, what is the moral code for the promises we make and fail to keep? What happens when something goes wrong after someone takes our advice? Are we ready to own up to financial and professional consequences for the things we share on our platforms? What are we willing to do to make it up to them, after the 10,000 retweets?