WEBVTT - Puerto Crypto 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:04.040 This is Latino USA, the radio journal of News and 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:09.280 Court Latin US. Latin Latino USA. I'm Maria Nojosa. We 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.000 bring you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you, 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.040 overlooked by the rest of the media, and while the 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.360 country is struggling to deal with these, we listen to 0:00:17.400 --> 0:00:19.439 the stories of Black and Latino. 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:21.280 Studio United Latino Front. 0:00:21.200 --> 0:00:25.520 A cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront of the movement. 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:33.240 I'm Maria Ino Jossa O la Latino USA. Listener, Here's 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:48.159 an episode from our archives. What You probably recognize this tune, 0:00:48.400 --> 0:00:52.800 but the lyrics are pretty different from Bob Marley's Stir 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:59.360 It Up. What The participants in this late night jam 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:04.040 session sitting poolside. There's about twenty of them, swaying and 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:11.640 holding hands. It's spring of twenty eighteen here in drincon 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:15.120 Puerto Rico, a town revered for its surf spots and beaches. 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.959 But this mostly non Puerto Rican crowd is here to 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.360 do more than just blow off some steam. There is 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:25.280 this one guy in the group who's grinning and swaying 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:25.880 to the music. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:27.240 You can't miss him. 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.600 He's got on a wide brim black hat like zorro. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:35.280 It's accented with playing cards and feathers. His name is 0:01:35.360 --> 0:01:38.480 Brock Pierce, and he's sort of the main reason that 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:42.400 these people are all here. He's very rich, though it's 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:46.800 impossible to know just how rich. He's the leader of 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:51.520 a movement, a movement that he says will change everything 0:01:55.720 --> 0:01:59.960 from Futuramidia and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria Jojosa 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:11.240 today the bitcoin pirates in the Caribbean. That sing along 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:14.600 that you just heard is from the spring of twenty eighteen. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:19.720 It's just a few months after Hurricane Maria. Much of 0:02:19.720 --> 0:02:23.440 Puerto Rico is still devastated, and these people are here, 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:27.519 they say, to rebuild. That's why they were singing build 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:31.480 it up. At that time, the group was calling themselves 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.320 the Portopians. Many of them are newly rich off of bitcoin, 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.120 the digital currency. Some have even moved to Puerto Rico 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:43.799 to take advantage of its favorable tax laws. The man 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.280 in the zoro hat brought peers. He would say, it's 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.480 not about the taxes. He's declared to the world that 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:53.240 he's going to help turn this island into a high 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:59.240 tech cryptocurrency paradise. Reporters working Cobbler and Michael O'Brien have 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:04.119 been following this story. We begin in March of twenty eighteen, 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:10.320 and Bucking and Michael have descended into the heart of Cryptomania. 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:14.160 They're going to take it from here, and a warning, 0:03:14.280 --> 0:03:17.280 there are some curse words in this episode, which we've bleeped. 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:25.960 Last year, right before tax season, a few hundred Silicon 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.000 Valley types touched down in Puerto Rico. 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:34.079 Actually to these castaways. It's Puerto Crypto. Two weeks of 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:38.120 bitcoin themed events and we're here at the finale Coin 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:39.280 Agenda Caribbean. 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:44.080 At least five hundred cryptocurrency enthusiasts have colonized multiple floors 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.960 of the lavish beachfront hotel in San Juan. The bars 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:52.000 are buzzing, the Panama Jackats are in season, and look out, Puerto. 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.360 Rico, the disruptors are in town. And yeah, we're shaking 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:55.840 things about. 0:03:57.480 --> 0:03:59.960 This is Lauren, one of the people we met Millie 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.400 around the conference. The first thing to know about crypto people. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.200 For them, bitcoin isn't just about money. It's a revolutionary 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:12.240 new technology disrupting life as we know it, but in 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:12.839 a good way. 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.120 Disrupt is one of the buzzwords you'll hear a lot 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:21.119 at a bitcoin conference. Another one is decentralized. The best 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:24.719 focus for me is to decentralize everything, like no mercy. 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:28.720 The economy since World War Two has been decentralizing. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:32.200 Decentralized opps, small contrives, the new decentralized. 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:35.680 Internet, and at the center of this centreless world cryptocurrency. 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.599 We all have that weird cousin who is really into crypto. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:41.920 So we're not going to get too much into it. 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:42.480 All. 0:04:42.520 --> 0:04:43.960 You've got to remember the basics. 0:04:44.560 --> 0:04:48.839 Cryptocurrencies are kind of like virtual money that's online in theory. 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.839 They can be traded for goods or services like real currencies. 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:58.040 The first one was bitcoin. Unlike normal currencies, crypto isn't 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:01.480 regulated by any government or central bank. It was designed 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:06.080 to be untraceable. At first, it was used largely for 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.279 buying and selling things in the dark web, mostly drugs. 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.159 The lack of regulations has made crypto a favorite among 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:17.359 a certain techy libertarian crowd, which accounts for a lot 0:05:17.400 --> 0:05:18.480 of what you'll be hearing today. 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.440 Hi, my name is America and I'm Penalvi and we 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:23.520 are the cyberquot Twins. 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.719 The cyber code twins are superstar coders from California. Like 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.880 others here, they believe the cryptocurrency is the future and 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:33.280 they don't think that the old rules regulating the economy 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:34.320 should apply to them. 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:37.159 The main one is not taking the right approach to 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:39.799 just taring off the innovative. 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.200 And so the crypto people are here in Puerto Rico 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:45.279 looking for a way around regulations. And that's because while 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.160 it's technically part of the United States, it's weird. Colonial 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.279 status makes for lots of loopholes in gray areas, and 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.359 the Portopians say that while they're here, they'll invest and 0:05:54.440 --> 0:05:56.000 help grow a local tech economy. 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.960 This is actually good for Puerto Rico. Cryptocurrency and black 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.640 community are not moving from the Caribbean like they're going 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:03.120 to be here. 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:08.440 The pro business Puerto Rican government here in twenty eighteen 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:11.080 sees this as an opportunity and has been trying to 0:06:11.160 --> 0:06:14.640 lure crypto based businesses to the island. And here's the 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:16.719 other reason that the crypto enthusiasts want to come to 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.760 Puerto Rico. Anyone who moves to the island doesn't have 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:22.360 to pay capital gains or federal income taxes. 0:06:23.520 --> 0:06:26.840 Just five years before this conference. In March of twenty thirteen, 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:30.640 you could buy bitcoin for about forty bucks. 0:06:30.920 --> 0:06:31.480 But at its. 0:06:31.440 --> 0:06:35.120 Highest peak, just three months before the coin agenda, bitcoin 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:39.000 nearly hit twenty thousand dollars. That's a fifty thousand percent 0:06:39.080 --> 0:06:43.760 increase fifty thousand. If you played it right, if you 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:46.760 had just fifty bitcoins to your name, you'd have been 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:47.599 a millionaire. 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.719 But the crypto people haven't cast themselves as their average 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:55.080 tax avoiding millionaires. Their pitch to Puerto Rico is that 0:06:55.120 --> 0:06:56.919 they're here to show the world what crypto can do 0:06:57.000 --> 0:07:00.000 for any economy and do it in a socially conscious way. 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.160 And that got the ear of some local entrepreneurs. 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:05.159 Right now, I was going to move out of Puerto 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.080 Rico because I really think that politics is startable bought. 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.200 Since all of these investors are moving in and all 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.360 these developers are moving in, I see an opportunity to 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:16.840 actually make this sounds ironic, make Puerto Rico right. So 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:18.080 I need to rephrase that. 0:07:18.320 --> 0:07:19.840 Enter Armando Gonzalez. 0:07:20.000 --> 0:07:21.920 People know me here as AIA because a JA is 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:23.280 simpler for most people. 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.200 When we first met AJ, we knew we'd be spending 0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.280 a lot of time with him. He struck us as 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:31.240 somebody who was savvy about the whole crypto scene, a 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.040 charismatic guy with a toothy grin who fit right in 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.560 with the las a fair crypto atmosphere. And he's a 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:38.360 bit of a hustler. 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.040 We have chapters all major universities in Puerto Rico, and 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:43.080 hopefully we're going to have chapters in the nation and 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:44.880 hopefully eventually the world. 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:47.560 Ready to sell you something in this case his startup, 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:52.040 but hey, that's like what everyone here is doing, ages 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.000 in his late twenties. He grew up in San Juan, 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:57.160 Puerto Rico, a middle class kid, raised largely by his grandfather, 0:07:57.840 --> 0:07:59.280 and it took him some time to figure out what 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:01.640 he wanted to do with the life. In college, he 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.640 was all over the place, studying mechanical engineering, switched to chemistry, 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.440 then in a panic psychology like this. 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:12.440 Whole existential crisis and analyzing what like why will my 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:13.120 mother love me? 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:16.720 It's in biological Then he switches to economics after hearing 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:17.480 about bitcoin. 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:19.200 To me, it was like the future. 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.720 AJ thinks about it like this, Puerto Rico's in a 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.920 financial crisis, and here's this new technology that can bring 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.000 investment to the island and he can be a part 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.960 of it and cash in at the same time. He 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.520 creates a nonprofit startup called Edge of block with the 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.080 goal of going into high schools and universities to teach 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:44.880 about blockchain. Blockchain, by the way, is the technology behind cryptocurrencies. 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.480 It's extremely hard to explain, so for our purposes, don't 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:49.360 worry about it. 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.439 It's basically interchangeable with crypto. 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:55.960 When we meet AJ, he's wearing a fisherman's cap that 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.439 says hodl hotally. 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:00.600 That is awesome, hollow man. 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.360 It's an intentional misspelling of the word hold. It's nerd 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.560 slang for hold on to your cryptocurrency rather than selling it. 0:09:07.920 --> 0:09:10.720 And in early twenty eighteen, if you're hotling, you're in 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:11.280 good shape. 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:11.600 You know. 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.440 I actually don't hollow, but this seems like a nice 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.160 thing to have too. A conversation started. 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:19.680 He doesn't hotal as in, AJ didn't snatch up a 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.400 bunch of bitcoin and it was dirt cheap. So today 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:25.080 he's a coin agenda trying to network and raise some 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:26.480 money for his startup. 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.120 And so are about forty other crypto startups who are 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:32.839 all pitching to potential investors in this main conference room. 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:36.880 All right, so, without further ado, we have from run 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.760 to play put your hands together for Joseph. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.160 One by one we watch these men, and it's mostly 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:48.320 men climb up on stage. These guys paid thousands of 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.360 dollars real dollars, not crypto, for the chance to pitch. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.360 Joseph himself paid more than fifteen thousand dollars to be here. 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:59.560 Child littlebcity is a massive issue, and one in five 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:04.360 kids is obese. This is unacceptable and the fact that 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.439 it's real is disgusting. 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.600 He's pitching a fitness app that will reward people in 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.439 crypto for working out. The app, he says, will also 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:14.880 help end world hunger. 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.680 So someday you'll be literally running to feed someone else. 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:22.440 How far will you run to feed the world than you? 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:27.520 Does anybody have any questions? I know, I just kind 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:28.800 of paced in front of you and talked. 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.079 All right, you guys, But Joseph and the like are 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:35.240 not the main attraction here at the conference. The person 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.679 that AJ and others came here to see is Brock Pierce. 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.000 So who is Brock Pierce? 0:10:43.559 --> 0:10:47.800 Obviously describing this Rock Pierce who is now a billionaire, 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:50.760 who's billionarep he wants to make Puerto Rico the center 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:51.200 of the Earth. 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.360 You heard about him earlier at the singalongs. The guy 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:55.480 in the Zoro had. 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:56.920 Midcoin Foundation chair. 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.000 Brock Pierce, the child star who grew up for now 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:01.040 some Puerto Rico that. 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:04.600 Sleepee creepy cowboy from the future is named brock Pius. 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:07.079 He began his career appearing in The Mighty Dogs. 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.400 Rock started his career as a child star in the nineties. 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.480 Then got involved with some very unsayfigures. 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:14.920 When he was seventeen, he helped run an online media 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.160 company that got into some really sketchy territory. 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.200 Just google brock Pius scandal is all I'm saying there. 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.400 Then circa two thousand and one, he founded a company 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:28.760 that employed Chinese sweatshop labor to collect and sell imaginary 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:33.840 gold in World of Warcraft, the video game. This amazingly 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:35.960 made millions of dollars. 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:38.760 Side note, at one point the company was run by 0:11:38.800 --> 0:11:39.600 Steve Bannon. 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:41.800 Yes that's Steve Bannon. 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:45.160 And those millions of real dollars from virtual gold. Brock 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:49.520 put into digital money Bitcoin early on, which made him 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:50.240 a billionaire. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.520 At least that's what they say. 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:57.280 And now with the new agy crystal swathed psychotropic persona. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:00.600 Rocks acquired quite a cult following in the crypto community 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.520 as a guru and on stage at coin Agenda. 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.760 He's at the main event, and. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:09.520 As I like to point out, as Puerto Rico has 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.760 got a pr problem. 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:12.079 The room is full. 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:16.320 Brock is sitting cross legged directly on the stage today. 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:17.440 He's draped in linen. 0:12:18.280 --> 0:12:21.160 So many wonderful technologies all coming together at the same time, 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.160 so many extraordinary innovators and entrepreneurs from all the modalities. 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.720 You know, this is not a crypto or blockchain movement. 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:30.080 This is in everything sort of movement. 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:33.920 And everything movement. You might be thinking this is all 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:37.280 sounding pretty crazy, and yeah, it does to us too. 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:41.240 But he's succeeded in selling a vision, a seductive one, 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.720 a vision that technology will set us free, make us 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.920 wealthy and spiritually fulfilled. And it could start right here 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:51.760 in Puerto Rico, a place where at this time more 0:12:51.760 --> 0:12:54.800 than one hundred thousand residents are without power after the hurricane, 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:58.240 where government, both local and federal, isn't helping people in 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:01.319 their time of need. May the crypto people can offer 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:02.920 solutions where the government fell short. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:04.880 What do people have to lose. 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.679 Fortunately, this is an island that's need of help and 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.800 that makes people more willing to listen than usual, and. 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:14.920 They do add big ideas for Puerto Rico, crypto based 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:19.560 cab companies, building startup cities on unused public land, even 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:23.240 turning the island into a cryptocurrency financial hub, a sort 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:26.280 of Caribbean Hong Kong but for bitcoin. 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:29.800 One of the locals buying this vision is AJ. He 0:13:29.840 --> 0:13:33.240 wants to be a part of Brock's Everything movement. AJ 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:35.720 sees a role for himself. He wants to get in 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:38.800 with Brock, make some money, and bring a Puerto Rican 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:40.600 perspective to Brock's team while he's at it. 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.800 And it's my duty to let them know that if 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.600 they're going to benefit from this taxes, they should give 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:50.040 back to the island. That I'm talking to them, I'm 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.199 convincing them that they should move to Puerto Rico, connecting 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:54.040 them with other people and they will invest in the 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.199 island and we will make it better. 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.480 One of the things that crypto people keep talking about 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.079 is using a new tech to fix the island's infrastructure, 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.240 for example, installing smart grids and solar panels throughout the island, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.960 and as the conference is winding down, I meet some 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:19.400 people who are telling me they're headed into the countryside 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.080 to do just that. I'm told it's my chance to 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.440 see the crypto solutions for Puerto Rico in action. The 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:29.560 guy organizing the trip is a self proclaimed surf instructor, videographer, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.480 life coach, entrepreneur, and blockchain evangelist by the name of 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:37.120 Jonathan Fritzler. He's psyched to have the media coverage. 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.600 We have a frickin' epic story unfolding because last night 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:42.400 I was at this hip hop concert and I met 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.520 this guy who's down to put solar panels on the 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:49.040 roof ar cond this place for free, and it would 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:50.840 be good to have you guys there because it just 0:14:50.880 --> 0:14:55.360 makes it look more symbolical of like something's happening. Having 0:14:55.520 --> 0:14:58.920 MPR there, it would just like make the whole story 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:00.920 like a little bit more awesome. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:04.200 So the next morning, Jonathan and I, along with four 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.000 volunteers and a camera woman pile into a minivan. 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.080 We're headed to Cabra Ds on the west side of 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:13.560 the island. 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:18.359 In true crypto fashion, most of them accessorize with crystals 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:20.800 or agates of some sort. One guy has to be 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:23.880 jeweled goateea and rocks a tailored purple vest with matching 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:25.560 fedora and slacks. 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:27.840 Not exactly typical work gear for the tropics. 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.080 Were we going to have install their panels today? 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:33.920 I don't know, so when we come back to do 0:15:33.960 --> 0:15:34.440 the work late. 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.920 This is kind of, uh, you know, front lines media 0:15:38.080 --> 0:15:39.080 activism right now. 0:15:39.360 --> 0:15:42.200 If you didn't catch that, he said, We're not actually 0:15:42.200 --> 0:15:45.320 going to install the solar panels today. This is going 0:15:45.360 --> 0:15:49.160 to be front lines media activism, he says, which apparently 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.320 means vlogging while driving. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.240 So, hey, you guys, real quick, I just wanted to 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.760 do a quick video. We're here live and headed to 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:58.240 the hospital that was donated. 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:00.200 We pull up to a huge facility. 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:01.160 We made it. 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:03.160 Yeah, we've made timing. 0:16:04.440 --> 0:16:06.600 It used to be the town's only public health clinic 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:08.520 until it closed down about ten years ago. 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:10.520 Follow us as we all get out. 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.160 And as we file out of the van, Jonathan directs 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:14.080 us for the camera. 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:19.760 And stop, stop stop right there, perfect director. 0:16:20.480 --> 0:16:22.600 Once we have the perfect take, we get a tour 0:16:22.600 --> 0:16:24.920 of the place from a member of a nonprofit one 0:16:25.040 --> 0:16:28.160 human family coalition that's coordinating relief work there. 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:29.680 Okay, let's start with the tour. 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.000 Since Hurricane Maria, a group of volunteers, including a search 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.040 and rescue team, doctors and nurses have been using a 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.200 wing of the building as a makeshift hospital, and. 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:41.720 There's also unused rooms on used operating rooms. 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:44.880 Then the tour ends and we circle up for thoughts 0:16:44.880 --> 0:16:45.440 and prayers. 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:49.200 Puerto Rico being one of the corners in the Bermuda triangle, 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:53.960 almost being like a lost island, but we. 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:55.400 Have not forgotten about you. 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.640 We're here to support, and more than anything, we're here 0:16:59.680 --> 0:17:04.000 to raise awareness for ourselves and for the world through 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:06.800 sharing these videos, through sharing this media. 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:08.320 That's why we're here. 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:11.160 We're here for them, the people who have lost their homes, 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.760 the people who have lost their families, We're here for them. 0:17:14.200 --> 0:17:25.360 We're here AH one, two three. 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:23.280 And that was it. 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:27.000 Then we piled into the van and left. No work 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:31.440 of any kind was done. Side note. Over a year later, 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:33.399 the cap of the s clinic still doesn't have the 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:36.399 solar panels or even an X ray machine. None of 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:38.800 the crypto voluntearists from our trip of them back there, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:49.040 and the building is currently closed. The video shoot felt 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.720 more like a low key pr campaign than an actual 0:17:51.760 --> 0:17:52.399 aid mission. 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:54.880 It was clearly a networking opportunity. 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:58.359 Maybe not the best example of Brocks Everything movement in action. 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:02.960 We thought, okay, maybe it was just a fluke, but 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:05.280 it turned out to be just a taste of what 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:06.200 was coming. 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:18.639 Coming up on Latino US say hey, there's. 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.080 A representative of me. This is a decentralized moment. 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.680 Is I'm not aware of anyone building any gated community. 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:25.119 I think you ald. 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.800 The island and the rest of the world react to 0:18:29.880 --> 0:19:26.280 the portopians, stay with us, don't stay by. Yes, hey, 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:31.040 we're back. And before the break, our reporters, Joaquin Cottler 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.880 and Michael O'Brien took you into the world of cryptocurrency. 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:38.840 True believers set on making Puerto Rico their new home. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:43.320 But in the wake of Hurricane Maria, a bunch of 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:47.159 rich Americans moving down and talking about changing everything on 0:19:47.200 --> 0:19:51.600 the island wasn't the best kind of optics. A few 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.320 days after the big conference that our reporters just took 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:58.240 you to, the Intersect published a story about disaster capitalism 0:19:58.280 --> 0:20:02.479 in Puerto Rico, and the crypto guys were front and center. 0:20:02.960 --> 0:20:05.880 They are attracted to Puerto Rico because it holds out 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:10.119 the promise that they can convert their cryptocurrencies into harder 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:12.960 currencies while paying no taxes whatsoever. 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.680 That was March of twenty eighteen. A few months later, 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:20.479 anti austerity protests took place around the island. 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.199 Thousands marked May Day by joining a general strike in 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.400 the capital of San Juan to protest austerity measures, and so. 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:33.199 In that context, the Pertopians were coming off as pretty 0:20:33.240 --> 0:20:36.480 tone deaf. Back now to Juaquin and Michael. 0:20:38.600 --> 0:20:42.280 The May Day protests, they aren't really AJ's thing. He's 0:20:42.280 --> 0:20:46.320 gone all in with Brock Pierces Everything movement. It's a 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.600 few months after the conference and Brock is spearheading another 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:52.160 week of crypto events, this time on the west coast 0:20:52.160 --> 0:20:55.480 of the island instead of in the capital. They're calling 0:20:55.520 --> 0:21:01.520 it Restart West. When we first met Aj at the 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:04.439 crypto conference, he was dead set on getting in with 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.240 Brock and his inner circle, and when he'd heard about 0:21:07.240 --> 0:21:09.399 this trip out west, he saw his chance. 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.600 So he just showed up at Brock's house the. 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:15.120 Day before they were going to leave. I just went 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:17.760 there and I didn't leave. I was down to sleep 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:20.040 in front of the door. That wasn't needed in order 0:21:20.040 --> 0:21:21.520 for me to go with them. 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:21.879 And it worked. 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:24.960 They brought him along to act as a liaison between 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.120 the crypto people and the locals. 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:31.439 Because it's important to have someone from here help with 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:33.600 the cultural and language barrier. 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:37.000 After all the bad press after the last events, the 0:21:37.040 --> 0:21:39.840 goal was to make this one appear more inclusive. They 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.200 wanted to develop a better relationship with Puerto Ricans. Aj 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:44.200 would be their super. 0:21:44.080 --> 0:21:47.040 Weapon, and that's why it's important to be working with 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:51.840 locals if you want to make an impact on the island. 0:21:51.520 --> 0:21:54.600 Of the locals, and as Aj tells it, his local 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.760 knowledge came in handy. For example, they were having trouble 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:00.879 getting a venue. Aj stepped in. He made some calls, 0:22:00.960 --> 0:22:03.960 pulled some strings in one fifty thousand dollars donation to 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:06.760 the university. Later, Restart West was in business. 0:22:09.280 --> 0:22:12.560 Restart West is a more intimate affair, at least compared 0:22:12.640 --> 0:22:15.880 with last March's events, more of a retreat than a conference, 0:22:16.520 --> 0:22:19.439 lots of brainstorming sessions about how to be of service 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:20.080 to the island. 0:22:20.560 --> 0:22:23.480 Puerto Rico has the possibility now of being put on 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:23.880 the map. 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:28.280