1 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 1: You probably recognize this tune, but the lyrics are pretty 2 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: different from Bob Marley's Stirred Up. The participants in this 3 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: late night jam session are sitting poolside. There is about 4 00:00:26,840 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: twenty of them, swaying and holding hands. It's spring of 5 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: twenty eighteen here in Rincon, Puerto Rico, a ton revered 6 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 1: for its surf spots and beaches, but this mostly non 7 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: Puerto Rican crowd is here to do more than just 8 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:47,839 Speaker 1: blow off some steam. There is this one guy in 9 00:00:47,880 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: the group who's grinning and swaying to the music. You 10 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: can't miss him. He's got on a wide brim black 11 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: hat like Zorro. It's accented with playing cards and feathers. 12 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: His name is and he's sort of the main reason 13 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,639 Speaker 1: that these people are all here. He's very rich, though 14 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,919 Speaker 1: it's impossible to know just how rich. He's the leader 15 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: of a movement, a movement that he says will change everything. 16 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: From futuro media, it's Latino usay iim Maria nor Rosa 17 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: today the Bitcoin Pirates of the Caribbean. That sing along 18 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: that you just heard is from the spring of twenty eighteen. 19 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: It's just a few months after Hurricane Maria much of 20 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: Puerto Rico is still devastated, and these people are here, 21 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: they say, to rebuild. That's why they were singing build 22 00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:56,000 Speaker 1: it up. At that time, the group was calling themselves 23 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,800 Speaker 1: the Portopians. Many of them are newly rich off of bitcoin, 24 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:03,600 Speaker 1: the digital currency. Some have even moved to Puerto Rico 25 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: to take advantage of its favorable tax laws. The man 26 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: in the zoro hat brought peers. He would say, it's 27 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:14,960 Speaker 1: not about the taxes. He's declared to the world that 28 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,679 Speaker 1: he's going to help turn this island into a high 29 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: tech cryptocurrency paradise. Reporters Juacking, Coddler and Michael O'Brien have 30 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: been following this story. We begin in March of twenty eighteen, 31 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: and Quacking and Michael have descended into the heart of Cryptomania. 32 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: They're going to take it from here, and a warning, 33 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: there are some curse words in this episode which we've bleeped. 34 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 2: In twenty eighteen, right before tax season, a few hundred 35 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:52,520 Speaker 2: Silicon Valley types touched down in Puerto Rico. 36 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:58,600 Speaker 3: Actually to these castaways, it's Puerto Crypto. Two weeks of 37 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 3: bitcoin themed events, and we're here at the finale coin 38 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:03,760 Speaker 3: Agenda Caribbean. 39 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 2: At least five hundred cryptocurrency enthusiasts have colonized multiple floors 40 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 2: of a lavish beachfront hotel in San Juan. The bars 41 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,480 Speaker 2: are buzzing, the Panama Jackcats are in season, and look out, Puerto. 42 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 4: Rico, the disruptors are in town, and yeah, we're shaking 43 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 4: things about. 44 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 3: This is Lauren, one of the people we met milling 45 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 3: around the conference. The first thing to know about crypto people. 46 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,680 Speaker 3: For them, bitcoin isn't just about money. It's a revolutionary 47 00:03:31,720 --> 00:03:36,120 Speaker 3: new technology disrupting life as we know it, but like 48 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 3: in a good way. 49 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 2: Disrupt is one of the buzzwords you'll hear a lot 50 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 2: at a bitcoin conference. Another one is decentralized. 51 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 4: The best focus for me is to decentralize everything, no mercy. 52 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 3: The economy since World War Two has been decentralizing. 53 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 5: Decentralized apps, small contrives, the new decentralized Internet. 54 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 2: And at the center of this centerless world cryptocurrency. 55 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:04,120 Speaker 3: We all have that weird cousin who is really into crypto. 56 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 3: So we're not going to get too much into it. 57 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 6: All. 58 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 3: You've got to remember the basics. Cryptocurrencies are kind of 59 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 3: like virtual money. That's online In theory, they can be 60 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 3: traded for goods or services like real currencies. The first 61 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 3: one was bitcoin. Unlike normal currencies, crypto isn't regulated by 62 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 3: any government or central bank. 63 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 7: It was designed to be untraceable. 64 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,320 Speaker 3: At first, it was used largely for buying and selling 65 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,359 Speaker 3: things on the dark web, mostly drugs. The lack of 66 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 3: regulations has made crypto a favorite among a certain techee 67 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 3: libertarian crowd, which accounts for a lot of what you'll 68 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:43,000 Speaker 3: be hearing today. 69 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:45,920 Speaker 1: Hi, my name is America and I'm Panalvie and we 70 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,040 Speaker 1: are the Cybercuote Twins. 71 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 2: The cyber Code Twins are superstar coders from California. Like 72 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,359 Speaker 2: others here, they believe the cryptocurrency is the future, and 73 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 2: they don't think that the old rules regulating the economy 74 00:04:57,800 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 2: should apply to them. 75 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,640 Speaker 1: The main one is not taking the right approach to 76 00:05:02,920 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 1: not just tearing off the innovative. 77 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 2: And so the crypto people are here in Puerto Rico 78 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 2: looking for a way around regulations. And that's because while 79 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 2: it's technically part of the United States, it's weird. Colonial 80 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 2: status makes for lots of loopholes in gray areas, and 81 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:18,880 Speaker 2: the Portopians say that while they're here, they'll invest and 82 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 2: help grow a local tech economy. 83 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 8: This is actually good for Puerto Rico. 84 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: Cryptocurrency and blockging community are not moving from the Caribbean 85 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: like they're going to be here. 86 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 2: The pro business Puerto Rican government here in twenty eighteen 87 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 2: sees this as an opportunity and has been trying to 88 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:39,159 Speaker 2: lure crypto based businesses to the island. And here's the 89 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:41,160 Speaker 2: other reason that the crypto enthusiasts want to come to 90 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 2: Puerto Rico. Anyone who moves to the island doesn't have 91 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:48,599 Speaker 2: to pay capital gains or federal income taxes. Just seven 92 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 2: years ago, one bitcoin costs about forty bucks. But right 93 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 2: towards the end of twenty seventeen, just three months before 94 00:05:55,400 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 2: this conference, each bitcoin was worth nearly twenty thousand dollars. 95 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 2: That's a fifty thousand percent increase fifty thousand So if 96 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,280 Speaker 2: you had just fifty bitcoins, that would make you a millionaire. 97 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 2: But the crypto people haven't cast themselves as their average 98 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 2: tax avoiding millionaires. Their pitch to Puerto Rico is that 99 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:16,400 Speaker 2: they're here to show the world what crypto can do 100 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 2: for an economy and do it in a socially conscious way, 101 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:22,640 Speaker 2: and that got the ear of some local entrepreneurs. 102 00:06:22,839 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 9: Right now, I was going to move out of Puerto 103 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,480 Speaker 9: Rico because I really think that politics is terrible. Though, 104 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 9: since all of these investors are moving in and all 105 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 9: these developers are moving in, I see an opportunity to 106 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 9: actually make this sounds ironic, make Puerto Rico right. So 107 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 9: I need to rephrase that. 108 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,360 Speaker 10: Enter Armando Gonzalez. 109 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,400 Speaker 9: People know me here as AIA because a JA is 110 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 9: simpler for most people. 111 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 2: When we first met AJ, we knew we'd be spending 112 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 2: a lot of time with him. He struck us as 113 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,680 Speaker 2: somebody who is savvy about the whole crypto scene, a 114 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 2: charismatic guy with a toothy grin who fit right in 115 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 2: with the Las a Fair crypto atmosphere. 116 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 10: And he's a bit of a hustler. 117 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 9: We have chapters, Senel, all mayor universities into Rico, and 118 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,560 Speaker 9: hopefully we're going to have after seeing the nation and 119 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:03,880 Speaker 9: hopefully eventually the. 120 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 2: World, ready to sell you something, in this case his startup. 121 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 2: But hey, that's like what everyone here is doing. Ages 122 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 2: in his late twenties. He grew up in San Juan, 123 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 2: Puerto Rico, a middle class kid raised largely by his grandfather, 124 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 2: and it took him some time to figure out what 125 00:07:18,800 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 2: he wanted to do with his life. In college, he 126 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 2: was all over the place studying mechanical engineering, switched to chemistry, 127 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,559 Speaker 2: then in a panic, psychology. 128 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 9: I entered like this whole existential crisis and analyzing what, 129 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:33,600 Speaker 9: like why will my mother love me? It'said biological. 130 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,000 Speaker 2: Then he switches to economics after hearing about bitcoin. 131 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 9: To me, it was like the future. 132 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 3: AJ thinks about it like this, Puerto Rico's in a 133 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 3: financial crisis, and here's this new technology that can bring 134 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 3: investment to the island and he can be a part 135 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:52,760 Speaker 3: of it and cash in. 136 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 7: At the same time. 137 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:56,840 Speaker 3: He creates a nonprofit startup called Edge of block with 138 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 3: the goal of going into high schools and universities to 139 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:03,160 Speaker 3: teach about blocklockchain. Blockchain, by the way, is the technology 140 00:08:03,160 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 3: behind cryptocurrencies. It's extremely hard to explain, so for our purposes, 141 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 3: don't worry about it. 142 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:10,920 Speaker 7: It's basically interchangeable with crypto. 143 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 2: When we meet Aj, he's wearing a fisherman's cap that 144 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 2: says hodl. 145 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 9: Hotal that is awesome, Just hollow man. 146 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 2: It's an intentional misspelling of the word hold. It's nerd 147 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 2: slang for hold on to your cryptocurrency rather than selling it. 148 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 2: And in early twenty eighteen, if you're hotling, you're in 149 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 2: good shape. 150 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 9: You know, I actually don't hollow, but this seems like 151 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 9: a nice thing to have too. A conversation started. 152 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 2: He doesn't hotal, as in AJ didn't snatch up a 153 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 2: bunch of bitcoin and it was dirt cheap. So today 154 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 2: he's a coin agenda trying to network and raise some 155 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 2: money for his startup. 156 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 3: And so are about forty other crypto startups who are 157 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 3: all pitching to potential investors in this main conference room. 158 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 6: All right, so without further ado, we have from run 159 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,599 Speaker 6: to play put your hands together for Joseph. 160 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,680 Speaker 3: One by one, we watch these men, and it's mostly 161 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 3: men climb up on stage. These guys paid thousands of 162 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 3: dollars real dollars, not crypto, for the chance to pitch. 163 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:14,880 Speaker 3: Joseph himself paid more than fifteen thousand dollars to be here. 164 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,080 Speaker 11: Childhood obesity is a massive issue, and one in five 165 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,880 Speaker 11: kids is obese. This is unacceptable and the fact that 166 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:25,959 Speaker 11: it's real is disgusting. 167 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,079 Speaker 3: He's pitching a fitness app that will reward people in 168 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 3: Crypto for working out the app, he says will also 169 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 3: help end world hunger. 170 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 11: So someday you'll be literally running to feed someone else. 171 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,960 Speaker 11: How far will you run to feed the world? Heik you, 172 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 11: Does anybody have any questions? I know, I just kind 173 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:48,319 Speaker 11: of paced in front of you and talked. 174 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:51,559 Speaker 2: All right, you guys, But Joseph and the like are 175 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 2: not the main intraction here at the conference. The person 176 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:58,160 Speaker 2: that AJ and others came here to see is Brock Pierce. 177 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:01,520 Speaker 2: So who is brock Pierce? 178 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 5: Hob easily describing this Rock Pierce, who is now a 179 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:08,439 Speaker 5: billionaires now billionaire. 180 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 7: He also made Puerto Rico the center. 181 00:10:10,320 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 12: Of the Earth. 182 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 7: You heard about him earlier at the singalongs. The guy 183 00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,360 Speaker 7: in the Zoro had Bitcoin Foundation chair. Brock Pierce, the 184 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 7: child star who grew up and now lives in Puerto Rico. 185 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 13: Sleepee, creepy cowboy from the future. His name's brock Pius. 186 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 13: He began his career appearing in The Mighty Dogs. 187 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,959 Speaker 3: Brock started his career as a child star in the nineties, then. 188 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:31,960 Speaker 13: Go involved with some very on safe free figures. 189 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,400 Speaker 3: When he was seventeen, he helped run an online media 190 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 3: company that got into some really sketchy territory. 191 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:40,680 Speaker 13: Just google brock Pius scandal is all upside there. 192 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 3: Then circ two thousand and one, he founded a company 193 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:48,239 Speaker 3: that employed Chinese sweatshop labor to collect and sell imaginary 194 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 3: gold in World of Warcraft, the video game. This amazingly 195 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 3: made millions of dollars. 196 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 2: Side note, at one point the company was run by 197 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,400 Speaker 2: Steve Bannon, Yes, that Steve Bennon, and. 198 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 3: Those millions of real dollars from virtual gold. Brock put 199 00:11:04,880 --> 00:11:09,120 Speaker 3: into digital money Bitcoin early on, which made him a 200 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 3: billionaire at least that's what they say. And now with 201 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:17,920 Speaker 3: a new agy crystal swath that's psychotropic persona, Rock's acquired 202 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 3: quite a cult following in the crypto community as a guru, 203 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,560 Speaker 3: and on stage at coin agenda he's the main event. 204 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 12: And as I like to point out, as Puerto Rico 205 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,280 Speaker 12: has got a pr problem. 206 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 10: The room is full. 207 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 2: Brock is sitting cross legged directly on the stage today. 208 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 10: He's draped in linen. 209 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,680 Speaker 12: So many wonderful technologies all coming together at the same time, 210 00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 12: so many extraordinary innovators and entrepreneurs from all the modalities. 211 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 7: You know, this is not. 212 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 12: A crypto or blockchain movement. This is in Everything sort. 213 00:11:48,760 --> 00:11:50,880 Speaker 10: Of movement and Everything movement. 214 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 2: You might be thinking this is all sounding pretty crazy, 215 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:58,479 Speaker 2: and yeah, it does to us too, But he succeeded 216 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:02,320 Speaker 2: in selling a vision, deductive one, a vision that technology 217 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 2: will set us free, make us wealthy and spiritually fulfilled. 218 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 2: And it could start right here in Puerto Rico, a 219 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 2: place where hundreds of thousands of residents went for months 220 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 2: without power after the hurricane, where government both local and federal, 221 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:19,319 Speaker 2: isn't helping people in their time of need. Maybe the 222 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 2: crypto people can offer solutions where the government fell short. 223 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 12: Fortunately, this is an island that's a need of help, 224 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 12: and that makes people more willing to listen than usual. 225 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 3: And they do add big ideas for Puerto Rico, crypto 226 00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 3: based cab companies, building startup cities on unused public land, 227 00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:40,439 Speaker 3: even turning the island into a cryptocurrency financial hub, a 228 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:43,800 Speaker 3: sort of Caribbean Hong Kong but for bitcoin. 229 00:12:44,440 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 2: One of the locals buying this vision is Aj. He 230 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 2: wants to be a part of Brock's Everything movement. AJ 231 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 2: sees a role for himself. He wants to get in 232 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 2: with Brock, make some money, and bring a Puerto Rican 233 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 2: perspective to Brock's team while he's at it, and. 234 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,520 Speaker 9: It's my duty to let them know that if they're 235 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 9: going to benefit from these taxes, they should give back 236 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 9: to the islands. That I'm talking to them, I'm convincing 237 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:09,839 Speaker 9: them that they should move to Puerto Rico, connecting them 238 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 9: with other people and they will invest on the island 239 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 9: and we will make it better. 240 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 2: One of the things that crypto people keep talking about 241 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,599 Speaker 2: is using a new tech to fix the island's infrastructure, 242 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 2: for example, installing smart grids and solar panels throughout the island. 243 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,440 Speaker 2: And as the conference is winding down, I meet some 244 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,840 Speaker 2: people who are telling me they're headed into the countryside 245 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,600 Speaker 2: to do just that. I'm told it's my chance to 246 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:42,960 Speaker 2: see the crypto solutions for Puerto Rico in action. The 247 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 2: guy organizing the trip is a self proclaimed surf instructor, videographer, 248 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:51,000 Speaker 2: life coach, entrepreneur, and blockchain evangelist by the name of 249 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 2: Jonathan Fritzler. He's psyched to have the media coverage. 250 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 14: We have a freaking epic story unfolding because last night 251 00:13:58,120 --> 00:13:59,839 Speaker 14: I was at this hip hop concert and I met 252 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:02,920 Speaker 14: this guy who is down to put solar panels on 253 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,280 Speaker 14: the roof or on this place for free, and it 254 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,120 Speaker 14: would be good to have you guys there because it 255 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 14: just makes it look more symbolical of like, if something's happening, 256 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 14: having an MPR there, it would just like make the 257 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 14: whole story like a little bit more awesome. 258 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,720 Speaker 2: So the next morning, Jonathan and I, along with four 259 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 2: volunteers and a camera woman pile into a minivan. We're 260 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 2: headed to Cabra Ds on the west side of the island. 261 00:14:32,240 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 2: In true crypto fashion, most of them accessorize with crystals 262 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:38,320 Speaker 2: or agates of some sort. One guy has to be 263 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,360 Speaker 2: jeweled goateea and rocks a tailored purple vest with matching 264 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 2: fedora and slacks, not exactly typical work gear for the Tropics. 265 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 7: Well, we go be stolen their panels today, I don't. 266 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 10: Know, so when we come back to do the one later. 267 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,160 Speaker 14: This is kind of, you know, front lines media activism 268 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 14: right now. 269 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,600 Speaker 2: If you didn't catch that, he said, We're not actually 270 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 2: going to install the solar panels today. This is going 271 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 2: to be frontlines media activism, he says, which apparently means 272 00:15:07,520 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 2: vlogging while driving. 273 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 5: So, hey, you guys, real quick, I just wanted to 274 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 5: do a quick video where you're live and headed to 275 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:15,720 Speaker 5: the hospital that was donated. 276 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 10: We pull up to a huge facility. 277 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:19,880 Speaker 13: We made it, Yeah, we made it. 278 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:24,400 Speaker 2: Used to be the town's only public health clinic until 279 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,040 Speaker 2: it closed down about ten years ago. 280 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:27,960 Speaker 7: Follow us as we all get out. 281 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 2: And as we file out of the van, Jonathan directs 282 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 2: us for the camera. 283 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:37,240 Speaker 7: And stop, stop, stop right there, perfect director. 284 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 2: Once we have the perfect take, we get a tour 285 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 2: of the place from a member of a nonprofit one 286 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 2: Human Family coalition that's coordinating relief work there. 287 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,200 Speaker 10: Okay, let's start with a tour. 288 00:15:48,240 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 2: Since Hurricane Maria, a group of volunteers, including a search 289 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 2: and rescue team, doctors and nurses have been using a 290 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 2: wing of the building as a makeshift hospital, and. 291 00:15:56,720 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 7: There's also unused rooms on us operating rooms. 292 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,360 Speaker 2: Then the tour ends and we circle up for thoughts 293 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:03,240 Speaker 2: and prayers. 294 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 5: Puerto Rico being one of the corners in the Bermuda 295 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 5: Triangle almost being like a lost island. 296 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 14: But we have not forgotten about you. 297 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:17,200 Speaker 5: We're here to support, and more than anything, we're here 298 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 5: to raise awareness for ourselves and for the world through 299 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,800 Speaker 5: sharing these videos, through sharing this media. That's why we're here. 300 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 5: We're here for them, the people who have lost their homes, 301 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 5: the people who have lost their families. 302 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 10: We're here for them. 303 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:32,280 Speaker 6: We're here. 304 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:42,880 Speaker 5: Oh, one, two, three. 305 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 2: And that was it. Then we piled into the van 306 00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:47,640 Speaker 2: and left. No work of any kind was done. Side note. 307 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 2: Over a year later, the cape of the s clinic 308 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 2: still doesn't have the solar panels or even an X 309 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 2: ray machine. None of the crypto voluntearists from our trip 310 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 2: of them back there, and the building is currently closed. 311 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 2: The video shoot felt more like a low key pr 312 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 2: campaign than an actual aid mission. It was clearly a 313 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 2: networking opportunity. Maybe not the best example of Brocks Everything 314 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 2: movement in action. We thought, okay, maybe it was just 315 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 2: a fluke, but it turned out to be just a 316 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:23,639 Speaker 2: taste of what was coming. 317 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:37,040 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino Usay, hey, there's no representative of me. 318 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 7: This is a decentralized movement. 319 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 6: Is I'm not aware of anyone building, any gated community. 320 00:17:41,359 --> 00:17:42,240 Speaker 8: I think around. 321 00:17:43,960 --> 00:17:47,320 Speaker 1: The island and the rest of the world react to 322 00:17:47,359 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: the portopians, stay with us, don't stay by Yes, hey 323 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: we're back. And before the break, our reporters Joaquing Cotler 324 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: and Michael O'Brien took you into the world of cryptocurrency. 325 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,320 Speaker 1: True believers set on making Puerto Rico their new home. 326 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: But in the wake of Hurricane Maria, a bunch of 327 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: rich Americans moved down and talking about changing everything on 328 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:07,080 Speaker 1: the island wasn't the best kind of optics. A few 329 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,880 Speaker 1: days after the big conference that our reporters just took 330 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 1: you to, the Intercept published a story about disaster capitalism 331 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:18,000 Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico, and the crypto guys were front and center. 332 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 4: They are attracted to Puerto Rico because it holds out 333 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 4: the promise that they can convert their cryptocurrencies into harder 334 00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:28,520 Speaker 4: currencies while paying no taxes whatsoever. 335 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:32,200 Speaker 1: That was March of twenty eighteen. A few months later, 336 00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: anti austerity protests took place around the island. 337 00:19:38,359 --> 00:19:41,680 Speaker 15: Thousands marked May Day by joining a general strike in 338 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:44,560 Speaker 15: the capital of San Juan to protest austerity measures. 339 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,760 Speaker 1: And so in that context, the Portopians were coming off 340 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: as pretty tone deaf. 341 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:55,199 Speaker 3: Back now to Juaquin and Michael, the May Day protests, 342 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 3: they aren't really AJ's thing. He's gone all in with 343 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:02,679 Speaker 3: brock Pierces Everything movement. It's a few months after the 344 00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:06,280 Speaker 3: conference and Brock is spearheading another week of crypto events, 345 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:08,679 Speaker 3: this time on the west coast of the island instead 346 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:15,960 Speaker 3: of in the capitol. They're calling it Restart West. When 347 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 3: we first met Aj at the Crypto conference, he was 348 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,360 Speaker 3: dead set on getting in with Brock and his inner circle, 349 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 3: and when he'd heard about this trip out west, he 350 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,119 Speaker 3: saw his chance. So he just showed up at Brock's 351 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:28,160 Speaker 3: house the. 352 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 9: Day before they were going to leave. I just went 353 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 9: there and I didn't leave. I was down to sleep 354 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 9: in front of the door. That wasn't needed in order 355 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:36,359 Speaker 9: for me to go with. 356 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 7: Them, and it worked. 357 00:20:37,880 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 3: They brought him along to act as a liaison between 358 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,600 Speaker 3: the crypto people and the locals. 359 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 9: Because it's important to have someone from here help with 360 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 9: the cultural and language barrier. 361 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 3: After all the bad press after the last events, the 362 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:54,680 Speaker 3: goal was to make this one appear more inclusive. 363 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 7: They wanted to develop a better relationship with Puerto Ricans. 364 00:20:58,440 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 7: Aj would be their secret. 365 00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 9: Weapon, and that's why it's important to be working with 366 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 9: locos if you want to make an impact on the 367 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:07,320 Speaker 9: island of the. 368 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 2: Locals, and as Aj tells it, his local knowledge came 369 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 2: in handy. For example, they were having trouble getting a venue. 370 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 2: AJ stepped in. He made some calls, pulled some strings, 371 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 2: and one fifty thousand dollars donation to the university. Later, 372 00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 2: Restart West was in business. 373 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:28,080 Speaker 3: Restart West is a more intimate affair, at least compared 374 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:31,400 Speaker 3: with last March's events, more of a retreat than a conference, 375 00:21:32,040 --> 00:21:34,959 Speaker 3: lots of brainstorming sessions about how to be of service 376 00:21:35,000 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 3: to the island. 377 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 6: Puerto Rico has the possibility now of being put on 378 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,159 Speaker 6: the map as a hub of innovation, and that's a 379 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:44,399 Speaker 6: wonderful thing if it works. 380 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 7: Overall, think less pitching, more guided meditation. Shandi hum, I 381 00:21:51,359 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 7: am peace. 382 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 10: I have silence inside of me. 383 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 3: They shack up in a ritzy villa in the hills 384 00:21:57,680 --> 00:22:00,960 Speaker 3: overlooking the water and rincone. One of the first evenings 385 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:04,640 Speaker 3: goes so well and impromptu singalong breaks out, the same 386 00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:10,760 Speaker 3: one you heard earlier. At first, things go pretty smoothly. 387 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,120 Speaker 3: AJ organized as a hackathon at the university. That's a success. 388 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,480 Speaker 2: Two days later is their big outreach event, the Day 389 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 2: of Listening. It's built as an opportunity for the crypto 390 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,560 Speaker 2: people to listen and learn from Puerto Ricans. 391 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,879 Speaker 9: No I actually wanted to be more involved in the 392 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:28,440 Speaker 9: planning of that particular event. 393 00:22:28,880 --> 00:22:31,520 Speaker 2: Aj says that if he had been, the flyers wouldn't 394 00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:32,440 Speaker 2: have all been in English. 395 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 10: For one. 396 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,520 Speaker 3: The event takes place in a conference room at a resort, 397 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 3: spruced out with fake columns in these wrenched chandeliers. 398 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 7: Brock's wearing a shirt that says Banksy is female. 399 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 3: Rock led the charge, you guys have been working your 400 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:50,280 Speaker 3: butt off for years down here. 401 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:51,080 Speaker 10: That helps here. 402 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,480 Speaker 2: Now it's basically just the crypto people themselves in the room, 403 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,080 Speaker 2: mostly non Puerto Ricans, except for a group of protesters 404 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:00,679 Speaker 2: that showed up. There were half a dozen of them 405 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 2: in the room. They started by voicing their concerns. 406 00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 7: I can't even afford to buy the land I'm stepping on. 407 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:08,680 Speaker 7: All you see is extraction. 408 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:10,880 Speaker 10: I don't agree with this project. 409 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 3: And it quickly becomes apparent that this day of listening, 410 00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 3: it doesn't have a lot of listening on the agenda. 411 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,800 Speaker 7: More telling, Really, it is. 412 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 10: Going to be a beautiful thing. 413 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:23,720 Speaker 2: All of these people have such good intentions, but you 414 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 2: don't know. 415 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:25,280 Speaker 13: That yet, and I'm not acting. 416 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:31,280 Speaker 15: I believe that, And they're going to make something beautiful happen, 417 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 15: and you're going to. 418 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:33,199 Speaker 10: Be a part of it, whether you like it. 419 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,879 Speaker 9: Or not, whether I like it or not. 420 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 7: Rock steps up and takes the mic. 421 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 12: This is a decentralized movement. If someone wants to build 422 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 12: a game community, I mean they can don't do what 423 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:45,199 Speaker 12: they want to do. 424 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,680 Speaker 2: I guess just the activists accuse them of cryptocolonialism. Under 425 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:51,320 Speaker 2: the guise of helping Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria, 426 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,200 Speaker 2: things escalate quickly. 427 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:54,480 Speaker 7: Planted have any. 428 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 13: Interests in Puerto Rico until the taxpace came. 429 00:23:56,600 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 11: And that's why you're here. 430 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 12: I am here in service. I've committed my higher life 431 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 12: to the last breath, in service to humanity. 432 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 7: I go where I can make a difference. I do 433 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 7: not give it about money. 434 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:10,560 Speaker 6: It is not about compounding interesting, it's about compounding impact. 435 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 8: Where can you make a difference? 436 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 7: And so but the trait is that where all going. 437 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 7: I like water and I like more places. So there's 438 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 7: a lot of places in the world that need help. 439 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 6: And great. 440 00:24:22,920 --> 00:24:23,640 Speaker 8: Yeah. 441 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,120 Speaker 3: A few moments later, they're somehow arguing about agriculture now 442 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 3: and Brock comes out with a strange retort. 443 00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 9: Awesome and that's wonderful. 444 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 10: Eat the rainbow. 445 00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 11: Are you here to eat the rainbow. 446 00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:41,359 Speaker 6: Yes, the colors, the food groups, natural agriculture, organic food, biodynamic. 447 00:24:41,119 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 7: It's great stuff. 448 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 3: The look on the protesters face is one of shock 449 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 3: mixed with controlled rage. The Day of Listening has officially 450 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 3: gone off the rails. 451 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,719 Speaker 12: I think I just offered a farm if you were 452 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:57,919 Speaker 12: so interested in doing this, I just offered to. 453 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,399 Speaker 10: Support you and keep you as much because, like. 454 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 14: I think, I think, I think that's point of here. 455 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 3: Somehow, the day wrapped up without anyone getting punched in 456 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 3: the face, and after things cooled down, Brock said this 457 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 3: in an interview. 458 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 6: We had a very healthy conversation with you know, a 459 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:30,160 Speaker 6: few local Puerto Ricans that don't yet understand what this 460 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,199 Speaker 6: movement or technology is about. For five hundred years, this 461 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:37,480 Speaker 6: place is, you know, been taken advantage of. So I 462 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,440 Speaker 6: mean that I think that that's where Puerto Ricans should start. 463 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 10: They should start skeptical. 464 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:47,600 Speaker 3: Videos of the argument quickly surfaced on social media, the 465 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 3: press picked it up, it went semi viral. 466 00:25:51,560 --> 00:25:54,560 Speaker 13: Suddenly the diode listening becomes a dia progect. 467 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 9: And that's a perfect example why you need someone from 468 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 9: here involved in an event that is called Day of Listening, 469 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 9: because if you want to listen to the Puerto Ricans, well, 470 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:11,320 Speaker 9: you start by listening to the Puerto Rican that want 471 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 9: to help you. 472 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 2: Ag says that if they had listened to him, they 473 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 2: would have had more Puerto Ricans in the room that 474 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 2: were open to their ideas. He would have anticipated the protesters, 475 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:22,439 Speaker 2: maybe figured out a way to stop them from disrupting, 476 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 2: do some damage. 477 00:26:23,440 --> 00:26:26,960 Speaker 9: Control, and just like one radical person could come in 478 00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 9: and just make a gigantic scene about her own individual 479 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:35,480 Speaker 9: ideas and people would think that she is representing the 480 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 9: rest of us, when that is not true. She's just 481 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 9: an individual. 482 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,159 Speaker 2: The whole episode left kind of a stink on the 483 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 2: crypto movement in Puerto Rico. For a lot of the locals, 484 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:47,840 Speaker 2: the Puertopians seemed to be just another example and a 485 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 2: long history of people coming to the island to make 486 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 2: a quick, text free bug, and the timing just couldn't 487 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,119 Speaker 2: have been worse. At the same time, the Puerto Ricans 488 00:26:56,160 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 2: are dealing with so much. After Restart West, there wasn't 489 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 2: a whole lot in the press about the Portopians, but 490 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 2: just a few months later, Bitcoin was all over the 491 00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 2: news again. 492 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 16: In twenty eighteen, Bitcoin lost about eighty percent of its 493 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 16: value relative to the dollar. 494 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 4: We're not just talking about Bitcoin here, Other big cryptocurrencies 495 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 4: lost the lion's share of their value. 496 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,280 Speaker 2: True disaster struck the crypto worlds. 497 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 16: Been a wild ride for Bitcoin this month and this year, 498 00:27:27,720 --> 00:27:29,600 Speaker 16: the cryptocurrency going from the highs near. 499 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:32,600 Speaker 3: Twenty thousand dollars to the lows near three thousand dollars. 500 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:36,760 Speaker 3: Crypto bottoms out, Billions in virtual coin just gone. 501 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,719 Speaker 7: I come to bury Bitcoin, not to praise it. 502 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,679 Speaker 3: Sent to the great Microsoft Windows recycling bin in the sky. 503 00:27:44,840 --> 00:27:49,120 Speaker 3: Those thousands of Perspective Portopians, well most of them just bailed, 504 00:27:50,480 --> 00:27:53,640 Speaker 3: but the true believers forged ahead, including Aj. 505 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,680 Speaker 9: They are buying out the islands, little fuck. 506 00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 2: I'm riding in the cab with AJ and his then girlfriend, Scarlett, 507 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 2: who also works for his company edge Block. We met 508 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,239 Speaker 2: up with him again in March of twenty nineteen, a 509 00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:10,400 Speaker 2: full year after we first met him. 510 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:11,400 Speaker 10: They're going to. 511 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 2: Give me a tour of Portopia itself, the crypto enclave 512 00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 2: in old San Juan, where Brock and his cohort are 513 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,160 Speaker 2: snatching up and repurposing historic property. 514 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 14: Yeah, they literally must have like just onloaded their crewer ships. 515 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 2: Brock and his followers have set up shops right in 516 00:28:24,800 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 2: the heart of the Spanish colonial city. 517 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,800 Speaker 9: Were almost the monastery Brock Fierce his home on the island. 518 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,960 Speaker 2: The monastery is a beautiful old Masonic lodge. It's painted 519 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:38,080 Speaker 2: a bright pastel orange and sits in a row of 520 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,960 Speaker 2: other majestic, similar looking buildings. AJ used to spend quite 521 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 2: a lot of time here, but he hasn't been inside 522 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:44,400 Speaker 2: for months. 523 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 9: We're going to get yours issues with some people that 524 00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 9: are security. 525 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 2: As we walk around, I noticed something's different about AJ. 526 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 2: He's less cocky, pensive, a little distracted. The rest of 527 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 2: the buildings he shows me are within a few blocks 528 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 2: of the monastery. There's a cowork space, but it's mostly empty. 529 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 2: There's a weird cafe and a big vacant building that 530 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 2: once housed the Children's Museum. 531 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,320 Speaker 9: So Puerto Rico closed a lot of schools, a lot 532 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 9: of hospitals, and a lot of like landmarks. And one 533 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:17,960 Speaker 9: of these places was the Shields Museum. 534 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 2: In tourists thronged old San Juan. This was a place 535 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 2: that locals brought their kids. It had been shuttered for 536 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 2: two years when Brock announced that he was going to 537 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 2: buy it. Crypto people used it as sort of a 538 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,240 Speaker 2: meeting and co working space for a bit, but the 539 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:34,120 Speaker 2: community resented outsiders taking what used to be a cultural 540 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,600 Speaker 2: building and turning it into a private space for techis. 541 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 2: The mayor of San Juan even got involved. There was 542 00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:44,400 Speaker 2: some drama, a Twitter fight. Supposedly there are plans for 543 00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 2: a new museum going forward. For a while, the big 544 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:49,720 Speaker 2: empty building just sat there. 545 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:56,000 Speaker 9: After a while, nothing happened with it, and I don't 546 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 9: think no one any Haskies no longer, so I really 547 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:00,240 Speaker 9: don't know what. 548 00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:03,440 Speaker 2: It served as a reminder of the tension between the 549 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 2: crypto folks and the community. I tried to get the 550 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 2: details from aj about exactly why it had been sitting 551 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,520 Speaker 2: vacant for so long, but he didn't seem to know 552 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 2: what happened, and it seemed to hit a nerve a 553 00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:16,280 Speaker 2: little when I pressed him on it, Like, wouldn't you 554 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 2: be in among the people who knew what happened to 555 00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:20,160 Speaker 2: that building, if you were like part of. 556 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:24,600 Speaker 9: That you yes, well, yes, but no, because we. 557 00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 6: Basically Armando likes to express his opinion and his opinion 558 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 6: is not welcomed. 559 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, Scarlett is trying to be diplomatic. She takes Aja 560 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 2: aside and urges him to stay cool, but he clearly 561 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 2: wants to get some stuff off his chest. 562 00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:42,640 Speaker 11: No, we need to talk about this first. 563 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,680 Speaker 2: He admits that while he was once a trusted member 564 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:47,440 Speaker 2: of brox inner circle, not so much anymore. 565 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 6: He's significantly older than the other Puerto Ricans that they 566 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,120 Speaker 6: work with, and he's very passionate and outspoken. 567 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 8: He's harder to work. 568 00:30:56,360 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 9: With sometimes, my passion and seemed like a threat to 569 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 9: some of them. I guess. 570 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 2: Aj says they treated him well when he was useful, 571 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,320 Speaker 2: but when he spoke his mind about things like how 572 00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 2: they screwed up the day of listening, he fell out 573 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,520 Speaker 2: of favor. Not with Brock directly, he says, but with 574 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:13,680 Speaker 2: the new inner circle. 575 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,120 Speaker 9: Yeah, the things that broke. Sometimes he's not a here 576 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 9: and then there's a group of people that forms under 577 00:31:18,560 --> 00:31:21,520 Speaker 9: him that yos are looking up for themselves. 578 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 7: There's no hierarchy and everything to centralized. 579 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:26,959 Speaker 6: It's a doggy dog situation where people are fighting over power. 580 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 11: And like frequently when we were part of the those 581 00:31:29,280 --> 00:31:30,040 Speaker 11: as someone was like the. 582 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:30,880 Speaker 7: Lord of the flies. 583 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:33,360 Speaker 2: New people showed up in the scene that Aj didn't 584 00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:37,240 Speaker 2: get along with he started feuding with everyone, Rumors start 585 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,160 Speaker 2: flying around, and AJ developed a reputation as a bit 586 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 2: of a loose cannon thing. 587 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 9: I just became like this volatile, crazy, intense Puerto Ricand 588 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 9: kid that we shouldn't trust, even though he's doing everything 589 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:50,120 Speaker 9: for them. 590 00:31:50,200 --> 00:31:53,480 Speaker 2: So AG gets pushed aside, and according to him, they 591 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,560 Speaker 2: lose someone who could have helped them look better in 592 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:57,560 Speaker 2: the eyes of Puerto Ricans. 593 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:00,000 Speaker 9: My biggest criticism is that I don't want the whole 594 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 9: old thing to look like a probilicity scheme, because if 595 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:05,840 Speaker 9: it looks like a publicity scheme, people are not gonna 596 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 9: take them seriously. And if they don't take them seriously, 597 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:09,080 Speaker 9: we can have impact. 598 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,200 Speaker 2: Scarlet's worried he'll say too much and get them in trouble. 599 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,520 Speaker 2: After all, they're still trying to get funding for their startup. 600 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 2: She tries to stop him, but he finally goes off. 601 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 9: What is the point of this that they're filled with 602 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 9: both people and it's all both and the people need 603 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 9: to know this. 604 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 3: For all the time that we've known AJ, he's always 605 00:32:33,320 --> 00:32:36,320 Speaker 3: appeared to believe one hundred percent in the Portopians and 606 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 3: their whole vision for the island. And this is the 607 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 3: first time that we see that his feelings are maybe 608 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 3: more complicated than that. In the years since we met aj, 609 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 3: it's pretty clear that the cryptocurrency paradise that Brock prophesied 610 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 3: hasn't exactly come to pass. 611 00:32:55,640 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 7: But is it all. 612 00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 2: Bs We went back to coin Agenda Caribbean after bitcoin's 613 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 2: value crashed in twenty nineteen. 614 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 10: It was a completely different scene. 615 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,520 Speaker 2: The multi floored multimedia affair was now small enough to 616 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:13,719 Speaker 2: fit inside an elementary school cafeteria. 617 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 3: David, as soon as I walked in, I was greeted 618 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:20,280 Speaker 3: by someone selling crypto artwork. 619 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,000 Speaker 11: So this is crypto art, so think of it as 620 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 11: bitcoin or in physical form as artwork. 621 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 7: It's kind of steampunky, a little magic. The gathering. 622 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 3: There's these top hats, tribal tattoos, basically what you'd expect. 623 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:36,720 Speaker 7: Were you here when you heard last year? 624 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:41,520 Speaker 10: I was not, so I understand it was much bigger. 625 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:45,959 Speaker 7: I will thank you for your time. Oh, thank you 626 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:46,360 Speaker 7: very much. 627 00:33:46,560 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 3: Counting the art dealer, there's just half a dozen booths 628 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,880 Speaker 3: in the lobby. Brock isn't even here, but I did 629 00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 3: find one person worth talking to, Michael Turpin. He's the 630 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 3: man in charge of coin agenda. We went to him wondering, 631 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:04,440 Speaker 3: why didn't anyone see this, this crypto crash, Why didn't 632 00:34:04,440 --> 00:34:05,400 Speaker 3: anyone see this coming? 633 00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:08,239 Speaker 15: Why do people not recognize when they're in the middle 634 00:34:08,239 --> 00:34:09,720 Speaker 15: of the bubble because they're. 635 00:34:09,640 --> 00:34:12,280 Speaker 8: High, they're on the drug of the bubble. 636 00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:16,319 Speaker 3: That's not necessarily his opinion, it's something that Turpin heard 637 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,759 Speaker 3: someone say earlier at the event. But Michael Turpin is 638 00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:23,320 Speaker 3: one of the most influential people in crypto. He throws 639 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,840 Speaker 3: these coin agendas, these crypto conferences all over the world. 640 00:34:27,040 --> 00:34:28,400 Speaker 10: But we'll be back next year. 641 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 7: And he says bitcoin will rise again. 642 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:32,800 Speaker 15: I expect that the price of bitcoin will probably be 643 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 15: about double Not financial advice, but I've been projecting. I 644 00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,560 Speaker 15: projected in twenty fourteen at the price of. 645 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:43,600 Speaker 2: Bitcoin, and Michael Turpin was right. There has been another 646 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:47,840 Speaker 2: crypto boom. Bitcoin is hovering around forty thousand now, nearly 647 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:51,719 Speaker 2: twice what it was in twenty eighteen. But will it 648 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:59,200 Speaker 2: mean anything good for Puerto Rico. Ever since Puerto Rico 649 00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:02,239 Speaker 2: became a colonial possession of the United States, mainlanders have 650 00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:05,239 Speaker 2: shown up to make their fortunes on the island. First, 651 00:35:05,280 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 2: there were the sugar barons, then the pharmaceutical industry, and 652 00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,520 Speaker 2: most recently, hundreds of people from the hedge fund industry 653 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 2: who arrived attracted by the. 654 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:14,160 Speaker 10: Island's tax loopholes. 655 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,759 Speaker 2: In some cases that the very same hedge funds that 656 00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:21,719 Speaker 2: are feeding off the island's dead crisis. Rock and the 657 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 2: Portopians came to the island promising that they weren't like 658 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:26,920 Speaker 2: the others, that they were here to help, to invest, 659 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:30,319 Speaker 2: to change everything for the better, and so far there 660 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 2: doesn't seem to be much proof that that's what's happening. 661 00:35:34,719 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 3: It wouldn't be accurate to say that the Portopians Everything 662 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:42,200 Speaker 3: movement has contributed absolutely nothing to Puerto Rico. In twenty eighteen, 663 00:35:42,560 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 3: coin Agendas organizers say they gave twenty five. 664 00:35:45,000 --> 00:35:46,840 Speaker 7: Thousand dollars to local charities. 665 00:35:47,280 --> 00:35:50,040 Speaker 3: Rock Pierson himself has made a few public donations that 666 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,840 Speaker 3: we were able to track down about seventy thousand dollars 667 00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:56,680 Speaker 3: worth in total. For context, that's less than he donated 668 00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:00,319 Speaker 3: to Trump's reelection campaign and to the RNC this year. 669 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:05,160 Speaker 3: Brock does have a nonprofit called Integrow that helps channel 670 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:08,759 Speaker 3: other people's donations into various causes, and in interviews he 671 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 3: said that his main contribution has been to encourage entrepreneurialism, 672 00:36:13,719 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 3: but it's unclear what lasting impacts he's actually brought to 673 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,120 Speaker 3: the island. Brock declined to be interviewed for the story 674 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:23,240 Speaker 3: or to answer any of our questions, including our questions 675 00:36:23,280 --> 00:36:29,719 Speaker 3: about his contributions to Puerto Rico. Brock sold himself as 676 00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:32,800 Speaker 3: a different kind of investor, but is he any different? 677 00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:36,120 Speaker 3: When he was on stage at coin Agendas selling the 678 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:40,360 Speaker 3: Everything Movement, one of the companies he co founded, Block One, 679 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 3: they were partnering with some of the very same hedge 680 00:36:43,120 --> 00:36:45,000 Speaker 3: funders who owned Puerto Rico's debt. 681 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:49,960 Speaker 2: But AJ thinks that by promoting Puerto Rico as a 682 00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:53,560 Speaker 2: crypto and tech hub, more jobs and investment will come. 683 00:36:54,239 --> 00:36:57,960 Speaker 2: Despite all the missteps, the colonial posturing, the grandiose promise 684 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:00,960 Speaker 2: is to change everything. He's still betting on Brock and 685 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:02,160 Speaker 2: the Portopians. 686 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,400 Speaker 9: My grandfather, for example, is constantly like reminding me that 687 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:10,279 Speaker 9: all the Americans have done this goes over. I don't 688 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:12,719 Speaker 9: know if I should say that, but then I keep 689 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:14,879 Speaker 9: telling him no, I mean, this is an opportunity. 690 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:19,440 Speaker 2: I mean it's an opportunity for himself and for Puerto Rico. 691 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,520 Speaker 9: As I'm saying, I'm also convincing myself because I have 692 00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 9: some hope in humanity and I really think that if 693 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,000 Speaker 9: the right people online, they can really make a difference. 694 00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:33,560 Speaker 9: And I know it's really swimming against the current. I 695 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:36,279 Speaker 9: can make a difference on this island that I'm going 696 00:37:36,320 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 9: to be able to see on my own lifetime. 697 00:37:39,880 --> 00:37:43,319 Speaker 3: He still believes, even though some days it's hard for 698 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 3: AJ to keep the faith. 699 00:37:53,560 --> 00:37:57,160 Speaker 1: Since our reporters, Michael and Jaquin returned from Puerto Rico 700 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, a lot has happened. In twenty twenty, 701 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:04,960 Speaker 1: Brock Pierce ran for President of the United States. He 702 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:09,120 Speaker 1: got almost fifty thousand votes and finished just behind Kanye West. 703 00:38:09,600 --> 00:38:14,399 Speaker 1: Brock also finally purchased his island residence, formerly known as 704 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: the Monastery. 705 00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:17,960 Speaker 8: He paid five million dollars for it. 706 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:20,759 Speaker 1: He's in the process of turning it into a boutique 707 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:25,799 Speaker 1: hotel and private club. AJ seems to have worked out 708 00:38:25,920 --> 00:38:29,680 Speaker 1: his frustrations with the Portopians and is still working in 709 00:38:29,800 --> 00:38:34,000 Speaker 1: decentralized finance on the island. AJ plans to open a 710 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:38,680 Speaker 1: digital NFT art gallery selling art online for Crypto. His 711 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,840 Speaker 1: partner is none other than Brock Pierce. In terms of value, 712 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:47,080 Speaker 1: Bitcoin hit an all time high in April of this year. 713 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 8: Over sixty thousand dollars. 714 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:52,759 Speaker 1: Right now, it's worth about half that, still way up 715 00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,720 Speaker 1: from where it was in twenty nineteen, and it seems 716 00:38:55,719 --> 00:38:58,840 Speaker 1: that a new wave of crypto rich and Internet famous 717 00:38:58,880 --> 00:39:02,720 Speaker 1: influencers are headed to Puerto Rico to make the island 718 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: their new home, at least part time. 719 00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,799 Speaker 8: There's new data from twenty twenty one. 720 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:11,960 Speaker 1: It shows that the tax incentives that are alluring wealthy 721 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:15,520 Speaker 1: investors to the island have had little to no effect 722 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 1: on increasing employment on the island, and that half a 723 00:39:20,120 --> 00:39:24,840 Speaker 1: million people have left Puerto Rico over the last ten years. Still, 724 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:28,960 Speaker 1: the pro statehood insular government of Puerto Rico continues to 725 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:34,440 Speaker 1: publicly support migration from the US mainland, and tensions continue 726 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:36,680 Speaker 1: to flare between people who have been living on the 727 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:40,360 Speaker 1: island their entire lives and wealthier transplants who are continuing 728 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:55,880 Speaker 1: to arrive on the island. This episode was produced by 729 00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:59,280 Speaker 1: Juaquin Cottler and Michael O'Brien and edited by Marlon Bishop. 730 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,280 Speaker 8: Was mixed by Stephanie Lebau. 731 00:40:01,640 --> 00:40:05,640 Speaker 1: The Latino USA team includes Mike Sargent, Julia Ta Martinelli, 732 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:11,000 Speaker 1: Victori Estrada, Ginni Montalbo, Alejandra Salasar Rinaldo, Leanos Junior and 733 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:13,440 Speaker 1: Julia Rocha with help from Roe Prees. 734 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:14,520 Speaker 8: We're edited by. 735 00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 1: Andrea Lopez Gruzsado and Marta Martinez. 736 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:19,280 Speaker 8: Our editorial director is Julio Ricardo Barela. 737 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,960 Speaker 1: Our engineers are Julia Caruso and Lia Shaw Damaran, with 738 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:24,840 Speaker 1: help this week from Gabriella Bayez. 739 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:26,920 Speaker 8: Our digital editor is Louis Luna. 740 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:31,120 Speaker 1: Our New York Women's Foundation Ignite fellow is Maries Gina. 741 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:35,400 Speaker 1: Our intern is Oscarde Leon. Our theme music was composed 742 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:38,080 Speaker 1: by Zane Robinos. If you like the music you heard 743 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:41,160 Speaker 1: on this episode, stop by Latino Usa dot org and 744 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:44,400 Speaker 1: check out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm your host and 745 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:47,000 Speaker 1: executive producer Maria jo Josa. I'll see you on our 746 00:40:47,000 --> 00:40:49,319 Speaker 1: next episode, and in the meantime, look for us on 747 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:50,480 Speaker 1: all of your social media. 748 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:52,000 Speaker 8: Alos Waco Bayi. 749 00:40:57,520 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 16: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation, 750 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:06,560 Speaker 16: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, 751 00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:11,360 Speaker 16: the John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the 752 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:12,400 Speaker 16: wind Coat Foundation. 753 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:19,240 Speaker 1: What I don't even know what the hell he's talking 754 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:20,920 Speaker 1: because that's really weird. 755 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:23,000 Speaker 8: I'm Marie in Josa. 756 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:26,400 Speaker 1: Next time on Latino USA, we bring you one of 757 00:41:26,400 --> 00:41:30,400 Speaker 1: our How I Made It segments with Charlie Uruchima, host 758 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:34,600 Speaker 1: and co founder of Quichua Hatari. It's the first Kichwa 759 00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:38,879 Speaker 1: language radio station in the United States. That's next time 760 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:41,959 Speaker 1: on Latino USA.