1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:04,879 Speaker 1: We're seeing lower rates of scams and losses, and fraud 2 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,000 is a real goal of ours. The biggest barrier to 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:10,439 entry when it comes to crypto in America is the 4 00:00:10,519 --> 00:00:13,759 knowledge gap. People just don't get it and they're overwhelmed 5 00:00:13,759 --> 00:00:16,120 trying to learn it, all turned off by the hype 6 00:00:16,160 --> 00:00:18,640 and the jargon. And that's exactly what we're here to 7 00:00:18,679 --> 00:00:19,039 solve for. 8 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,199 Speaker 2: Crypto has matured and with Tradify companies offering the assets, 9 00:00:23,399 --> 00:00:25,280 it does make it easy for a lot of consumers. 10 00:00:25,359 --> 00:00:28,239 Accessibilities becoming easier with ETPs and all these blockchains. 11 00:00:28,359 --> 00:00:33,039 Speaker 1: That's exactly right. 12 00:00:34,679 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 2: This episode is brought to you by go Mining. Go 13 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,640 Mining is the all in one bitcoin app that makes 14 00:00:40,679 --> 00:00:43,920 it simple and secure to earn, use, and benefit from 15 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:47,200 bitcoin every day. Bitcoin is the future of money, and 16 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,280 go Mining brings the future into the present, regardless of 17 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,759 your country, income, or level of knowledge. 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And they also 37 00:02:02,239 --> 00:02:04,640 have a great academy that helps you to get started 38 00:02:04,719 --> 00:02:08,520 and answers all your questions with courses, guidelines, and much 39 00:02:08,599 --> 00:02:11,120 much more. So you have to check out Go Mining 40 00:02:11,479 --> 00:02:13,599 go to the link in the description to learn more. 41 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:17,800 Hey folks, welcome into the Thinking Crypto podcast. I'm your 42 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,800 host Tony Edward and joining me today's Ali Tager, who 43 00:02:20,879 --> 00:02:24,280 is the vice president of External Affairs at the National 44 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:28,919 Cryptocurrency Association, which is helping everyday Americans and businesses to 45 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,759 understand and use crypto with confidence. Ali, great to have. 46 00:02:32,759 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: You, Thanks for having me, Tony. Lovely to see you. 47 00:02:36,039 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, longtime, we'll see you. 48 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,560 Speaker 1: Right, It feels like only yesterday for. 49 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,039 Speaker 2: The audience of Ali and I met in person in 50 00:02:44,159 --> 00:02:48,199 New York? Was it Ali three weeks ago? Was it? Yeah? 51 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: Which, actually, now that you say it feels like a 52 00:02:50,039 --> 00:02:52,800 lifetime ago. But I will be back in New York 53 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,879 very soon and look forward to seeing you in person. 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 2: Absolutely so. Ali, tell us a bit about yourself. Where 55 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:00,680 are you from and how you make a way into 56 00:03:00,719 --> 00:03:01,680 the crypto industry? 57 00:03:02,199 --> 00:03:04,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. Well, as you know, Tony, I am 58 00:03:04,439 --> 00:03:07,520 actually from Long Island, New York, so grew up not 59 00:03:07,599 --> 00:03:10,560 too far from you, and I make it back East 60 00:03:10,599 --> 00:03:13,240 pretty often, which I'm very fortunate about. But about a 61 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,439 decade ago I did trade coasts and I live in 62 00:03:15,439 --> 00:03:18,759 Los Angeles, California. Now I'm so sorry to hear about 63 00:03:18,759 --> 00:03:21,000 the heat wave for all of my East Coast friends 64 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,080 and for you as well, because as you can see, 65 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,400 I'm in a blazer because it is actually aba me 66 00:03:27,479 --> 00:03:33,719 morning in California. But yeah, my professional background, I kind 67 00:03:33,719 --> 00:03:36,840 of grew up in the traditional public relations and communications 68 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:40,039 agency world. So I actually started my career in healthcare, 69 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:44,280 working for pharmaceutical companies on things like Parkinson's disease drugs, 70 00:03:44,639 --> 00:03:47,319 and it was there that I started working with patient 71 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,479 advocates directly and really loved the end user focus, right, 72 00:03:52,639 --> 00:03:55,439 So much of what we do, no matter who you're 73 00:03:55,479 --> 00:03:58,240 working with, it's not always the case that you get 74 00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:01,120 to work directly with the people who were being impacted 75 00:04:01,159 --> 00:04:03,719 by your products and whose lives are really making a 76 00:04:03,719 --> 00:04:06,159 difference in And so it's a little bit of a 77 00:04:06,159 --> 00:04:09,120 preamble of what brought me to the MCA. But I 78 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,919 sort of went from healthcare to health tech and working 79 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,360 with things like wearable devices, and then ultimately found myself 80 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,079 purely in the technology space, working with consumer tech brands 81 00:04:19,079 --> 00:04:23,000 like Adobe and then fintech companies like PayPal. So that's 82 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,639 a little bit of how I started to slowly into 83 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,920 my way towards crypto. I was working with PayPal in 84 00:04:29,959 --> 00:04:34,439 twenty seventeen to launch their cryptocurrency wallet, and at the time, 85 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:36,920 if you can imagine almost a decade ago, it was 86 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:42,360 even newer and seemingly scarier than it is now, and 87 00:04:43,439 --> 00:04:46,560 so I kind of dabbled since then, you know, working 88 00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:49,480 a little bit in the AI space and getting a 89 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:53,240 little bit into crypto as an individual investor myself. But 90 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,759 it really wasn't until I began working with the NCA 91 00:04:56,839 --> 00:05:00,079 over the last two years that I fully understood the 92 00:05:00,079 --> 00:05:02,680 the power of digital assets and what they can do 93 00:05:02,759 --> 00:05:04,199 for real people and businesses. 94 00:05:05,240 --> 00:05:07,439 Speaker 2: So Alie, you are an og if you are working 95 00:05:07,439 --> 00:05:10,720 with PayPal to develop their crypto whilet back in twenty seventeen, 96 00:05:10,839 --> 00:05:14,120 which you know, back then many of these institutions didn't 97 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,360 really want to touch crypto, so it's pretty incredible that 98 00:05:16,399 --> 00:05:17,319 you were doing that back then. 99 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you, And I'm always amazed when I meet 100 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,040 people who've been in the space even longer than I have. 101 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:25,439 I think that, you know, working with Adobe in the 102 00:05:25,439 --> 00:05:29,480 AI space, working in biopharmaceuticals, I had a lot of 103 00:05:29,519 --> 00:05:34,160 experience seeing the early fear and confusion whenever a new 104 00:05:34,199 --> 00:05:37,120 innovation came along, be it a drug for a disease, 105 00:05:37,319 --> 00:05:39,879 be it even I was working with McDonald's and their 106 00:05:39,879 --> 00:05:42,600 digital team and we launched at the time, if you 107 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,120 can believe it, Uber eats delivery, which was revolutionary in 108 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,240 like twenty fourteen, But there's always this this sort of 109 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,639 uncertainty of I don't get it, what is it, how 110 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,839 does it work? What does it mean for me? With AI? 111 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,040 Is it going to take over the world with crypto? 112 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:02,160 Like is it just magic happening behind the scenes? And 113 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:04,879 so I think that that has always been what really 114 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:07,879 motivates and inspires me, is like helping take these complex 115 00:06:07,959 --> 00:06:10,720 topics and make them feel really accessible for normal people 116 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,079 like us. You know, I think about where we're at 117 00:06:13,079 --> 00:06:15,199 with crypto right now, and I like to say the 118 00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,240 NCAA isn't here for the crypto bros and the crypto pros, 119 00:06:18,399 --> 00:06:20,920 like they know what they're doing, they get it. We're 120 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,959 here for the Joe's and the schmos, the normal people 121 00:06:24,040 --> 00:06:26,600 who were left behind by the early wave of crypto 122 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:28,959 who maybe think they've missed the boat or maybe think 123 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,240 it's not for them, and we're here to show people actually, 124 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,199 this tool can be for everyone and anyone. And it's 125 00:06:35,319 --> 00:06:39,120 like learning any new skill, new tool, whatever it may be. 126 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:41,839 You just got to start small, stay curious, and not 127 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:42,839 overwhelm yourself. 128 00:06:43,839 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 2: Absolutely, and education and awareness is so important for the 129 00:06:47,079 --> 00:06:51,879 adoption of this technology. And you know, I don't envy 130 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,120 people who are not tech savvy, and you know, they 131 00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:58,120 have to go through the Internet phase, then the smartphone phase, 132 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:02,959 and then computers of course, now digital currency and you know, 133 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,240 tokens and all these things running on a blockchain. It's 134 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,040 like drinking from the fire hose with all these technologies 135 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:09,199 plus AI as well. 136 00:07:10,079 --> 00:07:12,079 Speaker 1: It really is. And I think that, you know, let's 137 00:07:12,079 --> 00:07:14,879 be honest, the crypto industry has not done ourselves many 138 00:07:14,959 --> 00:07:19,600 favors by sort of positioning it as this other thing. 139 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,240 You know, I think about digital assets as an evolution, 140 00:07:22,399 --> 00:07:25,199 not a revolution, And when you really break it down, 141 00:07:25,360 --> 00:07:29,279 it's not that dissimilar to anything else we already know 142 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:32,000 and love. Right If you can use a Chase app, 143 00:07:32,079 --> 00:07:34,839 you can set up a PayPal or Venmo account, you 144 00:07:34,839 --> 00:07:37,759 can use the coinbase account. I think that the tools 145 00:07:37,759 --> 00:07:41,279 are getting so much simpler and more seamless, and the 146 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:43,759 user interfaces are getting much better. Then you don't need 147 00:07:43,759 --> 00:07:46,480 to be a tech wizard or a coder or developer 148 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,839 or math genius to understand it. It really is sort 149 00:07:49,879 --> 00:07:53,240 of starting to feel much more familiar and integrate with 150 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,560 the tools and systems we do already know and love, 151 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,920 including banks, including PayPal, and so many other places. 152 00:08:00,439 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 2: Pardon the interruption. Hi, I'm Tony. I'm the host of 153 00:08:03,639 --> 00:08:06,079 the Thinking Crypto podcast. I wanted to ask you if 154 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:08,519 you can please support the podcast by hitting the like 155 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,120 button subscribing. If you haven't as yet, you can leave 156 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:13,279 a comment below as well. And if you're listening on 157 00:08:13,319 --> 00:08:16,319 a podcast platform such as Spotify, Apple or wherever you 158 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:19,319 get your podcasts, please be sure to follow and hit 159 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:21,399 the five star rating. I'll let you get back to 160 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,040 the content. Thank you so much. Yeah, to your point, 161 00:08:24,199 --> 00:08:28,000 crypto has matured, and with Tradify companies like your paypals 162 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:30,800 on the others coming in and offering the assets, it 163 00:08:30,839 --> 00:08:32,720 does make it easy for a lot of consumers. Now 164 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,320 there's still the education piece of what is a blockchain, 165 00:08:35,639 --> 00:08:38,360 why are these tokens important? Why do they exist? But 166 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,440 the accessibility is becoming easier with ETPs and all these. 167 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,919 Speaker 1: That's exactly right. I actually just spoke at a digital 168 00:08:44,919 --> 00:08:48,200 asset conference in Dallas right before I saw you in 169 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,159 New York, and it was an interesting mix of people 170 00:08:51,279 --> 00:08:54,639 who were there. It was mostly traditional financial advisors and 171 00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:56,360 they were talking a lot about some of the things 172 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,399 you just described, you know, tokenization of real world assets, 173 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:02,960 token ized stocks. ATFS there was a lot of conversation 174 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:06,879 at the event about how people may have crypto in 175 00:09:06,919 --> 00:09:10,279 their portfolios and they might not even realize it, for example, 176 00:09:10,399 --> 00:09:12,240 if it's a part of your four oh one K 177 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:16,000 or your pension fund. You know, when I meet people 178 00:09:16,039 --> 00:09:18,159 in the wilds who are like, I don't get crypto, 179 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:19,720 I don't know what's in it, I say, oh, you know, 180 00:09:19,799 --> 00:09:23,360 totally respect that if I can be nosy, what's in 181 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:25,799 your four oh one k? And people always have a 182 00:09:25,799 --> 00:09:27,840 four oh one K, but they almost never know what's 183 00:09:27,879 --> 00:09:29,279 in it. And so, you know, we don't want to 184 00:09:29,279 --> 00:09:31,600 scare people by thinking you're investing in something that you 185 00:09:31,639 --> 00:09:34,879 don't have visibility into. It's more the point of we 186 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,840 grew up with four oh one k's as an investment vehicle, 187 00:09:39,039 --> 00:09:41,000 and so it's sort of just expected that if you 188 00:09:41,039 --> 00:09:42,720 have a job that offers it, you're going to do it. 189 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,919 But who's really doing the homework to dig into the 190 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,039 portfolio specifics and where the investments are. And I think 191 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:51,080 with crypto, we want people to be educated enough to 192 00:09:51,159 --> 00:09:54,759 understand what it is, how it works, where valuation comes 193 00:09:54,799 --> 00:09:57,919 from the different role of different types of tokens, what 194 00:09:57,960 --> 00:10:01,679 it even means to invest in crypto. But they don't 195 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,000 need to get so bogged down with the terminology and 196 00:10:04,039 --> 00:10:06,840 the jargon that they sort of lose the plot and 197 00:10:07,039 --> 00:10:09,399 you know, just dismiss it because again it can feel 198 00:10:09,399 --> 00:10:12,559 a little bit overwhelming with all of the fun terminology. 199 00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:16,799 Speaker 2: We like to say, yeah, absolutely, So, how is the 200 00:10:16,919 --> 00:10:21,480 NCAA helping average Americans across the country to learn about 201 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:23,799 crypto and blockchain tech? What are some of your initiatives? 202 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, there's a lot of things we're doing on 203 00:10:26,519 --> 00:10:29,679 this front. We really are laser focused on consumer education, 204 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:31,639 starting to get a little bit more into B to 205 00:10:31,759 --> 00:10:36,159 B education and policymaker education as well. Really meeting audiences 206 00:10:36,159 --> 00:10:38,679 wherever they are. People are curious about crypto, we want 207 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:40,720 to be that safe space to help them make sense 208 00:10:40,759 --> 00:10:44,600 of it. And so three resources we've launched in the 209 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,799 last year or so. The first is the Crypto Explained 210 00:10:47,879 --> 00:10:51,000 podcast that I host. Would love to get you on 211 00:10:51,279 --> 00:10:53,840 as a guest very soon as well. But it's really 212 00:10:53,919 --> 00:10:58,039 just me, you know, explaining simple simply what crypto is, 213 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:00,919 what blockchain is, what an ETF is, what a stable 214 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:05,360 coin is. Again, no jargon. We use very relatable analogies 215 00:11:05,399 --> 00:11:08,679 of you know, think about a blockchain like a railroad 216 00:11:08,919 --> 00:11:11,639 and think about the different cryptocurrencies as train cars that 217 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:14,399 run on top of those railroads. We really want to 218 00:11:14,399 --> 00:11:18,240 help people understand how these concepts are not that dissimilar 219 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:21,759 to other, again, concepts that they are much more familiar with. 220 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,440 So we've got the podcast and new episodes come out 221 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,120 every Wednesday on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, wherever you get your podcasts. 222 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:31,759 But then we also have more interactive resources. So podcasts 223 00:11:31,799 --> 00:11:33,240 are great. We all love to listen in the car, 224 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:35,879 listen on the go, right, But for people who want 225 00:11:35,879 --> 00:11:38,440 more practical experience, we've got sort of I like to 226 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:40,679 think of it as a duo lingo for crypto. These 227 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:44,360 one oh one courses that are little animated cartoons that 228 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,559 guide you through a journey of Main Street USA, where 229 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,279 you go to a bank vault to learn about cryptosecurity, 230 00:11:51,799 --> 00:11:56,159 you go to a carnival to learn about volatility, and 231 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,799 so really the idea is you could watch these modules 232 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,679 and videos and take these quizzes with your whole family. 233 00:12:02,759 --> 00:12:05,879 It's meant to be sort of at an age appropriate 234 00:12:05,879 --> 00:12:08,080 for anyone if you're ten years old. The goal is 235 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:10,799 you should be able to fully understand all of our content, 236 00:12:11,639 --> 00:12:14,240 as should my eighty year old mother, who by the way, 237 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:17,480 does review our content sometimes if I'm not sure, if 238 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:20,480 something is a little too tech savvy. And then, last, 239 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:22,080 but not least, for people who are like okay, they 240 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:24,879 go through the quizzes, they think they get the basics, 241 00:12:24,879 --> 00:12:27,039 but maybe they're still nervous to try it. We get 242 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,279 a lot of people who say, what if I click 243 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:31,799 the wrong button in all my money goes away, which, 244 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:35,480 by the way, probably never gonna happen. I don't know 245 00:12:35,519 --> 00:12:38,200 in what world that could happen, but we understand the concern, 246 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:41,200 and so we built a risk free simulator, and it's 247 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:43,840 basically it's on our website at NCAA dot org, and 248 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:47,120 it basically looks and behaves just like you are picking 249 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:50,440 a crypto exchange, setting up your wallet, making your first 250 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:54,200 crypto purchase, trading your coins. But it never connects to 251 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,159 your real bank account, so it's really just practice in 252 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:00,399 a very safe sandbox to build that confidence over time 253 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:02,720 before you take your first step into a crypto. 254 00:13:03,639 --> 00:13:06,200 Speaker 2: I love that the simulator is such a great tool 255 00:13:06,480 --> 00:13:09,000 because to your point, it just gives you that hands 256 00:13:09,039 --> 00:13:13,120 on kind of real world experience versus Hey, go, if 257 00:13:13,159 --> 00:13:15,279 I just verbally tell you or I send you an email, 258 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:18,519 go do these four steps. But unless you've actually gone 259 00:13:18,639 --> 00:13:22,159 on a platform, on a crypto exchange, it can be 260 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:25,000 you know, intimidating. So I love the similater tool. 261 00:13:25,759 --> 00:13:27,799 Speaker 1: Awesome. I hope you use it. I hope your listeners 262 00:13:27,799 --> 00:13:30,200 do as well. And you know this is obviously crypto 263 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:32,759 focused podcast. I imagine a lot of your listeners are 264 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:36,240 in the crypto space. And when I have conversations with 265 00:13:36,279 --> 00:13:38,000 folks in the crypto space, I say, you might not 266 00:13:38,159 --> 00:13:42,000 need the NCAA, but surely your friends, your families, your neighbors, 267 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,159 your coworkers do, right, Like who in the crypto space 268 00:13:45,159 --> 00:13:47,720 has not encountered skeptics in the wild who think that 269 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,879 we're either all scammers or being scammed, And those are 270 00:13:50,879 --> 00:13:53,279 the harmful stereotypes that we're really trying to break by 271 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:54,720 education at scale. 272 00:13:55,360 --> 00:14:00,519 Speaker 2: Yeah, I've absolutely come across those stereotypes, and you know, 273 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:04,919 I have to spend time explaining here's the technology. Yes, 274 00:14:05,039 --> 00:14:07,679 are there bad actors, you know in the crypto indergy, Yes, 275 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:10,039 but there's also bad actors in every other industry trying 276 00:14:10,039 --> 00:14:12,720 to take advantage of people. So but to your point, 277 00:14:12,799 --> 00:14:17,919 like people are so comfortable in the existing realm of 278 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,879 the traditional markets, they almost have blinders on to the 279 00:14:20,919 --> 00:14:23,240 bad things that happen. It's almost like, oh, yeah, that happens. 280 00:14:23,399 --> 00:14:26,039 But if it happens in a new acid class technology, 281 00:14:26,159 --> 00:14:28,720 it's like, oh my god. It becomes this hyper focused 282 00:14:28,759 --> 00:14:31,679 thing that becomes sensationalized. And I'm almost you know many 283 00:14:31,679 --> 00:14:34,159 times out there remind people like, hey, you know this 284 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:36,159 is happening in the banking industry as well, right. 285 00:14:36,159 --> 00:14:40,399 Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, I completely emphasize with that. Again. I 286 00:14:40,399 --> 00:14:43,000 saw this with Adobe back in twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen, 287 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,000 where all anybody knew about AI at the time was 288 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,120 deep fakes. And that was you know, early bad actors 289 00:14:48,159 --> 00:14:51,600 that were using these tools for nefarious purposes to like 290 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:56,480 photoshop Obama's head, you know, on the bodies of other 291 00:14:56,559 --> 00:14:59,279 people that were doing bad things. And that was just 292 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:01,840 one mainstream example of that was you know, the story 293 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:03,559 that you saw in the New York Times every day 294 00:15:03,679 --> 00:15:05,840 was deep fakes, deep tape, deep fakes, deep fakes. This 295 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:08,960 is all AI is. It's so scary, right, and the 296 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:11,840 fear mongering, and now you can't open the New York Times, 297 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:16,399 no disrespect without a hit piece on crypto, and a 298 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:18,960 lot of it is the same tired narratives we've heard 299 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:22,159 of exactly, like you said, the bad actors, the fraudsters. 300 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,200 I mean, the example that comes top of mine, I 301 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,440 think first for everyone with crypto is FTX and Sam 302 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:30,840 Bankman freed, and let's be honest, that was just traditional fraud. 303 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:33,159 It happened to be a crypto company, but that was 304 00:15:33,200 --> 00:15:37,320 the same the methodology of fraud, and you know, pulling 305 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,240 the wool over the eyes of your investors and doing 306 00:15:39,279 --> 00:15:42,919 this sort of shell game like Bernie Madoff did you know, 307 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:45,919 did the same thing. Like this is just the way 308 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:50,679 that bad actors do exploit systems. And so our perspective 309 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,759 is like fraudsters and scammer's greatest weakness is an informed public, 310 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,120 people who are really plugged into the warning signs so 311 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:01,320 they can avoid them. And so that's what we're doing. 312 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,639 We're trying to help people navigate this space as safely 313 00:16:03,639 --> 00:16:04,960 and responsibly as possible. 314 00:16:05,919 --> 00:16:08,879 Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I often, you know, like to remind people 315 00:16:08,919 --> 00:16:12,279 too that Birding made Off did this in a regulated market, 316 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:14,600 while sam Beg and Freed and FTX did it in 317 00:16:14,639 --> 00:16:18,039 an unregulated market, but not because of the technology. The 318 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:20,399 regulators didn't act fast enough, and we're still trying to 319 00:16:20,399 --> 00:16:23,720 figure that out. And if the regulations were in place, 320 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,559 they wouldn't be in the Bahamas. They would be here, 321 00:16:26,919 --> 00:16:31,679 tied into US, you know, regulatory geofensis, so to speak. 322 00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,000 And that's where you know, the regulators have to catch up. 323 00:16:35,279 --> 00:16:36,600 But you know, we're getting there. 324 00:16:37,759 --> 00:16:40,759 Speaker 1: I think so as well. I certainly hope. So if 325 00:16:40,799 --> 00:16:44,679 we can manifest anything today, let's let's manifest that there 326 00:16:44,759 --> 00:16:47,639 is positive momentum. I think on the on the clarity front, 327 00:16:47,679 --> 00:16:50,039 you know, I when the NCA first launched the Genius 328 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,759 Act hadn't even come to fruition, and so that was 329 00:16:52,799 --> 00:16:57,320 the first meaningful step towards more clear smart rules of 330 00:16:57,360 --> 00:16:59,960 the road for digital assets. Obviously that was very focused 331 00:17:00,039 --> 00:17:04,279 on stable coins, whereas now clarity is more market structure broadly. 332 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:09,119 And what we're hearing from from consumers from voters in 333 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:13,680 America is they want clear smart guardrails and protections. They 334 00:17:13,759 --> 00:17:16,240 want to understand when, where and how they can engage 335 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:20,920 with crypto legally and responsibly, and I think there's still 336 00:17:20,920 --> 00:17:23,680 this also pervasive narrative that crypto is like the wild 337 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:27,400 wild West, and maybe the industry doesn't want regulation, which 338 00:17:27,400 --> 00:17:29,000 I think you and I know could not be further 339 00:17:29,039 --> 00:17:31,680 from the truth. The reality is the crypto industry is 340 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,440 begging for regulation, and I really hope that we get 341 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,000 some smart policies very soon so that more people have 342 00:17:38,079 --> 00:17:42,720 even greater confidence with how they can start embracing the technology. 343 00:17:43,519 --> 00:17:46,039 Speaker 2: Yeah, and look, in the twenty twenty four election, we 344 00:17:46,079 --> 00:17:50,519 saw how to play out with crypto investors and you know, 345 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:55,720 voting according to their asset holdings, which is pretty incredible. 346 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:57,599 I don't know if I've ever seen anything like that 347 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:03,240 where an asset class had such a big cohort of voters. 348 00:18:03,559 --> 00:18:05,480 And maybe I need to study more history, but that 349 00:18:05,799 --> 00:18:06,640 was pretty incredible. 350 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: Yeah. My boss, Stu Alderotti, the president of the NCAA, 351 00:18:10,559 --> 00:18:13,000 actually just wrote a whole op ed that ran in 352 00:18:13,039 --> 00:18:17,440 real clear markets, I think earlier this week, and it 353 00:18:17,519 --> 00:18:20,079 was basically, there's been a lot of polling happening right 354 00:18:20,119 --> 00:18:23,359 now that's indicating that you know, only a fourth of 355 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,839 Americans see crypto is sort of a single issue voting block, 356 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,559 right like there's only a quarter of US adults who 357 00:18:30,559 --> 00:18:33,640 are holding digital assets, who care about crypto, and who 358 00:18:33,759 --> 00:18:37,079 care about this when it comes to the election season, 359 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:39,519 And the op ed was all about the fact that 360 00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,000 like hold on a quarter of US adults, that's sixty 361 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,440 seven million people. That is a lot of people. And 362 00:18:45,519 --> 00:18:48,480 our new research did find exactly that that, yes, one 363 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,559 in four US adults is are holding crypto. That is 364 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,000 not fringe, that is not a novelty. That's pretty normal. 365 00:18:55,359 --> 00:18:57,319 And by the way, when we ran our big crypto 366 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,000 survey last year to see how many US adults are 367 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,039 holding crypto, it's the biggest annual study of crypto in 368 00:19:03,039 --> 00:19:05,960 the US. Because there's so much conflicting information and misinformation 369 00:19:06,039 --> 00:19:08,960 out there, so we decided, let's do the biggest possible survey. 370 00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:12,559 So we surveyed ten thousand crypto holders. And last year 371 00:19:12,559 --> 00:19:15,000 we had to survey fifty five thousand people to get 372 00:19:15,039 --> 00:19:17,359 to the ten thousand holders, which is how we knew 373 00:19:17,599 --> 00:19:20,599 that around one in five were holding crypto. This year, 374 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,160 we had to survey just less than forty thousand people, 375 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,240 which is how we know that now one in four 376 00:19:25,359 --> 00:19:28,680 is holding crypto. That's a really big jump year over year, 377 00:19:28,799 --> 00:19:30,960 especially as you said, you know, in a market that 378 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:35,279 is still relatively unregulated, and you know, the headlines will 379 00:19:35,279 --> 00:19:39,519 have you believe that again, this is all scammers, fraudsters, 380 00:19:39,559 --> 00:19:42,200 and fringe kind of hypee bros trying to go to 381 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:44,720 the moon. And so I'm excited to run this report 382 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,200 again next year because what if it's one in three. 383 00:19:47,599 --> 00:19:49,960 You know, if we keep increasing at this rate, I 384 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,319 think it really is becoming increasingly mainstream, and I get 385 00:19:53,319 --> 00:19:56,039 to I imagine we'll get to a place where it's 386 00:19:56,079 --> 00:19:59,960 so commonplace that we kind of stopped talking about it. 387 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:01,960 I hope you and I still get to do our podcasts, 388 00:20:02,039 --> 00:20:04,400 but I think it'll become so boring and baked into 389 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,720 everything that we do that the idea of crypto and 390 00:20:06,759 --> 00:20:10,680 blockchain probably won't even be such a hot topic anymore 391 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,440 because it'll just be expected. 392 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll become the norm, kind of like the existing 393 00:20:15,839 --> 00:20:18,799 markets that have been around for a long time, where 394 00:20:19,200 --> 00:20:22,440 they're like, yeah, you don't have to second guess it 395 00:20:22,519 --> 00:20:23,920 or think about it. It's just like, yeah, it's in 396 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,079 my portfolio exactly. 397 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,079 Speaker 1: I was on an interesting call with somebody in the 398 00:20:28,119 --> 00:20:30,240 industry yesterday who made the point that you know, what 399 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,279 we're seeing right now is traditional finance increasingly embracing digital assets, 400 00:20:34,319 --> 00:20:38,440 offering stable coins, offering access to crypto markets through things 401 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,960 like token ie stocks, ETFs and so on. But actually 402 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,519 their prediction, which I think is I hadn't heard this before, 403 00:20:44,559 --> 00:20:47,319 but I think it makes a ton of sense, is 404 00:20:47,319 --> 00:20:52,839 that imagine crypto companies then start to offer traditional financial 405 00:20:52,839 --> 00:20:56,799 institution products like brokerage accounts. So I do think we're 406 00:20:56,799 --> 00:21:00,279 seeing the integration increasingly between sort of the track in 407 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:03,559 DeFi worlds, and I think it's super exciting, and that's 408 00:21:03,599 --> 00:21:07,240 actually one of the biggest unlocks for people who were 409 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,839 previously crypto curious, the people who come on chain this year, 410 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,680 the new crypto holders told us that one of the 411 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,640 biggest driving forces and factors for them to start trying 412 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:21,119 crypto was seeing banks and businesses start to embrace and 413 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:22,960 integrate with digital assets. 414 00:21:23,559 --> 00:21:25,839 Speaker 2: Absolutely, because you get like the social proof of well 415 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,480 firms I'm already banking with or investing with, whether it 416 00:21:28,519 --> 00:21:31,759 be Fidelity, Black Rock, JP Morgan, they're now adding crypto. 417 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:34,559 It breaks down that barrier, and you know, maybe the 418 00:21:34,599 --> 00:21:35,519 lack of trust they may. 419 00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: Have had before exactly even working with companies like PayPal. 420 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,720 We're seeing this at my Zabanya, the head of crypto 421 00:21:44,079 --> 00:21:46,440 at PayPal, is on our advisory board, and so she 422 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:48,079 and I have talked a lot about this. What does 423 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:51,240 it mean for an everyday American who sees that you 424 00:21:51,279 --> 00:21:55,599 can now use crypto directly through your PayPal account, no 425 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,759 need to download anything else. What does it mean when 426 00:21:58,759 --> 00:22:01,119 you go to the grocery store and you can tap 427 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:03,200 and pay with crypto the same way you can with 428 00:22:03,319 --> 00:22:07,079 PayPal or with zell or whatever else it may be. 429 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,680 So I think we're seeing it as an emerging option. 430 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:13,039 You know, it's not here to take down traditional systems. 431 00:22:13,079 --> 00:22:15,519 It's here to make them work a little smarter, a 432 00:22:15,519 --> 00:22:19,119 little safer, a little faster, a little more efficiently. Help 433 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,720 people keep more of their assets at their fingertips twenty 434 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,079 four to seven, help small businesses keep more of what 435 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:30,039 they make and earn. Help employees, you know, be able 436 00:22:30,079 --> 00:22:33,000 to access their funds quicker anywhere around the world and 437 00:22:33,079 --> 00:22:36,640 without any as many intermediaries taking a cut. And even 438 00:22:36,799 --> 00:22:40,039 nonprofits are opening up to crypto donations. You know, we're 439 00:22:40,039 --> 00:22:42,799 working with November and the Giving Block and seeing how 440 00:22:42,799 --> 00:22:46,279 they're able to reach younger donors, especially digital natives who 441 00:22:46,599 --> 00:22:50,279 grew up with everything being digital and done by their phone, 442 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,720 so digital assets are just kind of the natural next 443 00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:57,000 step in that. So I think that's that's to me 444 00:22:57,079 --> 00:22:59,519 what's most exciting. You know, of course crypto is an 445 00:22:59,559 --> 00:23:02,079 investment vehicle, is a very popular use case and is 446 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,559 how most people know about it. But seeing how people 447 00:23:04,599 --> 00:23:09,519 are sending, spending, shopping, donating, paying, getting paid, and just 448 00:23:09,599 --> 00:23:12,640 seeing this as a quicker way to move value and 449 00:23:12,799 --> 00:23:13,839 gives you more ownership. 450 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 2: Absolutely. So if we double click on the demographics of 451 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,160 crypto adoption in the United States, what do you who 452 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,359 are you seeing? Who's leading right now? Is it boomers, millennials, 453 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,880 gen z what show? 454 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:31,799 Speaker 1: This is actually my favorite question, So we let's let's 455 00:23:31,799 --> 00:23:33,839 also be real about the fact that when many people 456 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,319 still picture crypto holders, they picture the bros right, younger male, 457 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,559 maybe living in a coastal city, working in tech or finance, again, 458 00:23:43,599 --> 00:23:45,519 trying to get rich quick, go to the moon by 459 00:23:45,559 --> 00:23:49,160 a lambo. No disrespect to those bros. Do you whatever 460 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,680 works for you. But what was really exciting from our 461 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,000 newest survey that we found is that a third of 462 00:23:55,039 --> 00:23:59,279 crypto holders are women, and so the bros stereotype I 463 00:23:59,279 --> 00:24:01,519 think is finally starting to die off. But to your 464 00:24:01,559 --> 00:24:05,720 point about age, we expected to see younger generations driving 465 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,200 the biggest adoption, and what we actually saw was that 466 00:24:08,279 --> 00:24:11,039 more crypto holders are over fifty five years old than 467 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,039 under twenty five years old. And so I think what 468 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:17,440 we're seeing year over year is an increase across pretty 469 00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,599 much every age demographic of more people coming on chain. 470 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:24,880 But what's really unique to double click further is how 471 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:28,440 they're using digital assets. So when we look at older generations, 472 00:24:28,480 --> 00:24:33,079 they are holding crypto more for saving retirement, long store 473 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,160 longer sort of store of value with the hope of 474 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:41,400 you know, financial gains. Younger generations, those digital natives, millennials 475 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:43,799 and Gen z, they're the ones that are really doing 476 00:24:43,799 --> 00:24:49,200 the most shopping, spending, sending, and donating with crypto. So actually, 477 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,960 we partnered with PayPal to do some more research around shopping, 478 00:24:53,079 --> 00:24:57,000 gifting and merch and spending merchant acceptance, and what we 479 00:24:57,039 --> 00:24:59,839 found was that when it comes to small businesses in particular, 480 00:25:00,279 --> 00:25:04,559 they're seeing an incredibly high demand from younger consumers to 481 00:25:04,599 --> 00:25:06,440 be able to pay with crypto at checkout. 482 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,000 Speaker 2: It's very interesting and This is something I want to 483 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:14,240 keep a track on because I'm very fascinated by different 484 00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,839 demographics and how they interact with technology and how they 485 00:25:18,079 --> 00:25:21,359 adapt to it. So it's very interesting and it's great 486 00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,559 to hear that there's a lot more female crypto holders 487 00:25:25,599 --> 00:25:29,440 because to your point, there's always been that you know, stigma. 488 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,640 All it's old guys, young guys, as you alluded to. 489 00:25:33,279 --> 00:25:35,680 But it's great to see that that's branching out and 490 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:37,440 you know, crypto's casting a wider net. 491 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, And actually to that point, one of the other 492 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,000 really interesting demographics that emerged from our survey is more 493 00:25:44,039 --> 00:25:46,759 blue collar workers are getting into crypto. So I think 494 00:25:46,799 --> 00:25:50,720 there's this sort of historical narrative that maybe crypto is 495 00:25:50,839 --> 00:25:53,519 just an asset for the super wealthy or again like 496 00:25:53,559 --> 00:25:57,039 people who have finance degrees or developers. But what we're 497 00:25:57,039 --> 00:26:01,240 seeing is construction workers and manufacturing workers are making up 498 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,559 a larger and larger share of this, and I think 499 00:26:03,599 --> 00:26:05,960 it's really interesting to look at that in the context 500 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,359 of what's happening across across those industries in general, things 501 00:26:10,519 --> 00:26:14,920 like supply chain manufacturing, yet construction more like sort of 502 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,680 the industries that have a lot of like manual labor involved, 503 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:23,400 they're starting to integrate technology and how they work already 504 00:26:23,839 --> 00:26:26,880 and get smarter and be much more tech forward. And 505 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:29,200 so seeing that this is now trickling to the individual 506 00:26:29,279 --> 00:26:32,759 level is really really reassuring to us, and I think 507 00:26:32,759 --> 00:26:35,480 we do see crypto as a sort of an opportunity 508 00:26:35,519 --> 00:26:38,279 to level the economic playing field. Crypto doesn't care what 509 00:26:38,319 --> 00:26:41,160 you look like. It doesn't care about your race, your gender, 510 00:26:42,079 --> 00:26:45,880 your profession, your income level. It really is for everyone. 511 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,839 And seeing different people from different walks of life sort 512 00:26:49,839 --> 00:26:52,200 of open their eyes to that and start to be 513 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,720 more open to this is really inspiring and I think 514 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,039 what gets me kind of out of bed every morning. 515 00:26:58,559 --> 00:27:00,440 You know, we've been traveling all across the country for 516 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:02,880 the last few years meeting with the people and businesses 517 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:05,960 who were using crypto in their everyday lives. Everyone from 518 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,799 we just met with a plumber, a master plumber in Arizona, 519 00:27:09,079 --> 00:27:13,240 to a small business construction owner in San Francisco, to 520 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:16,119 a single mom in Texas who she was actually one 521 00:27:16,160 --> 00:27:18,519 of my biggest aha moments when I since I've been 522 00:27:18,519 --> 00:27:21,519 working in the crypto space, where she the way she 523 00:27:21,519 --> 00:27:24,160 put said she was an unbanked middle class housewife in America, 524 00:27:24,559 --> 00:27:26,599 and she was in a relationship for twenty years. They 525 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,359 had four kids together, and she thought everything was you know, 526 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:33,400 fifty to fifty shared accounts, shared finances. And she went 527 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,559 to the bank to pay the mortgage one day and 528 00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,640 the bank tell her couldn't accept her cash and told 529 00:27:38,680 --> 00:27:40,920 her that her husband had taken her name off of 530 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,960 their shared bank account a decade prior. And she had 531 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,640 no idea. And that's an example of, you know, a 532 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,039 traditional system failed her. And what she did was she 533 00:27:53,319 --> 00:27:56,119 taught herself how to trade crypto, and she built herself 534 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:57,960 a little nest egg so she was able to save 535 00:27:58,039 --> 00:28:00,839 up her own money and give her her self financial 536 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:03,079 sovereignty and freedom. And the way she puts it is 537 00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:04,799 that for the first time in her life, she had 538 00:28:04,839 --> 00:28:06,880 something that no one could take away from her. And 539 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:09,119 so I'm so I actually just talked to her this morning, 540 00:28:09,240 --> 00:28:11,039 So I'm so proud of her. She's like going to 541 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,319 law school now and her and her ex are divorced, 542 00:28:14,559 --> 00:28:19,279 and she's really found her confidence through mastering kind of 543 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:21,680 digital assets and something that was seen as a boys club. 544 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:26,519 Speaker 2: Wow. Such an incredible story of how the technology helped 545 00:28:26,559 --> 00:28:29,640 her in that situation. These are stories people need to 546 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:32,920 hear of and understand the benefits of the technology. So 547 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:38,799 that's really really great. You mentioned may from PayPal is 548 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,680 one of your advisors, if I'm not mistaken. Who else 549 00:28:41,759 --> 00:28:45,319 is a part of your partners team of partners and advisors. 550 00:28:45,839 --> 00:28:47,759 Speaker 1: Yeah, of course. So in addition to my on our 551 00:28:47,799 --> 00:28:51,640 advisory board, we sort of focus on four core pillars 552 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,559 when we think about where the NCAA can make the 553 00:28:53,559 --> 00:28:56,720 greatest impact. So utility is one of them. How is 554 00:28:56,759 --> 00:28:58,759 crypto being used in the real world, So that's why 555 00:28:58,799 --> 00:29:01,440 we work closely with my and paid Pal. Also a 556 00:29:01,519 --> 00:29:07,000 safety keeping people safe online, helping them spots scams. We 557 00:29:07,279 --> 00:29:09,920 have Joanne Barefoot, who's the head of Alliance, the Alliance 558 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,200 for Innovative Regulation, on our advisory board, and she shared 559 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,519 with me some really incredible work that her team has 560 00:29:15,559 --> 00:29:19,720 done over the years to actually dig into the blockchain's data. 561 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,359 You know, we know the blockchain is a permanent, public, 562 00:29:22,359 --> 00:29:25,440 immutable ledger, right, you can kind of look for things 563 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,759 if you know where to look and what you're looking for. 564 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:32,559 And she partnered with the Canadian Mounties and real and 565 00:29:32,839 --> 00:29:35,039 law enforcement up and I believe it was Washington State 566 00:29:35,319 --> 00:29:40,640 to actually find patterns in blockchain transactions that ended up 567 00:29:40,960 --> 00:29:47,200 helping law enforcement catch a human trafficking ring. Incredible. And 568 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:49,839 then a few more heavy hitters on our board. We've 569 00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,960 got Cam Harvey, doctor Cam Harvey. He is a professor 570 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:55,960 of Finance and DeFi at Duke University, and he is 571 00:29:55,960 --> 00:29:58,519 our expert when it comes to education, so helping ensure 572 00:29:58,599 --> 00:30:01,039 that everything we're doing is very apt, demic oriented, but 573 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,400 still one percent accurate. We're not, but that we're making 574 00:30:05,440 --> 00:30:08,279 it simple and not like losing the nuance if that 575 00:30:08,319 --> 00:30:10,680 makes sense right, because it's you're taking these really complex 576 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:12,799 topics and you need to boil them down in very 577 00:30:12,839 --> 00:30:15,680 simplistic ways. But we never want to lose the intent 578 00:30:15,759 --> 00:30:17,759 of what we're trying to say or muddy the waters. 579 00:30:17,799 --> 00:30:19,799 And so Cam's been a great resource as we build 580 00:30:19,799 --> 00:30:23,160 out all of our educational content and programs and unless, 581 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:25,440 but certainly not least on the policy front. You know, 582 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,119 we're apolitical. We're not lobbying, we're not trying to get 583 00:30:28,119 --> 00:30:31,000 out the vote, but we are educating policy makers on 584 00:30:31,319 --> 00:30:34,119 who their constituents are and how they're using crypto to 585 00:30:34,119 --> 00:30:36,960 help them make the most informed regulatory decisions. And so 586 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,440 we have Christian Carlow, the former chairman of the CFTC, 587 00:30:41,599 --> 00:30:44,039 and I actually saw he was on your podcast recently 588 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,400 and he and I will be speaking actually with the 589 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,039 with Karen how The How, former housewife that I mentioned 590 00:30:51,319 --> 00:30:55,599 at Money twenty twenty this year, on a panel. Karen 591 00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:58,039 goes by Crypto Mommy online and as you probably know, 592 00:30:58,119 --> 00:31:01,599 Chris's book is Crypto Dad. So I'm moderating a discussion 593 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:04,720 with the two of them, Crypto Dad meets Crypto Mommy 594 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,279 from the Hill to the Household, and it's going to 595 00:31:07,319 --> 00:31:10,440 talk about everything from policy to how that trickles down 596 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:13,880 to how normal everyday people at parents are thinking about 597 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:15,240 and using digital assets. 598 00:31:15,759 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 2: That's great. I love that. I'm going to have to 599 00:31:18,519 --> 00:31:21,599 catch that panel, whether it be virtual or you know, 600 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,960 in person. I'll talk to you offline about the event 601 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:25,319 and things like that. But that's really great. 602 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,400 Speaker 1: Definitely we'd love to see you there and if not, 603 00:31:28,519 --> 00:31:30,559 well we'll talk in New York again soon. 604 00:31:32,599 --> 00:31:34,400 Speaker 2: I love the initiatives you guys are doing, because, yeah, 605 00:31:34,519 --> 00:31:38,319 education is such a big piece for adoption of this 606 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:42,279 technology and for people to understand all the benefits and 607 00:31:42,559 --> 00:31:45,839 you know, are you planning to take this model, so 608 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:48,640 to speak, and go beyond the United States to other 609 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,240 countries to spread education as well. 610 00:31:51,279 --> 00:31:54,759 Speaker 1: That's a great question. We are a nationally focused organizations, 611 00:31:54,839 --> 00:31:58,319 so as of now, no plans to expand beyond the US. 612 00:31:58,359 --> 00:32:01,359 But what we're actually doing right now now is our 613 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:03,680 first year. You know, we launched last year. Our first 614 00:32:03,759 --> 00:32:07,759 year was very focused on widespread sort of mass awareness, 615 00:32:08,079 --> 00:32:11,640 reaching as many people as possible. Now that we've done that, 616 00:32:11,759 --> 00:32:13,839 we're starting to be able to go a little bit 617 00:32:13,839 --> 00:32:17,960 deeper and focus on more quality in addition to quantity storytelling. 618 00:32:18,359 --> 00:32:21,000 So for example, of our big State of Cryptoculter report 619 00:32:21,039 --> 00:32:24,200 that we do every year, we released the national numbers 620 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,960 of you know, sixty seven million hold crypto a third 621 00:32:27,039 --> 00:32:30,039 or women more over fifty under twenty five. But what 622 00:32:30,079 --> 00:32:33,559 we're doing right now is actually looking at specific use 623 00:32:33,599 --> 00:32:38,839 cases and specific demographics, so for example, lower income individuals. 624 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,119 Of course, as we talked about with crypto being this 625 00:32:41,319 --> 00:32:46,119 like leveler of that of the playing field economically, it's 626 00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:51,279 it's really important that lower income individuals you understand the 627 00:32:51,319 --> 00:32:54,119 power of this tool to break down those barriers and 628 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,559 to give them kind of unparalleled access and inclusion in 629 00:32:58,599 --> 00:33:01,599 a way that they've never really had before. And so 630 00:33:01,759 --> 00:33:04,319 what we're doing is another one of our partners is Coinbase, 631 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:07,440 and we've been working with Coinbase to help scale and 632 00:33:07,519 --> 00:33:11,119 evolve our educational resources, our crypto one oh one learning 633 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,640 tools for Operation Hope, which you might be familiar. They 634 00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:18,079 are a nonprofit that's helping people break cycles of poverty 635 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,400 upskilling them with things like financial literacy tools, and so 636 00:33:21,720 --> 00:33:24,119 we just launched the courses with Operation Hope to their 637 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:26,960 coaches and communities a few months ago. So excited to 638 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:28,960 see how that's all going. But our goal is to 639 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,680 continue to scale that and look at other more maybe 640 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:36,319 more vulnerable populations or more historically excluded populations, for example, 641 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,279 older generations. So we know that, you know, on the whole, 642 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:44,319 older Americans are targeted at a higher rate for scams 643 00:33:44,359 --> 00:33:47,720 in general. However, what we found from our survey of 644 00:33:47,759 --> 00:33:51,440 crypto holders is that it's kind of happening across the 645 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:54,759 board at more equal levels, and older folks actually aren't 646 00:33:54,799 --> 00:33:57,839 falling for the scams as much as maybe younger folks. 647 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:01,200 And so what that signals to me is they're curious, 648 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,160 but cautious. They're doing their homework, which is great, exactly 649 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,359 what they should be doing, and they're being very careful 650 00:34:06,359 --> 00:34:09,199 before they make any moves, which is regardless of your age, 651 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,199 regardless of your gender, regardless of anything about you, you 652 00:34:12,599 --> 00:34:15,559 always want to do that. And so yeah, we're looking 653 00:34:15,599 --> 00:34:17,960 at where we can have the greatest impact, and I 654 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:21,239 think where we plan to go even deeper is storytelling 655 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:23,639 focused around safety. So we're going to be launching some 656 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:27,079 one oh one modules and courses more dedicated to safety 657 00:34:27,079 --> 00:34:30,360 and security. And then we're also looking at as we've 658 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,840 talked about the traditional finance world, and you know, how 659 00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:40,280 are banks and asset managers and insurers and credit unions 660 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:44,199 thinking about digital assets? Do they understand them? Are their 661 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,280 customers asking about them and figuring out how we can 662 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:50,400 help them sort of get over any humps or barriers 663 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:53,360 so that they can be really smart resources and allies 664 00:34:53,400 --> 00:34:54,480 for their clients as well. 665 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,280 Speaker 2: So, Ali, we kind of touched briefly on it earlier. 666 00:35:00,119 --> 00:35:02,679 We're in the cusp of potentially getting the Clarity Act pass. 667 00:35:03,119 --> 00:35:05,920 So let's say that does happen this month or maybe 668 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:08,320 later this year. You know, are you guys playing to 669 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,679 launch any awareness campaigns around that? Hey, the United States 670 00:35:12,679 --> 00:35:16,480 has regulated crypto. This is a regulated asset class and technology. 671 00:35:17,039 --> 00:35:20,760 Here's here at the top hits of that regulation. And 672 00:35:21,519 --> 00:35:23,400 you know, kind of a spread awareness because I feel 673 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:26,280 like if it does pass, majority of mainstream people might 674 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:28,360 be like, huh, what is the Clarity Act? 675 00:35:29,079 --> 00:35:33,079 Speaker 1: Yeah, great question. Actually, when when the Genius Act passed 676 00:35:33,119 --> 00:35:35,400 last year, we did a quick social post on it 677 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,119 of just like this is what happened and this is 678 00:35:37,119 --> 00:35:39,440 what it means for you, and that post actually went 679 00:35:39,519 --> 00:35:42,840 viral on Twitter. So to me that and to us 680 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,440 that really demonstrated like there is a real need and 681 00:35:45,519 --> 00:35:49,119 appetite for this type of information to be broken down 682 00:35:49,199 --> 00:35:53,199 really simply and translated into human language. But also like 683 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:55,519 the again the end user impact of what does it 684 00:35:55,559 --> 00:35:57,880 mean for me as an everyday person that's thinking about 685 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:02,559 using crypto or using crypto case stable coins. So short answer, yes, 686 00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:07,079 as policy momentum moves, we are here to help everyday 687 00:36:07,079 --> 00:36:09,920 Americans understand what it means for them. And so we're 688 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:11,920 doing that and we'll continue to do that on the 689 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:17,480 Crypto Explain podcast, through our learning courses, through our research, 690 00:36:17,840 --> 00:36:22,000 through our real human storytelling, and then certainly through things 691 00:36:22,079 --> 00:36:26,679 like blogs, social media posts really anywhere and everywhere. I 692 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:29,199 think that the way that I've really been trying to 693 00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:32,360 boil down NCA to people we encounter in the wild 694 00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:34,079 for the first time is like, think of us as 695 00:36:34,079 --> 00:36:37,960 that translator. If you need help making sense of these 696 00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:41,519 topics or what is happening the technology, the use cases, 697 00:36:41,679 --> 00:36:45,800 the policy momentum, the safety and security concerns, let us 698 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:48,800 help you. We're not you know, we have no skin 699 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,519 in the game. We're not here to sell anything. We're 700 00:36:51,559 --> 00:36:55,679 agnostic to companies and protocols and tokens. Our goal is 701 00:36:55,719 --> 00:36:58,920 to just help as many people understand how they can 702 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,159 benefit from this tool. And so what success looks like 703 00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:05,880 is more people not just coming on chain and adopting crypto, 704 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:08,559 but doing so safely and responsibly. So at the same time, 705 00:37:08,599 --> 00:37:13,960 we're seeing lower increases or lower rates of scams and 706 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,960 losses and fraud is a real goal of hours. So 707 00:37:18,039 --> 00:37:19,719 some of the content that we have coming soon in 708 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,280 campaigns will be more geared towards that. And then also 709 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,239 just confidence with your knowledge. You know, the biggest barrier 710 00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:28,719 to entry when it comes to crypto in America is 711 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,400 the knowledge gap. People just don't get it and they're 712 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,159 overwhelmed trying to learn it all turned off by the 713 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:36,880 hype and the jargon. And that's exactly what we're here 714 00:37:36,920 --> 00:37:38,960 to solve for. And we really took that data and 715 00:37:39,039 --> 00:37:42,480 insight to build everything that we've done, from the podcast 716 00:37:42,559 --> 00:37:45,360 and the courses to all of the content that we 717 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:49,079 put on social and just consumer awareness campaigns, adds sort 718 00:37:49,119 --> 00:37:52,280 of the basic traditional methods. We really want to reach 719 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:56,719 people wherever they're at at a time when they probably 720 00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:58,840 have a lot of questions and every time they look 721 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,280 for answers, they just end up with more questions. 722 00:38:01,840 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 2: I love it. I love it, Ali. It's much much needed. 723 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:08,800 And maybe Ali, in a couple of years, your name 724 00:38:08,840 --> 00:38:12,400 won't be National Crypto Association, will be Global Crypto Association 725 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,440 because you'll be educating many people across the world. 726 00:38:16,079 --> 00:38:16,559 Speaker 1: I hope. 727 00:38:16,599 --> 00:38:16,719 Speaker 2: So. 728 00:38:17,159 --> 00:38:20,480 Speaker 1: I love to travel, and so it always breaks my 729 00:38:20,519 --> 00:38:22,159 heart when I don't get to go to things like 730 00:38:22,199 --> 00:38:25,440 Paris Blockchain Week. But also I think just being you know, 731 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:28,039 begetting to speak at the Bitcoin conference and consensus, and 732 00:38:28,079 --> 00:38:31,920 being on these global stages US hosted conferences, but global stages, 733 00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:35,840 global audiences. I'm often on panels or in conversations with 734 00:38:35,840 --> 00:38:38,239 people from different parts of the world, from the Cayman 735 00:38:38,280 --> 00:38:45,000 Islands to Venezuela to you know, Mexico to even Switzerland, Sweden, 736 00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:48,199 all of these places. And I'm so blown away by 737 00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:51,000 the innovation that's happening around the world. And it's so 738 00:38:51,199 --> 00:38:56,400 interesting seeing how different countries are navigating the regulation around it. 739 00:38:56,559 --> 00:38:59,840 And you know, three quarters of voters do want the 740 00:39:00,079 --> 00:39:02,280 Wes to become the crypto capital of the world, and 741 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,039 so that means that we need to ensure that it's 742 00:39:05,039 --> 00:39:07,719 not you know, the innovation isn't moving offshore and a 743 00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:10,719 lot of that has already started happening. And so not 744 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:13,280 trying to create fomo for any policy makers out there 745 00:39:13,320 --> 00:39:15,639 and say like, if we don't regulate, you know, we're 746 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:17,960 we're going to be in trouble. But the reality is 747 00:39:18,039 --> 00:39:20,639 we are a country that's known for innovation and for 748 00:39:20,800 --> 00:39:23,320 like you know, let's be honest, having a good amount 749 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:25,679 of funding. So it does bob on my mind a 750 00:39:25,719 --> 00:39:29,599 little bit that we've been so slow to pick up 751 00:39:29,639 --> 00:39:33,480 the to take a stance on what policy should look like. 752 00:39:34,719 --> 00:39:39,320 But I will say that cross border payments remittances Americans 753 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:43,719 sending money back home, that is an incredibly popular use 754 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:46,280 case and I think there are entire countries where you know, 755 00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,719 ninety percent of people are on chain, and I think 756 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,159 we will ultimately get there where it's kind of not 757 00:39:52,199 --> 00:39:55,159 an if, but a when the genies out of the bottle, 758 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:57,719 these tools are here, more people are sort of waking 759 00:39:57,800 --> 00:39:59,480 up to what they can do for them and so 760 00:39:59,559 --> 00:40:01,840 I think that this is again just going to become 761 00:40:02,119 --> 00:40:05,920 so normal and boring that we you and I are 762 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:08,800 going to need to look for new topics for our podcasts. 763 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, well said and fingers crossed. Ali, we can get 764 00:40:13,480 --> 00:40:16,400 that Clarity Act on this year, and I think that 765 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,599 would kick off a wave of innovation and investment in 766 00:40:19,639 --> 00:40:22,840 this technology and create a lot of new jobs too, 767 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:26,000 because there's this is an industry that has a lot 768 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,480 of potential and that could benefit a lot of folks 769 00:40:28,559 --> 00:40:32,400 right whether they're coders or even regardless if they're marketing 770 00:40:32,519 --> 00:40:34,480 or if they're a legal feel they can come work 771 00:40:34,519 --> 00:40:35,519 in the crypto industry. 772 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,599 Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more. And I don't want to scoop 773 00:40:39,599 --> 00:40:42,239 myself here, but we're actually working on some research around 774 00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:46,320 job opportunities and economic impact in America created by crypto. 775 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,079 So I hope to be able to share those numbers 776 00:40:49,079 --> 00:40:52,239 with you very soon. I have some I can't say 777 00:40:52,280 --> 00:40:55,440 anything yet, but I've seen some early updates and it's 778 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,000 it's pretty impactful. So I think that the world, the 779 00:40:59,039 --> 00:41:03,800 world is our oyster. And you know, the opportunity is 780 00:41:03,920 --> 00:41:08,280 tremendous for people, for businesses. Really, I can't think of 781 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:13,039 anyone that doesn't stand to benefit from being able to 782 00:41:13,119 --> 00:41:17,239 have more ownership and access over there. Just not even money, 783 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:20,079 just anything of value. It can be artwork, it can 784 00:41:20,119 --> 00:41:23,119 be live stock. We're working with a rancher in Wyoming 785 00:41:23,159 --> 00:41:26,599 who's tokenizing livestock on the blockchain. He told me yesterday 786 00:41:26,599 --> 00:41:28,760 he just added seven hundred new cows and it took 787 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,800 thirty minutes, something that used to take weeks. And you know, 788 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:34,400 if there's a disease outbreak, you can trace the source 789 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:38,559 in seconds instead of days, and you can validate humane 790 00:41:38,599 --> 00:41:42,199 treatment claims of the beef you're eating and vaccines. I mean, 791 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:45,119 this is real. It's not like we're not talking about 792 00:41:45,159 --> 00:41:47,559 the potential and the future. We're talking about what's happening 793 00:41:47,599 --> 00:41:48,800 in America today. 794 00:41:49,599 --> 00:41:53,320 Speaker 2: Wow, that's pretty incredible. And we're seeing the race for 795 00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:56,840 moving a lot of data assets and other things on 796 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,760 chain on blockchains of course, and tradify. Boy, they are 797 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:03,159 in a race right now. Everybody's trying to go twenty 798 00:42:03,159 --> 00:42:05,880 four to seven to put assets on chain has mentioned 799 00:42:05,920 --> 00:42:09,440 real estate, goal stocks, equities, money market funds, and much more. 800 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:11,079 It's pretty incredible. 801 00:42:11,599 --> 00:42:13,519 Speaker 1: It really is. I think, you know, when I have 802 00:42:13,559 --> 00:42:16,039 people ask me if I'm all in on crypto, I 803 00:42:16,039 --> 00:42:18,000 always answer the question by saying, like, do you mean 804 00:42:18,079 --> 00:42:21,360 do I have one hundred percent of my investment portfolio 805 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:23,719 and money in crypto? The answer is no. And again 806 00:42:23,880 --> 00:42:26,800 I don't even necessarily recommend that. It's not my job. 807 00:42:26,800 --> 00:42:29,400 I'm not a financial advisor, but I do see crypto 808 00:42:29,440 --> 00:42:31,800 as an option and not. You know, we never want 809 00:42:31,800 --> 00:42:33,920 to put all of our eggs in one basket, I think, 810 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:36,079 just as a general rule of thumb. But do I 811 00:42:36,159 --> 00:42:39,440 believe that the future of everything is digital and will 812 00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:43,639 be tokenized? I genuinely do. We're already seeing it is. 813 00:42:43,719 --> 00:42:46,960 It is a no brainer. Why when if there's any 814 00:42:46,960 --> 00:42:49,559 industry that has instances of fraud, if you have supply 815 00:42:49,719 --> 00:42:52,519 chains to manage, if you have people who need to 816 00:42:52,519 --> 00:42:54,599 get paid around the world, I mean, the list is 817 00:42:54,719 --> 00:42:58,559 endless of the problems that this tech solution solves for so, 818 00:42:59,199 --> 00:43:02,440 it's really promising to see a deeper and deeper integrated 819 00:43:02,519 --> 00:43:06,239 with everything we already know and use and are familiar 820 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:07,039 and comfortable with. 821 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,760 Speaker 2: Absolutely, So, Ali, I got some wrap up questions here 822 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:13,960 for you. First, are you an early bird or night owl? 823 00:43:15,000 --> 00:43:18,239 Speaker 1: Early bird? Absolutely, I'm up with the sun and I'm 824 00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:19,639 sometimes asleep with the sun. 825 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:23,960 Speaker 2: Windows seater, aisle window. 826 00:43:24,280 --> 00:43:26,840 Speaker 1: Definitely want to curl up and not have to get 827 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:28,079 up for the duration of the flight. 828 00:43:29,079 --> 00:43:31,559 Speaker 2: A text, email or call. 829 00:43:31,840 --> 00:43:36,599 Speaker 1: Text for friends and family, email for work, and call 830 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:39,639 if for anything really urging or serious. Otherwise I'm just 831 00:43:39,719 --> 00:43:41,119 gonna send it to voicemail. 832 00:43:42,559 --> 00:43:44,599 Speaker 2: What's one company outside of Crypto you admire? 833 00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:52,079 Speaker 1: Duo Lingo is absolutely on a pedestal in my mind forever. 834 00:43:52,519 --> 00:43:55,760 They took sort of a boring topic and category of 835 00:43:55,800 --> 00:43:59,960 literacy and made it so fun and engaging and instead 836 00:44:00,159 --> 00:44:02,079 devised it and gamified it to the point that I 837 00:44:02,119 --> 00:44:04,320 don't know anyone who's not talking about Duo Lingo. But 838 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:07,639 as a communicator and marketer, I actually think their marketing 839 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:11,840 is so culturally brilliant. I'll never forget when they partnered 840 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:13,840 with Kat's Deli in New York when they launched their 841 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:17,159 Yiddish course, and people who successfully completed the course are 842 00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:19,800 ordered in Yiddish. I believe it was got free bagels 843 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:24,079 and shmeer. I mean, how smart and Taptain is an 844 00:44:24,079 --> 00:44:28,760 idea like that. I'm excited to hopefully launch campaigns about 845 00:44:28,800 --> 00:44:32,519 Crypto that are sort of incite the same reaction. 846 00:44:33,599 --> 00:44:36,519 Speaker 2: Love it. And if you could have dinner with any 847 00:44:36,559 --> 00:44:38,199 person living or dead, who would it be. 848 00:44:39,559 --> 00:44:42,800 Speaker 1: I'm going to go to Taylor Swift. She just got married. 849 00:44:42,840 --> 00:44:45,559 I don't know if it's Taylor Kelsey now, but you 850 00:44:45,599 --> 00:44:47,800 know I'd grown up with her. I'm a nineteen eighty 851 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:51,400 nine gal, and I've always admired her as not just 852 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:56,199 a masterful storyteller, but again from a communications perspective, she's 853 00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:59,239 always reclaimed her narrative and she's never let anyone else 854 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,199 tell her story before her. And she's also a master 855 00:45:02,320 --> 00:45:04,559 at time management. I don't know how many hours in 856 00:45:04,599 --> 00:45:06,320 the day she has to do all the things that 857 00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:06,800 she does. 858 00:45:08,079 --> 00:45:11,480 Speaker 2: And finally, best advice you've ever gotten, I. 859 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:14,079 Speaker 1: Think golden rule. If something seems too good to be true, 860 00:45:14,159 --> 00:45:18,039 it is. This is true with everything from people or 861 00:45:18,159 --> 00:45:23,760 restaurant recommendations to deals and investment opportunities. I think that's 862 00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,159 something that I try to keep front and center for 863 00:45:26,239 --> 00:45:28,840 everything from my day job with crypto to how I 864 00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:32,159 live my personal life, and definitely encourage your listeners to 865 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:34,199 keep that in mind as well, especially if they are 866 00:45:34,199 --> 00:45:35,840 new to crypto or anything. 867 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:39,960 Speaker 2: Ali, absolute pleasure, love what you and the folks at 868 00:45:40,039 --> 00:45:42,679 NCAA are doing, and everyone links will be in a description. 869 00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:44,760 Go check out the NCAA's website and all the great 870 00:45:44,760 --> 00:45:47,280 resources they have. But thank you so much, Ali, and 871 00:45:47,360 --> 00:45:48,960 I'm sure we're going to be doing more of these 872 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:51,840 interviews as you guys continue to get more data about 873 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:54,119 crypto adoption and much more. But thank you so much. 874 00:45:54,599 --> 00:45:57,239 Speaker 1: Absolutely, I can't wait. Thank you, Tony. Always a pleasure. 875 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:00,360 Speaker 2: Thank you so much for tuning in. Please please hit 876 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:02,760 the like button subscribe if you haven't as yet. If 877 00:46:02,800 --> 00:46:06,000 you're listening on a podcast platform such as Spotify or Apple, 878 00:46:06,159 --> 00:46:08,920 please follow and leave a five star rating. Thank you 879 00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:09,400 so much,