WEBVTT 1 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:14.840 You probably recognize this tune, but the lyrics are pretty 2 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:22.680 different from Bob Marley's Stirred Up. The participants in this 3 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:26.840 late night jam session are sitting poolside. There is about 4 00:00:26.840 --> 00:00:34.440 twenty of them, swaying and holding hands. It's spring of 5 00:00:34.520 --> 00:00:38.000 twenty eighteen here in Rincon, Puerto Rico, a ton revered 6 00:00:38.040 --> 00:00:41.520 for its surf spots and beaches, but this mostly non 7 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:44.280 Puerto Rican crowd is here to do more than just 8 00:00:44.400 --> 00:00:47.839 blow off some steam. There is this one guy in 9 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:51.000 the group who's grinning and swaying to the music. You 10 00:00:51.040 --> 00:00:53.920 can't miss him. He's got on a wide brim black 11 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:58.360 hat like Zorro. It's accented with playing cards and feathers. 12 00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:02.800 His name is and he's sort of the main reason 13 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:06.639 that these people are all here. He's very rich, though 14 00:01:06.720 --> 00:01:10.919 it's impossible to know just how rich. He's the leader 15 00:01:11.160 --> 00:01:16.000 of a movement, a movement that he says will change everything. 16 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:24.640 From futuro media, it's Latino usay iim Maria nor Rosa 17 00:01:24.720 --> 00:01:35.720 today the Bitcoin Pirates of the Caribbean. That sing along 18 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:39.120 that you just heard is from the spring of twenty eighteen. 19 00:01:40.520 --> 00:01:44.200 It's just a few months after Hurricane Maria much of 20 00:01:44.240 --> 00:01:47.960 Puerto Rico is still devastated, and these people are here, 21 00:01:48.080 --> 00:01:52.000 they say, to rebuild. That's why they were singing build 22 00:01:52.080 --> 00:01:56.000 it up. At that time, the group was calling themselves 23 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.800 the Portopians. Many of them are newly rich off of bitcoin, 24 00:02:00.080 --> 00:02:03.600 the digital currency. Some have even moved to Puerto Rico 25 00:02:03.720 --> 00:02:08.280 to take advantage of its favorable tax laws. The man 26 00:02:08.320 --> 00:02:11.799 in the zoro hat brought peers. He would say, it's 27 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.960 not about the taxes. He's declared to the world that 28 00:02:15.040 --> 00:02:17.679 he's going to help turn this island into a high 29 00:02:17.760 --> 00:02:23.760 tech cryptocurrency paradise. Reporters Juacking, Coddler and Michael O'Brien have 30 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:28.639 been following this story. We begin in March of twenty eighteen, 31 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:34.760 and Quacking and Michael have descended into the heart of Cryptomania. 32 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:38.640 They're going to take it from here, and a warning, 33 00:02:38.760 --> 00:02:41.720 there are some curse words in this episode which we've bleeped. 34 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:50.040 In twenty eighteen, right before tax season, a few hundred 35 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:52.520 Silicon Valley types touched down in Puerto Rico. 36 00:02:53.480 --> 00:02:58.600 Actually to these castaways, it's Puerto Crypto. Two weeks of 37 00:02:58.720 --> 00:03:02.600 bitcoin themed events, and we're here at the finale coin 38 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:03.760 Agenda Caribbean. 39 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:08.600 At least five hundred cryptocurrency enthusiasts have colonized multiple floors 40 00:03:08.600 --> 00:03:12.440 of a lavish beachfront hotel in San Juan. The bars 41 00:03:12.480 --> 00:03:16.480 are buzzing, the Panama Jackcats are in season, and look out, Puerto. 42 00:03:16.320 --> 00:03:19.840 Rico, the disruptors are in town, and yeah, we're shaking 43 00:03:19.880 --> 00:03:20.360 things about. 44 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.520 This is Lauren, one of the people we met milling 45 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:27.880 around the conference. The first thing to know about crypto people. 46 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:31.680 For them, bitcoin isn't just about money. It's a revolutionary 47 00:03:31.720 --> 00:03:36.120 new technology disrupting life as we know it, but like 48 00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:37.360 in a good way. 49 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:41.600 Disrupt is one of the buzzwords you'll hear a lot 50 00:03:41.640 --> 00:03:44.640 at a bitcoin conference. Another one is decentralized. 51 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:49.200 The best focus for me is to decentralize everything, no mercy. 52 00:03:49.440 --> 00:03:53.280 The economy since World War Two has been decentralizing. 53 00:03:52.600 --> 00:03:56.800 Decentralized apps, small contrives, the new decentralized Internet. 54 00:03:56.680 --> 00:04:00.200 And at the center of this centerless world cryptocurrency. 55 00:04:01.240 --> 00:04:04.120 We all have that weird cousin who is really into crypto. 56 00:04:04.560 --> 00:04:06.400 So we're not going to get too much into it. 57 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:07.000 All. 58 00:04:07.040 --> 00:04:10.400 You've got to remember the basics. Cryptocurrencies are kind of 59 00:04:10.440 --> 00:04:13.880 like virtual money. That's online In theory, they can be 60 00:04:13.880 --> 00:04:18.320 traded for goods or services like real currencies. The first 61 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:23.160 one was bitcoin. Unlike normal currencies, crypto isn't regulated by 62 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:24.599 any government or central bank. 63 00:04:25.200 --> 00:04:27.120 It was designed to be untraceable. 64 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:31.320 At first, it was used largely for buying and selling 65 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:35.359 things on the dark web, mostly drugs. The lack of 66 00:04:35.440 --> 00:04:38.880 regulations has made crypto a favorite among a certain techee 67 00:04:38.880 --> 00:04:42.320 libertarian crowd, which accounts for a lot of what you'll 68 00:04:42.320 --> 00:04:43.000 be hearing today. 69 00:04:43.640 --> 00:04:45.920 Hi, my name is America and I'm Panalvie and we 70 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:48.040 are the Cybercuote Twins. 71 00:04:48.520 --> 00:04:52.240 The cyber Code Twins are superstar coders from California. Like 72 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.359 others here, they believe the cryptocurrency is the future, and 73 00:04:55.400 --> 00:04:57.760 they don't think that the old rules regulating the economy 74 00:04:57.800 --> 00:04:58.800 should apply to them. 75 00:04:58.960 --> 00:05:01.640 The main one is not taking the right approach to 76 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:04.279 not just tearing off the innovative. 77 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:06.680 And so the crypto people are here in Puerto Rico 78 00:05:06.760 --> 00:05:09.760 looking for a way around regulations. And that's because while 79 00:05:09.760 --> 00:05:12.640 it's technically part of the United States, it's weird. Colonial 80 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.800 status makes for lots of loopholes in gray areas, and 81 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:18.880 the Portopians say that while they're here, they'll invest and 82 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:20.520 help grow a local tech economy. 83 00:05:20.640 --> 00:05:23.080 This is actually good for Puerto Rico. 84 00:05:23.320 --> 00:05:26.560 Cryptocurrency and blockging community are not moving from the Caribbean 85 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:27.640 like they're going to be here. 86 00:05:30.400 --> 00:05:32.920 The pro business Puerto Rican government here in twenty eighteen 87 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:35.599 sees this as an opportunity and has been trying to 88 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:39.159 lure crypto based businesses to the island. And here's the 89 00:05:39.200 --> 00:05:41.160 other reason that the crypto enthusiasts want to come to 90 00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:44.279 Puerto Rico. Anyone who moves to the island doesn't have 91 00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:48.599 to pay capital gains or federal income taxes. Just seven 92 00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:52.160 years ago, one bitcoin costs about forty bucks. But right 93 00:05:52.200 --> 00:05:55.359 towards the end of twenty seventeen, just three months before 94 00:05:55.400 --> 00:06:00.000 this conference, each bitcoin was worth nearly twenty thousand dollars. 95 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:04.240 That's a fifty thousand percent increase fifty thousand So if 96 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:07.280 you had just fifty bitcoins, that would make you a millionaire. 97 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.200 But the crypto people haven't cast themselves as their average 98 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:14.599 tax avoiding millionaires. Their pitch to Puerto Rico is that 99 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:16.400 they're here to show the world what crypto can do 100 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:19.560 for an economy and do it in a socially conscious way, 101 00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:22.640 and that got the ear of some local entrepreneurs. 102 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:24.640 Right now, I was going to move out of Puerto 103 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:27.480 Rico because I really think that politics is terrible. Though, 104 00:06:27.760 --> 00:06:29.720 since all of these investors are moving in and all 105 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:32.880 these developers are moving in, I see an opportunity to 106 00:06:32.920 --> 00:06:36.320 actually make this sounds ironic, make Puerto Rico right. So 107 00:06:36.440 --> 00:06:37.600 I need to rephrase that. 108 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:39.360 Enter Armando Gonzalez. 109 00:06:39.480 --> 00:06:41.400 People know me here as AIA because a JA is 110 00:06:41.440 --> 00:06:42.760 simpler for most people. 111 00:06:43.320 --> 00:06:45.680 When we first met AJ, we knew we'd be spending 112 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:47.760 a lot of time with him. He struck us as 113 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.680 somebody who is savvy about the whole crypto scene, a 114 00:06:50.839 --> 00:06:53.560 charismatic guy with a toothy grin who fit right in 115 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:55.520 with the Las a Fair crypto atmosphere. 116 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:57.880 And he's a bit of a hustler. 117 00:06:58.040 --> 00:07:00.560 We have chapters, Senel, all mayor universities into Rico, and 118 00:07:00.640 --> 00:07:02.560 hopefully we're going to have after seeing the nation and 119 00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:03.880 hopefully eventually the. 120 00:07:03.839 --> 00:07:07.080 World, ready to sell you something, in this case his startup. 121 00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:11.520 But hey, that's like what everyone here is doing. Ages 122 00:07:11.520 --> 00:07:13.520 in his late twenties. He grew up in San Juan, 123 00:07:13.520 --> 00:07:16.680 Puerto Rico, a middle class kid raised largely by his grandfather, 124 00:07:17.320 --> 00:07:18.760 and it took him some time to figure out what 125 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:21.120 he wanted to do with his life. In college, he 126 00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:25.120 was all over the place studying mechanical engineering, switched to chemistry, 127 00:07:25.440 --> 00:07:27.559 then in a panic, psychology. 128 00:07:27.080 --> 00:07:30.680 I entered like this whole existential crisis and analyzing what, 129 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.600 like why will my mother love me? It'said biological. 130 00:07:34.280 --> 00:07:37.000 Then he switches to economics after hearing about bitcoin. 131 00:07:37.200 --> 00:07:38.760 To me, it was like the future. 132 00:07:43.760 --> 00:07:46.280 AJ thinks about it like this, Puerto Rico's in a 133 00:07:46.280 --> 00:07:49.400 financial crisis, and here's this new technology that can bring 134 00:07:49.440 --> 00:07:51.520 investment to the island and he can be a part 135 00:07:51.520 --> 00:07:52.760 of it and cash in. 136 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:53.600 At the same time. 137 00:07:54.360 --> 00:07:56.840 He creates a nonprofit startup called Edge of block with 138 00:07:56.920 --> 00:07:59.320 the goal of going into high schools and universities to 139 00:07:59.320 --> 00:08:03.160 teach about blocklockchain. Blockchain, by the way, is the technology 140 00:08:03.160 --> 00:08:07.480 behind cryptocurrencies. It's extremely hard to explain, so for our purposes, 141 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:08.840 don't worry about it. 142 00:08:08.840 --> 00:08:10.920 It's basically interchangeable with crypto. 143 00:08:12.840 --> 00:08:15.440 When we meet Aj, he's wearing a fisherman's cap that 144 00:08:15.480 --> 00:08:17.840 says hodl. 145 00:08:17.280 --> 00:08:20.080 Hotal that is awesome, Just hollow man. 146 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:23.880 It's an intentional misspelling of the word hold. It's nerd 147 00:08:23.960 --> 00:08:27.040 slang for hold on to your cryptocurrency rather than selling it. 148 00:08:27.400 --> 00:08:30.240 And in early twenty eighteen, if you're hotling, you're in 149 00:08:30.280 --> 00:08:30.800 good shape. 150 00:08:30.920 --> 00:08:33.600 You know, I actually don't hollow, but this seems like 151 00:08:33.640 --> 00:08:36.600 a nice thing to have too. A conversation started. 152 00:08:36.800 --> 00:08:39.120 He doesn't hotal, as in AJ didn't snatch up a 153 00:08:39.160 --> 00:08:41.880 bunch of bitcoin and it was dirt cheap. So today 154 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:44.600 he's a coin agenda trying to network and raise some 155 00:08:44.600 --> 00:08:45.520 money for his startup. 156 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:48.600 And so are about forty other crypto startups who are 157 00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:52.439 all pitching to potential investors in this main conference room. 158 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.360 All right, so without further ado, we have from run 159 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:59.599 to play put your hands together for Joseph. 160 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:03.680 One by one, we watch these men, and it's mostly 161 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:07.800 men climb up on stage. These guys paid thousands of 162 00:09:07.880 --> 00:09:10.880 dollars real dollars, not crypto, for the chance to pitch. 163 00:09:11.520 --> 00:09:14.880 Joseph himself paid more than fifteen thousand dollars to be here. 164 00:09:15.360 --> 00:09:19.080 Childhood obesity is a massive issue, and one in five 165 00:09:19.160 --> 00:09:23.880 kids is obese. This is unacceptable and the fact that 166 00:09:23.880 --> 00:09:25.959 it's real is disgusting. 167 00:09:26.520 --> 00:09:29.079 He's pitching a fitness app that will reward people in 168 00:09:29.160 --> 00:09:32.920 Crypto for working out the app, he says will also 169 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:34.400 help end world hunger. 170 00:09:34.760 --> 00:09:38.200 So someday you'll be literally running to feed someone else. 171 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:41.960 How far will you run to feed the world? Heik you, 172 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:47.040 Does anybody have any questions? I know, I just kind 173 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:48.319 of paced in front of you and talked. 174 00:09:48.760 --> 00:09:51.559 All right, you guys, But Joseph and the like are 175 00:09:51.640 --> 00:09:54.760 not the main intraction here at the conference. The person 176 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:58.160 that AJ and others came here to see is Brock Pierce. 177 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:01.520 So who is brock Pierce? 178 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:06.680 Hob easily describing this Rock Pierce, who is now a 179 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:08.439 billionaires now billionaire. 180 00:10:08.760 --> 00:10:10.520 He also made Puerto Rico the center. 181 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:10.760 Of the Earth. 182 00:10:11.200 --> 00:10:13.880 You heard about him earlier at the singalongs. The guy 183 00:10:13.880 --> 00:10:17.360 in the Zoro had Bitcoin Foundation chair. Brock Pierce, the 184 00:10:17.559 --> 00:10:20.560 child star who grew up and now lives in Puerto Rico. 185 00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.040 Sleepee, creepy cowboy from the future. His name's brock Pius. 186 00:10:24.200 --> 00:10:26.679 He began his career appearing in The Mighty Dogs. 187 00:10:26.760 --> 00:10:29.959 Brock started his career as a child star in the nineties, then. 188 00:10:29.800 --> 00:10:31.960 Go involved with some very on safe free figures. 189 00:10:32.040 --> 00:10:34.400 When he was seventeen, he helped run an online media 190 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:37.679 company that got into some really sketchy territory. 191 00:10:37.880 --> 00:10:40.680 Just google brock Pius scandal is all upside there. 192 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:43.920 Then circ two thousand and one, he founded a company 193 00:10:43.920 --> 00:10:48.239 that employed Chinese sweatshop labor to collect and sell imaginary 194 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:53.320 gold in World of Warcraft, the video game. This amazingly 195 00:10:53.800 --> 00:10:55.480 made millions of dollars. 196 00:10:56.040 --> 00:10:58.200 Side note, at one point the company was run by 197 00:10:58.280 --> 00:11:01.400 Steve Bannon, Yes, that Steve Bennon, and. 198 00:11:01.400 --> 00:11:04.880 Those millions of real dollars from virtual gold. Brock put 199 00:11:04.880 --> 00:11:09.120 into digital money Bitcoin early on, which made him a 200 00:11:09.160 --> 00:11:13.400 billionaire at least that's what they say. And now with 201 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.920 a new agy crystal swath that's psychotropic persona, Rock's acquired 202 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:21.280 quite a cult following in the crypto community as a guru, 203 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:25.560 and on stage at coin agenda he's the main event. 204 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:28.920 And as I like to point out, as Puerto Rico 205 00:11:28.920 --> 00:11:31.280 has got a pr problem. 206 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:31.560 The room is full. 207 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:35.840 Brock is sitting cross legged directly on the stage today. 208 00:11:35.880 --> 00:11:36.840 He's draped in linen. 209 00:11:37.760 --> 00:11:40.680 So many wonderful technologies all coming together at the same time, 210 00:11:40.760 --> 00:11:44.679 so many extraordinary innovators and entrepreneurs from all the modalities. 211 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:45.280 You know, this is not. 212 00:11:45.280 --> 00:11:49.000 A crypto or blockchain movement. This is in Everything sort. 213 00:11:48.760 --> 00:11:50.880 Of movement and Everything movement. 214 00:11:51.720 --> 00:11:54.559 You might be thinking this is all sounding pretty crazy, 215 00:11:54.960 --> 00:11:58.479 and yeah, it does to us too, But he succeeded 216 00:11:58.480 --> 00:12:02.320 in selling a vision, deductive one, a vision that technology 217 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:06.120 will set us free, make us wealthy and spiritually fulfilled. 218 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.960 And it could start right here in Puerto Rico, a 219 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:12.920 place where hundreds of thousands of residents went for months 220 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.720 without power after the hurricane, where government both local and federal, 221 00:12:16.880 --> 00:12:19.319 isn't helping people in their time of need. Maybe the 222 00:12:19.360 --> 00:12:22.600 crypto people can offer solutions where the government fell short. 223 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:25.440 Fortunately, this is an island that's a need of help, 224 00:12:25.880 --> 00:12:28.800 and that makes people more willing to listen than usual. 225 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:32.120 And they do add big ideas for Puerto Rico, crypto 226 00:12:32.160 --> 00:12:36.120 based cab companies, building startup cities on unused public land, 227 00:12:36.800 --> 00:12:40.439 even turning the island into a cryptocurrency financial hub, a 228 00:12:40.520 --> 00:12:43.800 sort of Caribbean Hong Kong but for bitcoin. 229 00:12:44.440 --> 00:12:47.280 One of the locals buying this vision is Aj. He 230 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:50.760 wants to be a part of Brock's Everything movement. AJ 231 00:12:50.920 --> 00:12:53.200 sees a role for himself. He wants to get in 232 00:12:53.240 --> 00:12:56.280 with Brock, make some money, and bring a Puerto Rican 233 00:12:56.320 --> 00:12:58.480 perspective to Brock's team while he's at it, and. 234 00:12:58.400 --> 00:13:00.520 It's my duty to let them know that if they're 235 00:13:00.520 --> 00:13:03.320 going to benefit from these taxes, they should give back 236 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:08.040 to the islands. That I'm talking to them, I'm convincing 237 00:13:08.040 --> 00:13:09.839 them that they should move to Puerto Rico, connecting them 238 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.920 with other people and they will invest on the island 239 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:13.679 and we will make it better. 240 00:13:21.800 --> 00:13:24.000 One of the things that crypto people keep talking about 241 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:26.599 is using a new tech to fix the island's infrastructure, 242 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:30.720 for example, installing smart grids and solar panels throughout the island. 243 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.440 And as the conference is winding down, I meet some 244 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:36.840 people who are telling me they're headed into the countryside 245 00:13:36.880 --> 00:13:39.600 to do just that. I'm told it's my chance to 246 00:13:39.600 --> 00:13:42.960 see the crypto solutions for Puerto Rico in action. The 247 00:13:42.960 --> 00:13:47.040 guy organizing the trip is a self proclaimed surf instructor, videographer, 248 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:51.000 life coach, entrepreneur, and blockchain evangelist by the name of 249 00:13:51.040 --> 00:13:54.600 Jonathan Fritzler. He's psyched to have the media coverage. 250 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:58.080 We have a freaking epic story unfolding because last night 251 00:13:58.120 --> 00:13:59.839 I was at this hip hop concert and I met 252 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.920 this guy who is down to put solar panels on 253 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.280 the roof or on this place for free, and it 254 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:08.120 would be good to have you guys there because it 255 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:12.360 just makes it look more symbolical of like, if something's happening, 256 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:15.600 having an MPR there, it would just like make the 257 00:14:15.679 --> 00:14:18.400 whole story like a little bit more awesome. 258 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:21.720 So the next morning, Jonathan and I, along with four 259 00:14:21.800 --> 00:14:28.640 volunteers and a camera woman pile into a minivan. We're 260 00:14:28.640 --> 00:14:31.040 headed to Cabra Ds on the west side of the island. 261 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:35.840 In true crypto fashion, most of them accessorize with crystals 262 00:14:35.920 --> 00:14:38.320 or agates of some sort. One guy has to be 263 00:14:38.400 --> 00:14:41.360 jeweled goateea and rocks a tailored purple vest with matching 264 00:14:41.400 --> 00:14:45.320 fedora and slacks, not exactly typical work gear for the Tropics. 265 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:49.680 Well, we go be stolen their panels today, I don't. 266 00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:51.960 Know, so when we come back to do the one later. 267 00:14:52.680 --> 00:14:56.160 This is kind of, you know, front lines media activism 268 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:56.600 right now. 269 00:14:56.880 --> 00:14:59.600 If you didn't catch that, he said, We're not actually 270 00:14:59.680 --> 00:15:02.800 going to install the solar panels today. This is going 271 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:07.000 to be frontlines media activism, he says, which apparently means 272 00:15:07.520 --> 00:15:08.800 vlogging while driving. 273 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.720 So, hey, you guys, real quick, I just wanted to 274 00:15:11.760 --> 00:15:14.240 do a quick video where you're live and headed to 275 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:15.720 the hospital that was donated. 276 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:17.600 We pull up to a huge facility. 277 00:15:18.120 --> 00:15:19.880 We made it, Yeah, we made it. 278 00:15:22.120 --> 00:15:24.400 Used to be the town's only public health clinic until 279 00:15:24.400 --> 00:15:26.040 it closed down about ten years ago. 280 00:15:26.400 --> 00:15:27.960 Follow us as we all get out. 281 00:15:27.880 --> 00:15:30.680 And as we file out of the van, Jonathan directs 282 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:31.640 us for the camera. 283 00:15:32.920 --> 00:15:37.240 And stop, stop, stop right there, perfect director. 284 00:15:37.960 --> 00:15:40.080 Once we have the perfect take, we get a tour 285 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.440 of the place from a member of a nonprofit one 286 00:15:42.520 --> 00:15:45.640 Human Family coalition that's coordinating relief work there. 287 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:47.200 Okay, let's start with a tour. 288 00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:51.520 Since Hurricane Maria, a group of volunteers, including a search 289 00:15:51.520 --> 00:15:54.560 and rescue team, doctors and nurses have been using a 290 00:15:54.560 --> 00:15:56.720 wing of the building as a makeshift hospital, and. 291 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.200 There's also unused rooms on us operating rooms. 292 00:15:59.520 --> 00:16:02.360 Then the tour ends and we circle up for thoughts 293 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:03.240 and prayers. 294 00:16:03.520 --> 00:16:06.160 Puerto Rico being one of the corners in the Bermuda 295 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:09.840 Triangle almost being like a lost island. 296 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:13.000 But we have not forgotten about you. 297 00:16:13.920 --> 00:16:17.200 We're here to support, and more than anything, we're here 298 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:21.520 to raise awareness for ourselves and for the world through 299 00:16:22.040 --> 00:16:25.800 sharing these videos, through sharing this media. That's why we're here. 300 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:28.640 We're here for them, the people who have lost their homes, 301 00:16:28.920 --> 00:16:30.480 the people who have lost their families. 302 00:16:30.520 --> 00:16:31.280 We're here for them. 303 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:32.280 We're here. 304 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:42.880 Oh, one, two, three. 305 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:42.720 And that was it. Then we piled into the van 306 00:16:42.800 --> 00:16:47.640 and left. No work of any kind was done. Side note. 307 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.160 Over a year later, the cape of the s clinic 308 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:52.320 still doesn't have the solar panels or even an X 309 00:16:52.440 --> 00:16:55.520 ray machine. None of the crypto voluntearists from our trip 310 00:16:55.520 --> 00:16:59.280 of them back there, and the building is currently closed. 311 00:17:05.520 --> 00:17:07.840 The video shoot felt more like a low key pr 312 00:17:07.960 --> 00:17:11.240 campaign than an actual aid mission. It was clearly a 313 00:17:11.280 --> 00:17:15.000 networking opportunity. Maybe not the best example of Brocks Everything 314 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.879 movement in action. We thought, okay, maybe it was just 315 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:22.240 a fluke, but it turned out to be just a 316 00:17:22.280 --> 00:17:23.639 taste of what was coming. 317 00:17:32.760 --> 00:17:37.040 Coming up on Latino Usay, hey, there's no representative of me. 318 00:17:37.200 --> 00:17:38.560 This is a decentralized movement. 319 00:17:38.560 --> 00:17:41.200 Is I'm not aware of anyone building, any gated community. 320 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:42.240 I think around. 321 00:17:43.960 --> 00:17:47.320 The island and the rest of the world react to 322 00:17:47.359 --> 00:18:41.680 the portopians, stay with us, don't stay by Yes, hey 323 00:18:41.880 --> 00:18:46.520 we're back. And before the break, our reporters Joaquing Cotler 324 00:18:46.600 --> 00:18:50.399 and Michael O'Brien took you into the world of cryptocurrency. 325 00:18:50.520 --> 00:18:54.320 True believers set on making Puerto Rico their new home. 326 00:18:55.320 --> 00:18:58.840 But in the wake of Hurricane Maria, a bunch of 327 00:18:58.920 --> 00:19:02.639 rich Americans moved down and talking about changing everything on 328 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:07.080 the island wasn't the best kind of optics. A few 329 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:09.880 days after the big conference that our reporters just took 330 00:19:09.880 --> 00:19:13.760 you to, the Intercept published a story about disaster capitalism 331 00:19:13.760 --> 00:19:18.000 in Puerto Rico, and the crypto guys were front and center. 332 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:21.400 They are attracted to Puerto Rico because it holds out 333 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:25.639 the promise that they can convert their cryptocurrencies into harder 334 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:28.520 currencies while paying no taxes whatsoever. 335 00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:32.200 That was March of twenty eighteen. A few months later, 336 00:19:32.560 --> 00:19:36.000 anti austerity protests took place around the island. 337 00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:41.680 Thousands marked May Day by joining a general strike in 338 00:19:41.720 --> 00:19:44.560 the capital of San Juan to protest austerity measures. 339 00:19:44.600 --> 00:19:47.760 And so in that context, the Portopians were coming off 340 00:19:47.800 --> 00:19:49.359 as pretty tone deaf. 341 00:19:50.080 --> 00:19:55.199 Back now to Juaquin and Michael, the May Day protests, 342 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:58.600 they aren't really AJ's thing. He's gone all in with 343 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:02.679 brock Pierces Everything movement. It's a few months after the 344 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.280 conference and Brock is spearheading another week of crypto events, 345 00:20:06.480 --> 00:20:08.679 this time on the west coast of the island instead 346 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:15.960 of in the capitol. They're calling it Restart West. When 347 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.600 we first met Aj at the Crypto conference, he was 348 00:20:18.640 --> 00:20:21.360 dead set on getting in with Brock and his inner circle, 349 00:20:21.960 --> 00:20:24.119 and when he'd heard about this trip out west, he 350 00:20:24.200 --> 00:20:27.119 saw his chance. So he just showed up at Brock's 351 00:20:27.119 --> 00:20:28.160 house the. 352 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:30.600 Day before they were going to leave. I just went 353 00:20:30.680 --> 00:20:33.280 there and I didn't leave. I was down to sleep 354 00:20:33.280 --> 00:20:35.520 in front of the door. That wasn't needed in order 355 00:20:35.560 --> 00:20:36.359 for me to go with. 356 00:20:36.280 --> 00:20:37.399 Them, and it worked. 357 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:40.480 They brought him along to act as a liaison between 358 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:42.600 the crypto people and the locals. 359 00:20:42.320 --> 00:20:47.000 Because it's important to have someone from here help with 360 00:20:47.040 --> 00:20:49.080 the cultural and language barrier. 361 00:20:49.840 --> 00:20:52.480 After all the bad press after the last events, the 362 00:20:52.560 --> 00:20:54.680 goal was to make this one appear more inclusive. 363 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:57.840 They wanted to develop a better relationship with Puerto Ricans. 364 00:20:58.440 --> 00:20:59.880 Aj would be their secret. 365 00:20:59.600 --> 00:21:02.560 Weapon, and that's why it's important to be working with 366 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:06.560 locos if you want to make an impact on the 367 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:07.320 island of the. 368 00:21:07.280 --> 00:21:10.680 Locals, and as Aj tells it, his local knowledge came 369 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:14.000 in handy. For example, they were having trouble getting a venue. 370 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:17.440 AJ stepped in. He made some calls, pulled some strings, 371 00:21:17.560 --> 00:21:20.560 and one fifty thousand dollars donation to the university. Later, 372 00:21:20.800 --> 00:21:22.240 Restart West was in business. 373 00:21:24.800 --> 00:21:28.080 Restart West is a more intimate affair, at least compared 374 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:31.400 with last March's events, more of a retreat than a conference, 375 00:21:32.040 --> 00:21:34.959 lots of brainstorming sessions about how to be of service 376 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:35.600 to the island. 377 00:21:36.080 --> 00:21:39.000 Puerto Rico has the possibility now of being put on 378 00:21:39.040 --> 00:21:43.159 the map as a hub of innovation, and that's a 379 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:44.399 wonderful thing if it works. 380 00:21:45.119 --> 00:21:51.280 Overall, think less pitching, more guided meditation. Shandi hum, I 381 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:51.879 am peace. 382 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:54.680 I have silence inside of me. 383 00:21:55.520 --> 00:21:57.520 They shack up in a ritzy villa in the hills 384 00:21:57.680 --> 00:22:00.960 overlooking the water and rincone. One of the first evenings 385 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.640 goes so well and impromptu singalong breaks out, the same 386 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:10.760 one you heard earlier. At first, things go pretty smoothly. 387 00:22:11.320 --> 00:22:15.120 AJ organized as a hackathon at the university. That's a success. 388 00:22:15.600 --> 00:22:18.480 Two days later is their big outreach event, the Day 389 00:22:18.520 --> 00:22:21.320 of Listening. It's built as an opportunity for the crypto 390 00:22:21.320 --> 00:22:23.560 people to listen and learn from Puerto Ricans. 391 00:22:24.040 --> 00:22:26.879 No I actually wanted to be more involved in the 392 00:22:26.920 --> 00:22:28.440 planning of that particular event. 393 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:31.520 Aj says that if he had been, the flyers wouldn't 394 00:22:31.520 --> 00:22:32.440 have all been in English. 395 00:22:32.480 --> 00:22:34.000 For one. 396 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:39.520 The event takes place in a conference room at a resort, 397 00:22:39.800 --> 00:22:42.840 spruced out with fake columns in these wrenched chandeliers. 398 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:45.480 Brock's wearing a shirt that says Banksy is female. 399 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:48.879 Rock led the charge, you guys have been working your 400 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:50.280 butt off for years down here. 401 00:22:50.480 --> 00:22:51.080