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Cryptocurrency 101 In The South Bronx: How A Public School Teacher Invited Former Students Back To Be Part Of The ‘1 Percent’

Cryptocurrency 101 In The South Bronx: How A Public School Teacher Invited Former Students Back To Be Part Of The ‘1 Percent’

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A public school teacher in New York’s South Bronx wants to change the balance in tech and wealth. Carlos Acevedo is on a mission to help “the unbanked.” Yankee Stadium is seen with the South Bronx in the forground on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1998, in New York. Residents say the stadium brings something special to their corner of the Bronx.”It gives (the neighborhood) more life,” said Ana Milagros. On game days, “everyone is happier. … You hear the noise, you hear the sirens, everybody’s jumping, whether they’re watching the game or not.” (AP Photo/Adam Nadel)

A public school teacher in New York’s South Bronx wants to change the balance in tech and wealth. His school is located in Morrisania, the poorest congressional district in the country, yet Carlos Acevedo is on a mission to help “the unbanked.”

Here’s how. Recently Acevedo asked a group of 25 of his former students to come back for a two-day course in cryptocurrencies that out cover decentralization, blockchain, peer-to-peer networks, and fiat currencies. He gave each student five dollars in a form of cryptomoney called Zcash. “After these two days, you’re going to be the one percent,” he told the young attendees at the South Bronx Business Lab. “You’re going to know more about cryptocurrency and blockchain than 99 percent of people out there. You have the opportunity to get in on the industry right now.”

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Acevedo, who also recently left his job teaching English at the public high school Morris Academy, started investing in cryptocurrency in 2014, and he’s wanted to spread the word ever since. And to do so, he created the Crypto Community Project, with a focus on building a cryptocurrency economy in the South Bronx. According to Acevedo, cryptocurrency is a way of helping what he calls “the unbanked.” In low-income neighborhoods, there are often fewer banks where people can open savings accounts or apply for loans. So instead, the residents, most often they rely on check-cashing places that charge large fees. 

At the recent gathering of his former students, Acevedo told them they were in the Forty-first Precinct—known as Fort Apache, which he explained — which was at one time “the most dangerous precinct in New York City.” Over truck noise on the Bruckner Expressway outside, Acevedo told the New Yorker, “For the first time in history, if you have a phone you can participate in a worldwide economy without the need of any bank.”