Musician and mogul Jay-Z has long talked about his roots in the Marcy Houses. In an effort to give back, he started a program exclusively for the approximately 2,300 residents of the New York City Housing Authority apartments in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. The Bitcoin Academy’s agenda, according to its website, is to “provide education, educate the community and remove some barriers so that residents can learn more about Bitcoin in particular and about finance in general.”
The timing couldn’t be worse, with Bitcoin suffering a “record-breaking defeat” according to Bloomberg. The cryptocurrency has fallen from a value of nearly $51,000 six months ago to $18,809 today. Other currencies, such as Etherium, suffer the same fate. Bloomberg reports that traders are “bracing for the next crisis”.
As the guard reports, that message has seemingly gotten through to potential participants of The Bitcoin Academy. “People don’t want to invest money knowing they might lose it,” says a 58-year-old retiree. Myra Raspberry told the newspaper. “Every dime I get has to go to rent, phone, TV and internet. I don’t have that much money to lose. If I did, I’d try to invest in something more reliable, like last night’s basketball game You know I’m going to gain something from that,” she continued.
The Academy will reportedly give students a small amount of cryptocurrency – “about $20-$25” – upon completion of the course to begin trading. But the program, co-sponsored with Twitter founder Jack Dorseydoesn’t seem to arouse much enthusiasm. A 24-year-old resident called Nyashia Figueroa suggested, “If you want to do something, fix this place.” She added, “We have a basketball court with no hoops. Our parks are broken up here. He should be doing more for his community, not no Bitcoin Academy.”
In recent years, Jay-Z had returned to the Marcy Houses to deliver Christmas gifts, but Figueroa reports that it’s been a while since he appeared. “This is where he comes from and all, but he doesn’t do anything for us,” she said.
Nevertheless, The Bitcoin Academy website declares itself to represent “the future of money”, and participants will be provided with smartphones and MiFi devices, which they can keep if necessary. There is also a “Crypto Kids Camp” for children from 5 to 17 years old.
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