Crypto Isn’t the Answer Until We Fix the Info Dysfunction

Hello everyone. Let’s talk about the bizarre, almost comically misplaced marriage of two worlds: a journalist expecting to discuss AI policy and race politics, and instead ending up as the reluctant crypto evangelist at the National Association of Black Journalists convention. And trust me, this story says a lot-not about crypto itself, but about how utterly, magnificently, the media has botched the job of explaining it to everyday people. If this was a game, we’d already be at “Game Over” and watching the credits roll after dying to the tutorial boss.

The Setup: Enter Jaden Baxter

Our unsuspecting narrator went into NABJ 2025 expecting a discourse on Trump’s second-term vendetta against DEI. Maybe a little AI doomsday forecasting-nice, safe topics to soak in over coffee. Instead, enter stage left: Jaden Baxter, 24, special assistant to the mayor of Cleveland, wearing a suit that says “recent grad,” not “Wall Street predator.” He catches wind of the journalist’s crypto credentials, and suddenly we’re off into the world of digital money faster than you can say “blockchain scam.”

Of course, Baxter’s perspective is straight from the mainstream headlines-crypto as a den of thieves, vaporware, or just magically going to disappear like politicians’ campaign promises after election night. In gamer terms, he’s still in the loading screen of understanding, mashing A to skip the tutorial without reading a single prompt.

The Crash Course in Blockchain

The pitch is straightforward: blockchain is a public, tamper-proof ledger-like a magical accounting book that never forgets and never lies, assuming your code isn’t about as secure as a paper lockbox. Crypto removes middlemen, uses smart contracts to run transactions like automated vending machines, and doesn’t care about your race, credit score, or whether your bank thinks you’re worth their time. This should be revolutionary for communities historically screwed over by traditional finance. Should be. In theory.

Like a novice gamer discovering there’s a map button after wandering blind for hours, Baxter’s mind is blown. On paper, crypto’s agnostic approach to transactions could bypass centuries of systemic exclusion. In practice-well, welcome to the part where the monsters scale faster than your armor upgrades. There’s no FDIC to save you when some DeFi “genius” runs away with the loot.

The Hard Truths Nobody Bothered to Mention

The narrator also points out the biggest risk everyone glosses over during the hype fest: if you lose your crypto, you’re screwed. Banks won’t save you, and the government isn’t going to send a cavalry-unless it’s to regulate or tax you. Baxter was floored. No one in his circle talks about this, because no one in his circle has gotten past the assumption that Bitcoin = Breaking Bad money laundry.

And yet, outside these circles, adoption is sky-high in Asia, Africa, and Latin America-areas where traditional banking is basically that boss at the end of the level who stomps you into the ground before you can even swing. In these regions, crypto is less of a nerd hobby and more of a necessity.

Breaking Myths at 120,000 Dollars a Coin

Then comes the moment of wide-eyed awe-learning Bitcoin is over $120,000. Baxter realizes early adopters have been playing New Game+ for years while he’s still fumbling in the tutorial. The narrator warns him: the question isn’t “Will it last?” but “What’s the project behind it?” Solid advice, but it still glosses over a key fact-most of the crypto “projects” have the long-term survival rate of a gnat in a bonfire.

The conversation shifts to US policy whiplash: after years of treating crypto like it was the villain expansion pack we didn’t order, Trump 2.0 suddenly embraces it. And surprise, legitimizing an entire sector does seem to make people take it seriously-almost like regulation could have been a better choice earlier, but no one wanted to play that questline.

Stablecoins, Missed Boats, and The Exclusion Playbook

Stablecoins get introduced-crypto tethered to boring-but-predictable real assets like USD-making transfers cheaper and faster. Baxter is floored once again. Each revelation just reinforces the uncomfortable reality: marginalized communities are routinely excluded from wealth-building opportunities, whether that’s by accident, systemic design, or the convenient narrative that anything “new” they touch must be shady.

Baxter’s disgust isn’t just about being “late to the party.” It’s about realizing the velvet ropes around the crypto club were partly there to keep him-and people like him-on the sidewalk while others cashed in. In gaming terms, the DLC for financial inclusion was available, but nobody told him the season pass even existed.

Final Thoughts

This story isn’t a love letter to crypto-it’s a scathing commentary on how a potentially transformative tool has been handed the PR equivalent of a potato. The industry loves to talk about decentralization, but can’t be bothered to decentralize the information. That leaves people like Baxter staring at the train tracks long after the wealth train has blown past. At the same time, the lack of proper financial literacy and extreme risk factors make this less like a guaranteed level-up and more like a roguelike-you might strike gold, but you’re more likely to lose everything when the game randomly decides to spawn death at your doorstep.

So, is my impression good, bad, or uncertain? I’d say uncertain. The promise is seductive-but without radical transparency and education, especially in excluded communities, crypto’s just going to keep speedrunning the same mistakes, leaving plenty of Jadens behind as loot for someone else to collect.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

We Miss All the Trains to Get Rich”: The Real Story of Crypto and the Black Community, https://gizmodo.com/we-miss-all-the-trains-to-get-rich-the-real-story-of-crypto-and-the-black-community-2000640036