Why does anybody download a dating app? The app was never the point. The point is meeting a real person, face to face. I use that picture in this episode because it gets at a question most crypto conversations skip over: when people talk about getting rich in crypto, what are they measuring the win in? Almost every time, the answer is dollars.

Let me be plain, since this topic gets people heated. I am not against cryptocurrency. I believe in blockchain technology, I have friends building serious, credible businesses in this space, and some people have done very well. My concern is the family that puts its rent money into a coin because somebody on a screen promised it would take off.

So we slow the conversation down. I explain what makes something a true currency, the difference between digital money like the balance in your banking app and cryptocurrency as a new asset class, and why so many coins launched over the last decade have simply vanished. You’ll hear my street rules for anyone curious about this world, including one I hope stays with you: if everybody’s getting rich quick, somebody is about to go broke slow.

Many in our communities came to crypto hungry for independence from a financial system that too often shut us out, and that hunger is admirable. It deserves wisdom to go with it. Walk in with both eyes open, treat speculation as speculation, and let financial literacy lead the way, because access without understanding is exposure, not empowerment.

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