By CultureBanx Team

• Early Black crypto advocates want to maintain a seat at the table as more financial institutions enter the sector
• More than 3 in 10 Black adults are likely to invest in cryptocurrencies
  

Early Black crypto advocates want to maintain a seat at the table they helped to set, as Wall Street eyes big opportunities in the digital currency sector. People who did some of the earliest work spreading cryptocurrency’s message to the Black community are being increasingly pushed out of the space. With Just under one in four, about 23%, of Black people owning this caché currency, compared to 11% of White Americans, and 17% of Hispanics, how important is it for the Black community to be included as more legacy financial institutions increasingly enter the arena?

Why This Matters: About 2 in 5 Black adults are likely to purchase or invest in Bitcoin, compared to roughly 3 in 10 adults overall, according to Morning Consult data. Many people question whether or not cryptocurrency is helping to democratize finance and the economy, or is it a volatile asset that puts Black communities at particularly high risk? Especially now that Large financial institutions that once looked down upon digital currencies, are now investing huge amounts of money to meet the demand for customers.

By CultureBanx Team

• Shaquille O’Neal and Serena Williams SPACs fall 77% and 32% respectively
• 21 out of 33 SPACs tied to famous public figures have posted negative returns for 2021
  

Things look very grim for SPACs spearheaded by some of your favorite athletes, as these special acquisition blank check companies tied to notable sports figures have been severely trailing the S&P 500. Shaquille O’Neal, Colin Kaepernick, Jay-Z, Serena Williams, Alex Rodriquez and Steph Curry have all recently gotten into the SPAC game without much success. Specifically, 21 out of 33 SPACs tied to famous public figures have posted negative returns for 2021, according to Bloomberg.

Why This Matters: The De-SPAC Index, a group of 25 companies that went public by merging with a SPAC, is down more than 40%. Let’s break down exactly whose SPACs are underperforming. ​​Beachbody (BODY +0.82%), backed by Shaquille O’Neal, is down over 77% since going public in a $2.9 billion deal in January. Metal 3D-printing company Velo3D (VLD -2.29%), which Serena Williams helped take public, has fallen nearly 32% since its January SPAC merger.

By Ericka Kamanou-tenta

• 66% of Black borrowers regret taking out student loans
• Young Black adults take on 85% more education debt than their white counterparts
  

Parallels between student debt and the racial wealth gap are astonishing, leaving many Black student loan borrowers regretting their higher education loans. While 86.6% of Black college students take out federal loans to attend four-year colleges, only 59.9% of white students are impacted by student loan debt. More than half of Black borrowers, 58%, disagree that student loans contribute to racial equality or help them to build wealth, according to the Jim Crow Debt study by The Education Trust.

Why This Matters: An insightful quote by Nelson Mandela states “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. However, in American society, education comes with compromises such as student loan debt, which places a burden on Black students’ success. A large number of black borrowers are not witnessing “good debt”, according to the study. The problem persists in the corporate world taking into consideration that Black workers are paid 14.9% less than white workers.

By Namon Freeman

• Dark-skinned or female NFTs used as metaverse avatars see less demand and are valued less
• The global metaverse revenue opportunity could approach $800B in 2024
  

The metaverse as advertised promises a decentralized network of environments leveraging blockchain technology to overcome the limitations of the physical world. Yet, many skeptics believe the metaverse and underpinning cryptocurrencies are a farce only conceived to make a select minority rich. Either way, the metaverse is set to become embedded in every industry, from gaming, to fashion, to real estate. A construct of contemporary society, the global Metaverse revenue opportunity could approach $800 billion in 2024, and left unchecked it will adopt whiteness as the societal default.

Why This Matters: The algorithms that run our favorite social platforms have already adopted this default; Meta, formally known as Facebook (FB -0.33%), its ‘hate speech’ algorithms have disproportionately and often incorrectly flagged Black and female users' content or comments. Artificial Intelligence systems are also more than 30x more likely to confuse dark-skinned women than light-skinned men. Further, to circumvent regulations around targeted advertising, the same companies have adopted race proxies further perpetuating existing stereotypes.

By CultureBanx Team

• Goldman Sachs states that Bitcoin has the potential to cross the $100K milestone in the coming years
• Bitcoin has a $700B market cap, compared to gold’s nearly $2.6T owned as an investment
  

Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs (GS +0.20%) seems to be all in now when it comes to Bitcoin and claims the cryptocurrency currently has a 20% share of the "store of value" market. This means the asset, Bitcoin, can maintain its worth over time without depreciating, in comparison to precious metals or some currencies. Even though the digital currency remains highly volatile, trading above $46,000, it’s far from the all-time high in November 2021 of  $69,000. Will Goldman Sachs' cosign of Bitcoin as digital gold, increase confidence in other major financial institutions to do the same?

Why This Matters: With the price of gold currently around $1,800 per ounce, Bitcoin has the potential to cross the $100,000 milestone in the coming years, according Goldman Sachs analyst Zach Pandl. He wrote that within a few years if its share of the store of value market were to “hypothetically” reach 50% the cryptocurrency could reach this six-figure milestone.