A Crypto-Optimist in the Land of Opportunity [Video]

Migration and innovation are hot-button issues the world over. Amid rapid change, there are calls to slow or halt both the movement of people and the growth of new technologies. As a human being, I understand the fear of rapid change. But as an immigrant and an entrepreneur, I have also seen up close how powerfully these forces can advance human flourishing.

I was born in another country—both physically and philosophically. My first language is not English, and the social and political systems I was born under would be unfamiliar to most Americans. Yet as an immigrant to the United States, I also share its most common origin story. And as a technology entrepreneur who believes in the transformative power of decentralized blockchains, I’m following in the footsteps of those who left their birthplaces for a new homeland, where they invented new technologies and spread new ideas.

In Search of Freedom

My story is both unique and universal.

In the 1980s, my …