‘Bitcoin & Black America’ Author: The Fed should ‘take a hard look at bitcoin as a reserve asset’

In a cryptocurrency panel discussion with Yahoo Finance's Jennifer Schonberger, ‘Bitcoin & Black America’ Author Isaiah Jackson details best use cases for bitcoin in the United States.

Video transcript

JENNIFER SCHOENBERGER: How could Bitcoin change business and the way we do business? And do you see Bitcoin becoming ubiquitous in terms of using it to pay regularly for groceries and haircuts? And does it even translate to real estate transactions?

ISAIAH JACKSON: Well, yes, that is currently happening as we speak, just not in the United States. Bitcoin's best use case here is probably more as a store of value, as a savings account for the long term. If we get to a point where we have an economy where that's forced upon us, like other countries, then a medium of exchange era will come quicker than we think.

But I believe that the original goal of Bitcoin and now the goal of these cryptocurrencies to become a payment system will come because of demand and because people do want choices. They want the freedom to use whatever currency they want. With Bitcoin, it has the ability to be a great base layer. And building on top of that, building other cryptocurrencies that can make those payments is good for everybody.

Businesses are able to implement it on their side as far as the point of sale. And customers are able to spend it freely.

And then the issuers of the point of sales, or companies like Mastercard, can make money off of that, those payments as well. So I think it actually is a win-win-win for everybody.

JENNIFER SCHOENBERGER: So Isaiah, do you see Bitcoin as an alternative to the US dollar? You mentioned it being adopted in other countries. Do you think that the US should adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, perhaps in a similar way that El Salvador has done?

ISAIAH JACKSON: Absolutely. I think that we should take a hard look, much like Newt Gingrich said the other day, that the Federal Reserve should take a hard look at Bitcoin as a reserve asset. And we should not stop innovation with legislation. We should actually encourage it. And I believe that that will bode well for us in the future.

And if we look at the geopolitical sphere, economically, I think Bitcoin will be the standard for digital payments. So we should be ahead of that. We've already made a big move with China mining being depleted. We now in the US have 37% of the mining. So it's not as if we can't use our innovation for good and use these digital payments. We just have to take action.

JENNIFER SCHOENBERGER: And Isaiah, for people who aren't familiar with you, you have one of the biggest followings on Clubhouse for a Bitcoin group. You're part of the Black Bitcoin Billionaires group. You're also the author of the book "Bitcoin and Black America." How did you decide to pursue this, to educate people on Bitcoin and become an influencer?

ISAIAH JACKSON: Well, the number one thing in my community, I believe, is education, and in any community really. Bitcoin is the hardest part of technology and finance put into one. So I believe that educating my community in particular as a template for others to do as well, because Bitcoin is for everybody, I just wanted to make sure that we had an opportunity to take advantage of this technological revolution, which we were not able to do during the internet era.

And I think it's definitely something that is needed. And I just wanted to fill a void that I did not see. And writing this book and forming these groups have brought way more people into the space to the point now, demographically, Black people are more likely to use crypto than any other demographic group. So the work over the last few years has worked. And I believe that an all-inclusive currency should include everybody.

JENNIFER SCHOENBERGER: And using the Bitcoin, as you just mentioned, all-inclusive, it levels the financial playing field?

ISAIAH JACKSON: Yes, long-term. It's not a get rich quick scheme. It's not going to happen overnight. But long-term, yes, if we take advantage and have a sense of urgency, absolutely.