I could have been a commodity instead of a commodities lawyer.
I could have been sold at a slave market on Wall Street instead of recruited to join Goldman Sachs.
I could have been someone else’s property instead of contemplating whether anyone can truly own a bitcoin.
On the 100 year anniversary of the bombing of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I wanted to do something worthy of the occasion. I wanted somehow to take all that this commemoration means to me and display it coherently in a clever blog post having to do with the future of money.
Either there are too many words or not enough - I’m not sure which, but I am mute.
So, without the eloquent and wrenching, introspective introduction I wanted to write today, I will just bluntly tell you the news that I have designed an Ethereum-based Net Income with Makeup Charitable Remainder Unitrust (NIMCRUT) for the benefit of black farmers (BF ETH-NIMCRUT) and you can be a donor grantor. CHECK OUT MY GITBOOK FOR DETAILS.
Given the economic prosperity and vitality of the Greenwood community destroyed May 31 - June 1, 1921, a gesture focused on wealth accumulation and financial self-sufficiency for black communities seems fitting.
Accordingly, the 501(c)3 non-profit Black Farmer Fund is the designated income co-beneficiary along with the donor for the ten-year term of the BF ETH-NIMCRUT and recipient of the trust remainder. Ethereum wallet holders can become a grantor with a transfer of ether ($ETH) or ETH ERC-20 utility token with a minimum total market cap of US$1,000,000,000 in any amount to 0x5158C4ef23b0d2Ac29C3899a287d41076D73Be1a or classic ether ($ETC) to 0x1e5B3b8FcCF007c842D9f07cb1561475cfFA57E1 (See address QR codes below). Depending on an individual grantor’s situation, he, she or they may be able to benefit from (1) in-kind income, (2) elimination of taxation on capital gains and (3) charitable deduction.
Please DYOR, review the GITBOOK and contact your attorney, accountant and other professional advisors regarding the tax treatment of your donation.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NTFs) representing the grantor’s lead interest will be deposited in its ETH or ETC address, as applicable. In future quarters, the location of the Lead Interest NFTs will determine the Ethereum or Ethereum Classic deposit address for quarterly income payments corresponding To the donation amounts received from the respective ETH or ETC addresses.
Unitrust funds will be invested in a variety of crypto asset income producing strategies including ETH 2.0 Beacon Chain Validator Nodes, Yield Farming through DeFi platforms and Crypto Asset Lending.
Kianga, YOU DESIGNED A WHAT?
Creativity in financial products, markets and legal structures has kind of been my thing since law school. It was inevitable that I would fall down the Bitcoin rabbit hole and end up immersing myself in the frontier space of crypto. As quickly as many things are moving and developing in this realm, practical things that move the needle in sustainable fundamental ways for regular people are painfully absent.
As Founder and Managing Partner of impact asset management firm Acre of America Partners LP in Hudson, NY I am focused on the intersection of rural problems and distributed ledger technology solutions. In particular, I have been studying the crisis we face in America regarding our food supply, the importance of regenerative agricultural practices and the challenges facing smaller farms in upstate New York.
The impacts of the COVID pandemic created an urgency for me to be more tangible in my work, more place-based and more connected to people I could see and touch in New York’s Hudson River Valley.
Related to this meat-space theme, I visited the Chester Agricultural Center in Chester, New York on the Friday before last - May 21st - with a brain full of concepts, abstractions and technical knowledge gleaned over five years in crypto. One thing you can depend on: if there’s a conversation about a rural problem, Kianga is going to mention blockchain, decentralized systems, and automated consensus mechanisms.
But I must confess: I’m getting tired of “mentioning” “talking” “discussing” “imagining”…. while also trotting out that hopeful refrain “we are SO early” which I guess is meant to lessen the intimidation factor and encourage the uninitiated to care because there’s still lots of time to learn and be a part of where this is all going (to the moon!).
But why should nocoiners care in a CRISIS? Well, I don’t think they do. And they shouldn’t. Not Unless we crypto nerds can start putting our magic internet money where our mouth is.
So back to Chester: while sitting in the hot sun amidst the famous black dirt a gauntlet was thrown down at my feet. I listened to a powerful testimony and appeal from Karen Washington, farmer and legend, to support the Black Farmer Fund of which Karen is a founder and Board member:
The MISSION
Black Farmer Fund (BFF) is an emerging community investment fund that invests in Black food systems entrepreneurs in New York State. As part of our investment process, we emphasize financial education, collective governance and decision-making, and supporting the whole individual and whole community towards community wealth-building and a sustainable future.
The STORY
We are defining wealth beyond financial and intellectual capital to include social capital and ancestral wisdom, to mitigate against climate change, exercise governance, strengthen solidarity, and preserve cultural and ancestral ways of being.
The idea to create Black Farmer Fund came from two Black farmer-activists meeting at a conference in 2017 and sharing frustrations about the lack of financial assistance available for Black farmers.
They decided that there needed to be a means for community members to access non-extractive, patient capital that recognized the historical discrimination of lending and banking that informs the racial disparities present in our agricultural system today.
I recorded part of Karen’s remarks that day which you can watch below .
HODLERS, Will you join me?
For complete details of the BF ETH-NIMCRUT, the applicable disclosures & gift agreement and declaration of trust please visit My Gitbook:
https://future-history-of-money.gitbook.io/ethereum-nimcrut-for-black-farmers/
BF ETH-NIMCRUT ETHEREUM WALLET ADDRESS
BF ETH-NIMCRUT ETHEREUM CLASSIC WALLET ADDRESS
In the coming weeks and months I will post a series of articles about the significance and potentially industry shaking implications of combing trust and estates laws with Ethereum’s smart contracting capacity and the utility of its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) token standard for representing determinable property interests.
As much as there is a weight of grief that rests with me today, the presence of gratitude is stronger as I consider the triumphs in spite of the odds and obstacles. I celebrate the progress made in 100 years that finds a descendant of slaves working at the forefront of a peaceful transition of economic power back to the people! ~ Kianga
DeFi vs Wall Street