Joe is the CEO of BitBull Capital, which manages cryptocurrency hedge funds, and a co-founder of StartOut, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating business leaders by fostering lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer entrepreneurs.

“Technology has been of the utmost importance to the LGBTQ community. From our formative years, many use technology and social platforms to find other LGBTQ people, even before they’ve come out or spoken out to those around them. Often, the first research people will do is online and on forums.

LGBT youth make up more than 40% of homeless youth in America. So, the importance of technological platforms to help connectivity, whether this is through the web or even through apps and mobile phones that underprivileged youth have access to, cannot be overstated.

The impact of technology now in healthcare is also vastly important, from the advent of HIV drugs (from those that treat to those that prevent) to the increase in knowledge transfer for specific LGBTQ issues around health among doctors often only familiar with heteronormative medicine.

With the blockchain, many pioneering LGBT entrepreneurs have looked into ways to support the community through commerce, from LGBT Token to chambers of commerce focused on queer people. One important thing I always hear from those working in the AI and blockchain space is how diverse it is as opposed to other industries. The technology and meritocratic focus of our vertical lends itself to open-minded, forward-thinking people.

With NFTs, artists have the ability to create unique digital art and have ownership of those rights. Due to its digital nature, the art can be very specific and be still appreciated by a number of people. I was just speaking with a friend recently about an international digital artist whose art he was appreciating from around the world because it spoke to something they both had experienced as LGBTQ people but wouldn’t necessarily have connected through before if bound to the physical realm of art.

Technology has absolutely helped me on my own journey as an LGBTQ person and will certainly continue with the new advancements in health, finance, safety and representation that we are seeing burgeoning with the most recent advancements.”