EduBlock is a grassroots student network non-profit based in Puerto Rico.

Began as a reaction to the influx of fintech companies and investors moving to the island. Without a doubt, the 2017 cryptomarket bull run brought attention to blockchain technologies. Students, especially, are at the forefront of gathering as much knowledge on distributed ledger technologies as possible, recognizing their potential. Students all throughout Puerto Rico were coming together via cross-platform messaging services like Discord, Telegram, and WhatsApp looking for a place to talk about everything crypto related on the island and around the world.

In order to create a bridge between these new fintech companies and students in the island, EduBlock was created. The team is composed of professors, students and industry leading advisors, with a goal of teaching and contributing to rebuild our island using the most cutting edge technologies we have access to. With five chapters in development and three already established in the top Puerto Rican universities (these include the Mayaguez and Rio Piedras University of Puerto Rico system-wide campuses and the Metropolitan Inter American University). They will be offering free workshops and conferences for students as well as internships, research and development programs in the blockchain sector that will help Puerto Rico succeed and stay competitive on the international scale.

There is currently a lot of misinformation about blockchain technologies and about the investors arriving to Puerto Rico.

This is why @EduBlock believes that the best way of communicating the possibilities of blockchain in the island is through educational institutions, students, and local business adoption. In this way we plan to help steer the narrative of the Puerto Rican blockchain community. They want to serve as a credible platform for industry leaders to get in contact with students, the island and vice-versa. They will also be serving as a medium of news through blog posts, podcasts, videos and events.

A kickoff event was hosted at the Interamerican University Metro, free of cost, during #RestartWeek and had a total of 12 speakers.

The event covered a variety of topics, these range from blockchain 101 with James Calhoun, an intro to crypto economics with Kevin Asher, recent regulation changes in the United States by Tatiana Koffman, a thorough explanation of the new tax laws in Puerto Rico by Giovanni Mendez, a dive into tribal dynamics and blockchain governance with David Casey, the implementation of micro grids in both the electric and water to decentralize its distribution throughout the island by Enrique Martinez and Riggs Eckelberry and a Data Science introduction by José Mejias.

@edublock is currently working on organizing #RestartWest and hosting our first hackathon in Mayaguez on may 11-13 (register for the hackathons at http://puertoricohackathon.com/ ).

The purpose of #RestartWest is to act as a positive change agent to the local community by hosting major conferences and providing services that are exclusive to the event. The first restart week was hosted in San Juan and had an estimated total of two thousand conference attendees and over three thousand participants across the city. Learn more at https://restartweek.org/restart-west/.

They will be hosting weekly blockchain workshops with curated curriculums through the university chapters and interested parties across the island. The workshops will be open to the general public. For registered students the events will be free of charge.

@Edublock is passionate about using this opportunity to improve not just our blockchain and fintech education, but the Puerto Rican education system as a whole. We are excited about this new transparent and trustless age of communication where incentives are aligned with the individual and one is able to take power of their own future. We can’t wait for what’s to come.