Business aims to help people, organizations understand cryptocurrencies

For Andrew Bard, knowledge of computers and how they function was a major focus until recently, when he shifted gears to start a consulting firm to help clients understand cryptocurrency.

Bard said for him, it's about independence.

Bard founded Computer 21 LLC in 1999, and worked every day helping people fix their computers or learn more about their machines.

He sold that successful business at the end of 2017, which is still operating under new ownership.

Bard had invested in bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, in about 2011, he said, and that investment recently paid off.

"I'm not independently wealthy or anything," Bard said, but calls himself "semiretired" now.

He lives in Cape Girardeau, and at his house, he's planted some fruit trees and is learning to garden. He owns half a dozen chickens after he helped champion the cause of backyard chickens to the city council last year.

And now he's setting up a cryptocurrency consulting firm.

Bard has taught a class on cryptocurrency through Continuing Education, the non-credit courses offered through Southeast Missouri State University, and said he gets a lot of questions about what cryptocurrency is, and why people would invest in it.

Again, for him, it's about independence, he said.

Cryptocurrency is the blanket term for digital currency, such as bitcoin, with high-level encryption. It's a currency with no personal identifying information attached, Bard said.

Some people use it for illegal activities, true, but Bard said that isn't necessarily its main purpose.

It's a currency based in mathematics, not tied to a government entity, he said.

That makes the value somewhat volatile, Bard said, but that value isn't tied to the stability of a government or a banking system.

In Venezuela, for example, where hyperinflation is driving up the cost of goods to an almost-impossible level, Bard said, even getting groceries with their government currency is next to impossible.

That's where cryptocurrency comes in, he said.

Certainly, Bard said, that's less of a concern in the United States, where "we're lucky." Our system of government is mostly stable, he said, and so is the dollar.

But investing in cryptocurrency can pay dividends, Bard said, and he said its value is beyond just how much money it's worth.

He intends to help people understand more about it, he said.

Bard's new business venture, housed in The Broadway Federal at 339 Broadway in Cape Girardeau -- the former federal building now being used as office space for several companies -- will offer three services at the outset: MyCryptoGuru, MyCryptoGives and MyCryptoSolutions.

Bard said he's working with a videographer, with Brian and Caitlin Schlichting at Digital Fire Agency in Cape Girardeau and with a cousin of his in Texas, but Bard is the central figure.

Renovations are underway at the office space in The Broadway Federal, Bard said, and he expects to open within a few weeks.

MyCryptoGuru will be about education, he said.

Bard said he won't give trading strategies, but there will be classes on security, basic information and other important topics, Bard said.

"There's never been a hack of bitcoin," Bard said. Transactions have been hacked, he said, but it's the rough equivalent of a bank robbery.

The advantage over a traditional bank is, while the transactions and storage are decentralized, Bard said, so is the security. That's both its strength and its weakness, Bard said.

"You'll have autonomy over your money, but if you screw up, I can't get it back for you," Bard said.

MyCryptoGives will help charities with cryptocurrency initiatives, Bard said.

MyCryptoSolutions will use the vault already in the office, Bard said, to store access information to people's accounts, if they choose, but each piece of information would be identified only by a serial number. That way, it can't be subpoenaed or subject to search warrants, Bard said.

"I don't even know who owns it," he added.

The upshot is, Bard said, he will not be beholden to anyone, since the business income will be from selling access to courses and rent on stored access information. He won't offer advice on what to buy, but he will help people understand what they're doing.

As to how people can use bitcoin or other currencies in real life, Bard said, it's becoming more mainstream. Bitcoin ATMs are popping up across the country, and even an automobile dealership in Cape Girardeau, Cape Cars Auto Group LLC, accepts cryptocurrency from prospective car buyers.

"People think I'm nuts," Bard said, "but this is changing the world."

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

339 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo.