Blockchains.com Founder Buys Community Bank to Finance Crypto Dreams

Jeffrey Berns, eccentric founder of blockchain incubation and investment firm Blockchains.com, purchased a small community bank in Las Vegas, Nevada in order to secure financing as he manifests his decentralized dreams, according to The Nevada Independent. Berns said his ambitions are incompatible with the current financial system and he feared that the banking complex would cut off his supply of capital. The 56-year-old attorney previously announced plans to construct a Reno-sized, blockchain-focused smart city and e-sports arena in the Nevada desert. His $28 million acquisition of the Kirkwood Bank of Nevada “is a small but critical step in helping the nascent company achieve its wildly ambitious goals,” reported The Nevada Independent. In addition to financing his own projects, Berns hopes Kirkwood Bank of Nevada will become a leading bank for the blockchain industry. “It’s to create an environment where the blockchain ecosystem, the legitimate businesses out there who are trying to build projects that are going to empower the individual and better the world… have a bank that understands what they’re doing and isn’t fearful,” he said.