Daymond John can recognize an opportunity. And the prolific investor who has built a legacy on his business sense and shrewdness can certainly recognize the vast potential in the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

It’s tech that — with all its allure of decentralization and anonymity — has proven especially enticing for some Black Americans historically left behind by traditional financial institutions.

But the “Shark Tank” star and founder of hip-hop apparel brand FUBU pushed back on any notion that crypto is a remedy for systemic inequality.

“I wouldn't call it a great equalizer,” John said. “Until people acknowledge a problem about systemic issues that have been created a long time ago, then you can’t change and come up with a solution, right? You can't come up with a pill and then not know the diagnosis.”

An Edelman survey of 1,500 U.S. adults from last August found that a majority of Black Americans reported experiences of “systemic bias and discrimination” across financial industry sub-sectors — such as mortgage and auto lenders, credit card companies, and insurance agencies.

That same study found that Black and Latinx households are around five times as likely to be unbanked as white households.

“Crypto will empower people, but they still are going to want to put their kids in better communities,'' John argued. “How will they get into those communities? How will they get into those schools? When they want to take that crypto and move it into other businesses, how does their credit look?”

Olayinka Odeniran, founder and chairwoman of the Black Women Blockchain Council, dove into the burgeoning sector after over 15 years in regulatory compliance and risk management. She echoed the motivations behind the rise of crypto trading in the community.

"Historically, we've been institutionally kept out of certain things, or restricted,” Odeniran said. “The laws haven't always been on our side when it comes to building financial wealth.”

But she also argued the confidentiality granted when utilizing blockchain can help reduce those discriminatory practices, noting that the nature of the technology can level the playing field.

“This particular space that we're creating affords us to enter it without our identity,” Odeniran said. “So we're stripping away the fact that we're Black. We’re stripping away the fact that me, as a woman, is a woman, right? We’re stripping all that away, and we're minimizing it to a series of numbers.”

But while Odeniran sees the value that’s attached to this growing industry, she encouraged newcomers to learn about the sector before opening their wallets.