The Sunday Times Magazine • 17The hippyish, crusading Pierce is a
particularly divisive figure. A child actor
who appeared in The Mighty Ducks, his
fortune in 2018 was estimated at between
$700 million and $1 billion by Forbes,
thanks to some savvy early bitcoin
investing. Having already run for US
president in 2020 on a blockchain-forward
platform, he is now planning to run for the
Senate in Vermont this November.
Pierce and his wife Crystal’s fingerprints
are everywhere in Puerto Rico: he recently
bought the W Hotel, which had been
shuttered since the 2017 hurricane, for a
reported $18.3 million. He also owns a $
million monastery in the historic district of
San Juan that doubles as his “club house”.
Some find him increasingly insufferable,
resent his role as the self-appointed “face”
of their movement and question how
much of the $1 billion he pledged to donate
to the island and associated causes has
materialised. “I am a positive member of
society, but I don’t go shouting it around,”
says Andrew Keys, a crypto whale who
migrated to the island several years ago.
“Brock Pierce said he was going to donate
a billion dollars to Puerto Rico. We’ve
hardly seen any of that.”
Pierce responds to criticism by claiming
to have given away “eight figures” already.
“I’ve invested more than anyone I know,”
he says. “I’m not aware of anyone on
Earth who has made that kind of
commitment. But you realise how hard
it is to give money away.”
Another of Pierce’s projects is the Creator
Academy, an interactive art museum that
Arteaga is helping to set up in a crumbling
old San Juan mansion. Arteaga hopes in
time that the space will become a hub for
local artists, as well as a fun museum for
children. As with so much digital art, the
aesthetic is best described as “Burning Manon tour”: one exhibit features a giant
illuminated unicorn head called Howie.
“I just happen to be one of the people
who is rolling up my sleeves and wants to
do something,” Arteaga says. “I’m trying
to build something that makes a difference.
But it also feels good. I want my life to
have purpose.”
Unfortunately not all Puerto Ricans are
thrilled with their new neighbours, and
there has been considerable backlash
against the crypto migrants in particular.
On one main road in San Juan posters
were put up recently showing pictures of
Logan Paul, declaring “This is what our
colonisers look like”.
Along with his brother, Jake, Paul upped
sticks from California last year and has
rented a $13 million home in the Ritz
Carlton complex in Dorado, just westERIKA P RODRIGUEZ FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE, @PAULLOGAN/INSTAGRAM, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Left: the former film star Brock Pierce,
now a bitcoin tycoon, is a divisive
figure. Right: the Creator Academy,
his arts project in Puerto Rico“BROCK PIERCE
SAID HE WOULD
DONATE A BILLION
DOLLARS. WE’VE
HARDLY SEEN ANY
OF THAT”
Posters of the YouTuber Logan Paul, right,
a recent arrival in Puerto Rico, protest
“This is what our colonisers look like”