Welcome to the very first edition of Tango Heart! I’m so glad you’re here. This newsletter is my space to share stories and insights at the intersection of dance, technology, and life.
My blockchain journey began during Buenos Aires’s dólar blue years (2013–2015), when government restrictions on currency made daily life unpredictable. While the official U.S. dollar exchange rate was tightly controlled, the black-market “blue dollar” rate could surge 40–60% higher, creating a constant sense of financial instability. Prices for food, tango lessons, and milonga entries rose week after week. Complaints about one increase were quickly followed by another, even more significant one. It felt like living inside a broken system.
For me, this was a lived experience. I often took regular ferries from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay, just to withdraw dollars from my U.S. bank account. When back in Argentina, exchanging those dollars meant entering the hidden world of cuevas, informal currency exchanges where exchangers whispered “pssssst” on the street, as if offering illegal goods, only to ask, “Do you have U.S. dollars?”
Back then, I didn’t understand what blockchain was. But I knew something needed to change. That’s why, when I returned to the U.S. after two years of tango dancing and a classmate from MIT introduced me to blockchain, I was intrigued. And when I read the Bitcoin Manifesto in 2017, I was hooked.
In Tango Heart, I’ll draw on lessons from tango and my travels to explore how we approach leadership, technology, and life. I’ll also share conversations with blockchain entrepreneurs about their own “first dance” with decentralization: how they started, the risks they took, and why they believe blockchain can help create a more beautiful world.
I hope to inspire, connect, and make complex ideas feel human and alive.
Thank you for starting this journey with me. Together, we’ll take it one step at a time.
About the Author:
Irna Hutabarat Athans is an innovation strategist, author, and speaker who explores the space where words, technology, and human potential meet. She helps people curious about technology, creativity, and the future by offering a bold, feminine introduction to blockchain and leadership. Learn more at athansmedia.com
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