026: Turning Trauma Into Fuel to Thrive and Live a Fulfilling Life + A Solution for Cryptocurrency Tax Challenges and Managing Digital Assets with Pat White and Dr. Randall Bell

In this episode of Saving With Steve, host Steve Sexton is joined by economist, sociologist, author, and “Master of Disaster,” Dr. Randall Bell, who has consulted on more disasters than anyone in history and is widely considered the worlds top authority in the field of post-traumatic thriving, and Pat White, the CEO of Bitwave, one of the first and only companies to offer tax and accounting software that is designed for managing cryptocurrencies.

Today, we see crime, abuse, alcoholism, drugs, anger, and anxiety everywhere. Jails and prisons are crammed on an industrial scale. Recovery centers are packed with patients. Extreme political and religious groups regularly trap more members. Too many schools are simply factories for dropouts. All of this is the result of unresolved trauma. Ultimately, the quality of our lives depends on our ability to successfully process our heartbreaks and catastrophes. By college age, 66-85% of all people have been impacted by at least one traumatic experience, and COVID has arguably traumatized everyone.

My first guest, Dr. Randall Bell, is an economist and sociologist who is known for his ability to analyze complex situations and present his findings in an interesting, organized, and intelligent way. This “Master of Disaster” joins us today to discuss post-traumatic thriving, the three options in the aftermath of disasters, and the cycle of disaster, recovery, and prosperity. Dr. Bell shares how individuals go about trying to survive disasters and provides insight on the journey from the depths of the initial shock to the pinnacle of ultimate healing and growth.

With millions of Americans simultaneously buying more cryptocurrency assets (through the growth of Coinbase and a greater availability of crypto-backed ETFs) while trying to file their taxes, we are facing a new phenomenon that the IRS and SEC are unprepared for: how to declare and account for crypto assets, especially at scale. As more and more investors pile into cryptocurrencies, regulators have not kept pace with guidance on how investments in these assets should be declared—and this is particularly true for companies. Many CFOs are looking at the meteoric rise in crypto and want to make investments but have held back because the path to doing so is uncertain.

My second guest, Pat White, is the co-founder and CEO of Bitwave, which is one of the first and only companies to offer tax and accounting software that is designed for managing cryptocurrencies—a complete enterprise digital asset management platform that provides solutions for businesses that use crypto. He joins us today to discuss the tax challenges that cryptocurrency presents, where guidance from the IRS is lacking, what companies, as well as investors, are doing to move forward, how Bitwave works, and what we need to know about the future of cryptocurrency.

Patrick White is currently Co-founder and CEO of Bitwave, the world's first Enterprise Digital Assets Platform bringing cryptocurrencies, tokens, and other digital assets to the worlds largest companies.

Bitwave is one of the first and only companies to offer tax and accounting software that is designed for managing cryptocurrencies as well as solutions for accounting, taxes, AR / AP, secure DApps, and more.

Recently, one of their clients, Greenidge Generation, went public through a merger with Support.com, making them the first company to go public with crypto assets on their balance sheet. This was approved by the Federal government based on Bitwave’s tax platform.

Pat was formerly a principal engineer and chief architect on Cisco Spark, and was the CEO of Synata, a San Francisco startup that provides enterprise search software to cloud-enabled businesses.

He hasspent the last decade building software at companies such as Intuit, Microsoft, Ally Software, VistaConnect, S3/Diamond Multimedia, Fortify Software (now HP Security), and CyberArts.

Pat has extensive experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, SharePoint, Exchange, .NET / ASP.NET, Salesforce.com, and Google Apps, as well as expertise in enterprise search products such as FAST, Autonomy, and Google Search Appliance.

His passion has always been for start-ups, so growing a successful software company with an incredible team is a dream come true.

Randall Bell, PhD, is a sociologist and economist who specializes in disaster recovery projects.

No stranger to how harsh the world is, Dr. Bell has consulted in more tragedies around the world than anyone. He was retained for the World Trade Center, Flight 93, Sandy Hook, BP Oil Spill, Hurricane Katrina, the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test sites, the BP Oil spill, the Northridge earthquake, OJ Simpson, Jon Benet Ramsey, Heaven's Gate, and hundreds of other cases.

Dr. Bell has been retained by the Federal Governments of the United States, Canada, and Australia to help resolve numerous crises, and his work has generated billions of dollars to rebuild damaged communities. His investigations have taken him to 50 states, and seven continents.

Having met with countless victims, Dr. Bell earned the nickname of "Master of Disaster." In every case, he's observed the emotional consequences and how some fared better than others, and was inspired to put his unique research skills to work and study the cycle of trauma.

This experience has given him unprecedented access and insights into the cycle of disaster, recovery, and prosperity. He is known for his ability to analyze complex situations and present his findings in an interesting, organized, and intelligent way. Dr. Bell’s work has generated billions of dollars for his clients.

A frequent guest of the media, Dr. Bell is the featured expert in Topic's "Distressed Real Estate" documentary series directed by Jason Stefaniak. His career has been profiled by NBC's Today Show, Rolling Stone Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, People Magazine, ABC's 20/20, Hallmark's Home & Family, and many others.

Dr. Bell is the author of MeWeDoBe and the founder of Core IQ, a non-profit educational foundation that provides free online training on life skills. He is certified through the Insight Prison Project to facilitate group discussions with victims and offenders at San Quentin Prison. Dr. Bell has been active in jail ministries and a volunteer in homeless shelters.

In his book, Post-Traumatic Thriving: The Art, Science, & Stories of Resilience, Dr. Bell lays out the academic research and speaks freely about his trauma of being born with a congenital heart defect. Diagnosed with PTSD, he utilized these principles to heal from his childhood trauma and summit Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro at 60.