For episode 260 of the Crypto Altruists podcast, we're excited to welcome Sharonda D., a registered nurse with 20 years at the bedside, a tech builder, and a member of the crypto community. She's helping launch the Crypto Community Fund for Healthcare Access in partnership with Sostento, a nonprofit dedicated to helping uninsured Americans reach the care they need.
I want to take you back to 2021. PPE had run out. Everywhere. And nurses and health workers showed up to their shifts anyway, putting themselves at risk because that's what the job asked of them. In the middle of all that, something remarkable happened. Sostento mobilized the crypto community, raised 25 ETH in a matter of weeks, and got real protective equipment into the hands of thousands of frontline workers.
Sharonda was a nurse on the floor during that shortage. And now, years later, she's helping mobilize that same community for what comes next.
Her story doesn't start with crypto. It starts on the floor. She became a nurse during the transition from paper charts to electronic health records, and she watched experienced nurses walk away from the profession because the technology simply wasn't built with them in mind. That stuck with her, and it's shaped everything she's done since. Today she's a division director with the Global Nursing AI Alliance, a builder of practical tools for nurses, and someone who has spent her career refusing to accept that technology should be something done to health workers rather than with them.
In today’s discussion you’ll learn:
🏥 The challenges facing healthcare in 2026, and the reality for the frontline workers holding the system together
🤝 What a full-time nurse, tech builder, and crypto enthusiast has learned about building technology alongside the people who need it most
🌍 An intro to the Crypto Community Fund for Healthcare Access, and how it's channeling this community's energy toward health equity
💚 The 2021 moment that showed what the web3 community can do for health workers, and why our guest today believes we can do it again
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💚 “Crypto can, and crypto will.”: From disasterrelief to urgent appeals for PPE during the height of COVID, the cryptocommunity has proven again and again that when there's a real need, itresponds. In 2021, Sostento mobilized this community to raise 25 ETH in amatter of weeks and get protective equipment into the hands of thousands offrontline health workers who had none. That wasn't a one-off. It's a pattern.And it's a reminder that behind all the noise and speculation, there's acommunity that shows up when it matters most.
🤝 Build with nurses, not for them: Sharonda becamea nurse during the shift from paper charts to electronic health records, andshe watched experienced colleagues walk away from the profession because thetechnology wasn't built with them in mind. That experience shaped everythingsince. Too often, tools are designed for health workers by people who havenever done the job, and the result is added burden rather than relief. Thealternative is simple but requires humility: bring the people who will actuallyuse a tool into the process of designing it. If technology adds confusion,risk, or extra burden, it doesn't belong in healthcare.
🔗 Crypto builders need frontline expertise, andfrontline workers need a seat at the table: The most valuable perspectivein this space isn't purely technical. It belongs to people like Sharonda, whounderstand both the technology and the reality on the ground. Builders incrypto and AI need that insight, because you cannot solve a problem you'venever lived. And frontline workers need to be in these rooms, shaping what getsbuilt rather than receiving it after the fact.
Sharonda
Sostento
04:00 - Sharonda, welcome to the show! Let's start with you, because you have a pretty unique combination of experiences: you're a frontline nurse and you're part of the crypto community. Can you tell us about your journey, and how those two worlds came together for you?
06:25 - As a nurse, what does "healthcare access" look like on the ground? What do you see day to day that most people never do?
09:15 - Across the country, safety net providers are caring for the uninsured every single day, and they're stretched incredibly thin. What's it like for the people doing that work, and what do they need most right now?
13:05 - For listeners who aren't familiar, can you introduce Sostento and the work they do? As someone who's lived the frontline reality for 20+ years, what was it that made you want to get involved?
15:30 - Sostento's approach is built around working with health workers rather than handing them solutions from the outside. As a nurse, why does that distinction matter so much? What happens when technology or programs get designed without the people who have to use them?
18:15 - The crypto community and Sostento have history together. Back in 2021, artists in the space mobilized an NFT auction that funded hundreds of thousands of pieces of PPE for health workers during the pandemic. Then in 2023, there was a campaign around health worker burnout. What have you learned from seeing Sostento’s approach to crypto fundraising?
21:45 - You're looking for 250 founders to help launch the Crypto Community Fund for Healthcare Access, and founders won't just be donors, they'll help shape what the fund becomes. What does it mean to be a founder, and what kind of person are you hoping steps up?
23:10 - For listeners who want to become a founder, support the fund, or just learn more about Sostento's work, where should they go?
24:40 - Our audience is spread all over the world, and healthcare systems look very different from country to country. But the pattern of frontline workers being stretched thin while the people who need care most fall through the cracks feels pretty universal. Is that something you see reflected beyond the US?
27:30 - This fund is focused on healthcare access in the US, but the model itself, a community mobilizing quickly around a need that institutions are too slow to meet, could apply almost anywhere. What do you think other communities around the world might take from what you're building here?
29:40 - You’ve seen this from both sides, as the nurse in the room with the patient, and as someone who believes in what this community can do. If the crypto community really shows up for this, what does that mean to you, and what would you want a health worker somewhere to feel a year from now because of it?
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While we may discuss specific web3 projects or cryptocurrencies on this podcast, please do not take any of this as investment advice, and please make sure to do your own research on potential investment opportunities, or any opportunity. We host a variety of guests on this podcast with the sole purpose of highlighting the social impact use cases of this technology. That being said, Crypto Altruism does not endorse any of these projects, and we recognize that, since this is an emerging sector, some may be operating in regulatory grey areas, and as such, we cannot confirm their legality in the jurisdictions in which they operate, especially as it pertains to decentralized finance protocols. So, before getting involved with any project, it’s important that you do your own research and confirm the legality of the project. More available HERE.
