The cryptosect leaves Badalona with euphoric attendees and without dispelling any suspicion

Euphoria at the sortida of the pavilion of the Joventut de Badalona dels assistants to the congress of the IM Academy, the coneguda com a cryptosecta. Via @the newspaper https://t.co/hbsOfkxcpU pic.twitter.com/4WeZK8B0f4

– Guillem Sánchez (@guillem_sm) April 10, 2022

Popularly known as a ‘crypto-sect’, the IM Academy has not issued accreditation to the local press or e-mailed journalists seeking their attention. He has done the opposite: asked attendees not to speak to the press, and most have complied with the request, showing suspicion of journalists for the treatment they have given the event in their respective media, a version they consider hostile. The National Police arrested a few weeks ago eight Spanish members of this organization. The state body investigates them for fraud and warns that the structure uses its own techniques “of sectarian organizations.”

The IM Academy has arrived in Badalona renting the pavilion of the Club Joventut Badalona, without explaining what they were going to do with the municipal facilities and resistant to the suspicions they drag. “People are afraid of what they do not know,” repeat the young people who agree to speak with EL PERIÓDICO when there were only a few hours left before the end of the international congress. Upon their departure they were euphoric, despite the fact that they have not dispelled the suspicions that have hung over them all weekend.

“Most of us are middle or lower class youth,” he explains. Martinawhich has come from Cordova (Argentina) with a friend and assures that she has been part of IM Academy for three years and that thanks to her training she has achieved the “Financial Freedom“. That is what this American-based organization sells to young people from all over the world who share the feeling of living among not very flattering economic horizons. “My friends have not been able to leave Córdoba, they work in jobs such as taxi driver, and they do not earn more than 150 dollars. They see me, who do things like travel to Spain to come to this congress, and they tell me that I have done well & rdquor ;, explains Martina’s companion, Argentine like her. “It has worked for us but there will be people who have not,” they defend themselves.

It has not been another meeting. The one in Badalona had an international character. have come from Swissfrom Germanyfrom Portugalfrom Francefrom Italyfrom Englandfrom Argentina or of USA. And the rest of Spain. This Sunday at noon, a group of French came out radiant from the morning session. “We have been taught ‘mindset’.” Questioned relentlessly about what exactly that means, they have tried to report that they have received “motivational” speeches on personal growth. “Here they teach you to invest in the stock market, in foreign currency or in cryptocurrencies. But the most important thing is the mindset,” explains Francisca, who is around thirty and seems older than the rest of the attendees, who are just over twenty years old. “You learn not to be emotional to make the right financial decisions,” she insists, convinced.

There are videos on Youtube. In one of them, a Venezuelan presenter summarizes the purpose of the organization with the following words: “Generate income in an intelligent way simply with an internet connection and a mobile device.” He remarks in his presentation that they have 270,000 students and that the academy is “recognized in 80 different countries & rdquor; and has professional investors who transmit the necessary knowledge. These mentors are referred to as” leaders & rdquor ;.

Isabel, a woman who asks for a false name, has traveled to Barcelona and has paid the almost 300 euros that the registration costs. She has more work experience than average and has an extensive university education. It has been an experience for her. very disappointing. Although he stresses that he hasn’t seen anything that is reportable, he explains that he hasn’t learned things that he didn’t already know or that he can’t find on the internet. The training they provide doesn’t reveal any magic formula for making money by investing online, she reasons. Isabel is not a member of the IM Academy and she is not going to be. He believes that this was above all the purpose of this congress in Badalona: “Throw a party to keep them motivated, to strengthen the feeling of belonging to this community and convince them to continue contracting their education courses online & rdquor ;, explains Isabel. “No I think they force anyone to do anything they don’t want and I think they can leave it whenever they want & rdquor ;, nuances in the opposite direction, on whether or not it should be considered a sect.

Badalona City Council has shown its disagreement with the celebration of the event. And Aïda Llauradó, from En Comú Podem, a member of the municipal government, explains that after what happened with this unwanted congress in the city they are going to review the conditions for transferring this pavilion to the basketball club. To date Joventut had rented the space for concerts or similar activities. But the IM Academy has exposed that the city council may also have a say in who steps on the track of the city team.