--- title: "WeWork Guy’s Apartment Rental Company Plans to Launch Crypto That Can’t Be Used to Pay Rent" description: "WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann is back, with a property management crypto startup. The confusing part? Its crypto can't pay rent." date: "2022-08-20" modified: "2022-08-26" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/wework-flow-rental-crypto" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" tags: - "crypto" - "housing" - "Startups" - "the digest" - "wework" --- # WeWork Guy’s Apartment Rental Company Plans to Launch Crypto That Can’t Be Used to Pay Rent ![WeWork cofounder Adam Neumann is back, with a property management crypto startup. The confusing part? Its crypto can't pay rent.]() *LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 09: Adam Neumann speaks onstage during WeWork Presents Second Annual Creator Global Finals at Microsoft Theater on January 9, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for WeWork) \Image: Getty Images\* ## WeRent One of the WeWork dudes is starting a new company that says it'll use software to manage real estate. It'll also involve a cryptocurrency — except that, per its own spokesperson, the crypto won't actually be able to pay rent on the platform. Confused yet? Us too. As far as we can nail down anything concrete, former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann's latest venture is a real estate startup called Flow. It's already raised $350 million in venture capital, which it says it'll use to carry out some sort of inscrutable[ and jargon-filled mission]() that'll solve the housing crisis or something. Forbes got a little more clarity — or something, at least — when [it reported]() that in addition to the property management software, the company will also allow people to store crypto and USD. A Flow spokesperson told the financial magazine, however, that while the wallet will allow users to make outside purchases with the funds they have stored in it like any other, it won't let them make rental payments. Futurism has reached out to a Flow spokesperson for comment to clarify what in the world is going on here. But for now, let's just say we're confused. ## They're Mad Unsurprisingly, observers are already puzzled and sometimes irate that Neumann is back at it again. One startup founder, Kate Braddock, [called Flow's huge fundraising check]() "DISGUSTING" and singled out its VC backers, a16z, for giving [its largest single-check investment to date]() to a "straight white male" founder of a company as "toxic" as WeWork. Twitter users were entertained by the drama. "\[I\] really wanna meet Adam Neumann," [venture capital partner Talia Golberg tweeted](), "and see if he can hypnotize me too or if I’m powerful enough to resist." At the end of the day, this whole thing sounds very much like [Silicon Valley bros reinventing and subsequently monetizing the wheel]() — which, of course, is exactly what WeWork was, too. Still, you gotta respect the hustle! *Updated to remove a reference to a claim that has since been retracted by the person who made it.* **READ MORE:** [Former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann's New Real Estate Company Is Planning A Digital Wallet That Stores Crypto]() \[*Forbes*\] **More startup insanity:** *[Neuralink Cofounder Leaves As Brain Company Descends Into Chaos]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()