Experts believe that children should know and use cryptocurrencies. At the same time, this process has some difficulties.
Cryptocurrencies getting more and more interest with each new generation. The millennial generation sees cryptocurrencies as a normal payment tools, according to Rick Ryder, director of fixed income at BlackRock. Youth trends proves his words, and last year’s TikTok challenge confirmed it too. Then the Dogecoin cryptocurrency became 140% more expensive almost in the blink of an eye. Do children need to know about cryptocurrencies and be able to use them? Let’s take a look at all the benefits and pitfalls.
What are the root problems
Let’s say a child has received a cryptocurrency. He will want to use it and spend it. Difficulties arise immediately. For example, Russia does not use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, and they are not used to pay for goods and services. It is impossible to pay with crypto in an online store, and there is no point in talking twice about offline trading, says Maria Agranovskaya, managing partner of the GRAD Bar Association.
She also believes that the child should be aware of the risks right away. Volatility is high and the rate can drop in a days. Markets are not regulated and unfair rules of the game can take place.
How does the law relate between crypto and children
Children have every right to do transactions for the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies, Maria Agranovskaya continues. What are the problems for the child? He needs mining equipment. With the written consent of the parents, the laws allow teenagers aged 14-18 to do anything with it. Parents must give written consent. Teenagers have the right to manage earnings without parental or guardian approval. All of these rights do not apply to children under the age of 14.
From the age of 14, children can make purchase higher than the milk at the corner shop, according to Artem Denisov, Managing Partner of Genesis Law Firm.
Moral and ethical side
Children need to understand that cryptocurrencies are speculative assets. Crypto should not be considered a direct replacement for fiat currencies, as Yulia Kolbasova, founder of Almanax Education, clarifies. In her opinion, the lack of financial literacy lessons is a big problem in Russia, for example. But schoolchildren-traders are still there, and even at the age of 14 there are “geeks” with impressive investment portfolios. More often, such children have financially active parents who explain financial literacy and encourage such activities in every possible way. School is not able to teach such things today.
Also, Yulia Kolbasova said that children need a stimulus to learn about making money and investing. Knowledge of good and useful purchases should be it. So, they will be aware of everything about assets and liabilities. An asset is what makes money here and now, and cryptocurrencies are exactly that.
Concluding her thought, Julia adds about the value of cryptocurrencies as a platform for experiments. They will help children gain invaluable hands-on experience in investing and trading in an ever-changing price environment. At the same time, you can lose not much money. For example, you shouldn’t look towards bitcoin right away. A child can buy a new altcoin with a low price, and in a year the cost of that one will calmly skyrocket by 1000% or more. There will also be unprofitable assets in the portfolio, and the child needs to be aware of such risks.
