Cryptocurrency is everywhere and nowhere at all. The term is bandied about and kids are catching on that this might be something very cool, or completely ridiculous. This new facet of financial literacy has many of us scratching our heads and protecting our wallets from curious kids who want to dive in.
What are Cryptocurrencies?
There are thousands of different cryptocurrencies used around the world that can be used to buy digital things. No coins or cash are traded. Is it the future of money? Some say it’s going to blow up and they will make millions off of their $5,000 buy-in to this new currency. Others say the wild fluctuations of its worth are risky.
The thousands of types of cryptocurrency are not controlled by governments, such as the U.S. dollar and 180 other nations’ traditional currencies. It is kept in check on a ledger, called a blockchain, which is located on people’s computers peppering the globe. The way cryptocurrency is used can be very confusing and is broken down well here.
Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ether, and others are some of the more well-known cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin got its start in 2008 and it isn’t clear who started it, although it has been attached to the fake name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then thousands of cryptocurrencies are available through a network of supercomputers.
How do You Make Cryptocurrency
You can buy in at any time. The prices to buy them vary wildly. It’s a pretty volatile market, with numbers fluctuating quickly as people buy and trade. It takes a lot to monitor this type of investment. If you decide to buy it, check the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for the latest fraud alerts.
If you have a very fast computer, you can attempt to solve a puzzle to earn a place on the blockchain. In 2018, a group of Russian nuclear scientists got caught using one of the country’s most powerful supercomputers to try to solve puzzles and mine some serious cryptocurrency.
The Pros and Cons of Cryptocurrency
Pro – The fact that cryptocurrency isn’t controlled by one country, entity, or person makes it easy to use around the world. Using it doesn’t have many added fees or costs. Some cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have gone up significantly and have made people rather rich in a short amount of time.
Con – It takes a lot of power to maintain the supercomputers and subsequent computers to keep cryptocurrency flowing, which is a drain on Earth’s resources. It would take as much power as the entire East Coast of the United States to run the cryptocurrency computers. The value of it swings so wildly, that it can crash within the amount of time you have pressed enter on your purchase.
Games To Play to Learn More About Cryptocurrency
If your kids are really into it, there are a few fun ways to explore the world of cryptocurrency without spending a dime.
- Explore the background of Satoshi Nakamoto, the shadowy figure behind Bitcoin. Is it one person, a group?
- Make an NFT! An NFT (non-fungible token) is digital art that is bought and sold via cryptocurrency. The most popular subject for NFTs is kittens! Yes, crypto kittens as art is big, selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Can you make an NFT to sell?
- To get a sense of how quickly the value of cryptocurrency can change, monitor it by the day or hour.
- Create a crypto logo in Canva and have them research what it would take to start their own cryptocurrency.
