From games to piggy banks: Educating the Bitcoin ‘minors’ of the future
![](data:image/svg+xml;utf-8,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="800" height="510" />)
The tools, toys and games available to teach kids about sound money and the Bitcoin network — after all, they’re the ones who will use it.
The crypto winter is here. It’s a trying time as prices grind down, but it’s the best moment to build and learn. For some Bitcoiners, the bear market is a time to plant trees or create memes. For those with kids, it’s a welcome recess used to broaden the minds’ of Bitcoin (BTC) minors.
Spoke to the creators of popular Bitcoin-related games and educational tools to understand why teaching kids about sound money is critical, and some of the best ways of doing so.
SHAmory, a portmanteau of SHA-256 (the cryptographic function that hashes inputs in Bitcoin) and memory, is among the best-selling Bitcoin games. Targeted at kids aged four and over, creator Scott Sibley shared that he had his “toddler in mind for both the creation of the game and book.”
Sibley and his wife also thought up Goodnight Bitcoin, part of a burgeoning bookshelf of Bitcoin-related books. A passionate educator, Sibley that breaking the money taboo and educating kids about finance is critical:
“Financial education, especially financial education that includes Bitcoin, is something that kids aren’t going to receive in most ‘traditional’ schools. So right now it’s on bitcoin parents to find ways to weave that education in at home.”
Sibley suggested that kids seeing, interacting with and recognizing something as simple as the “Bitcoin logo” or even “playing our game and then asking how Bitcoin mining works,” is key for long-term adoption. Plus, the Gen-Z — the Zoomer — generation has a headstart understanding intangible digital products: “Transacting in Bitcoin is going to be no different than buying a new skin or level in a video game they are currently playing.”
Will Reeves, co-founder of Fold App — a Bitcoin rewards debit card — co-founded the Bitcoin game Bitopoly. Reeves told Cointelegraph that “the first version of Bitopoly emerged from a conversation around a dinner table in which we were attempting to teach friends and family members about Bitcoin.” He said:
“Games provide a great way for people to understand a complex concept by ‘experiencing’ it rather than be ‘taught’ it. Humans have always used games to play this role throughout history, helping people come to understanding on their own terms.”
Much like Sibley, Reeves explained that the best thing for Bitcoin adoption is teaching children, especially as they have no “preconceived notions.”
“Kids do not approach Bitcoin with a lifetime of preconceived notions, thus they are able to understand it faster and with less pushback against their own bias,” he said.
2 comments