According to a recent survey performed by investment bank Piper Sandler, 9% of teenagers in the US have had some sort of cryptocurrency engagement. Experts view this as a dangerous trend because these young people are operating with “high-risk assets.”
Throughout the study Taking Stock with Teens, performed by Piper Sandler, were interviewed 7000 youngsters, and around 630 of them stated that they traded cryptocurrency. Nonetheless, the survey did not gather any additional info about which cryptocurrencies were most popular amongst young people, or whether they are keeping the cryptocurrency or actively trading it.
Rewards and Restrictions
The results raised the question of whether teenagers should have contact with cryptocurrencies and what are the duties of cryptocurrency exchanges in that respect. Curtis Ting, who is the Kraken Europe Managing Director, said in an interview that the crypto exchange “takes its responsibility as an agent in creating a secure cryptocurrency market genuinely.” He noted that all users of the exchange must be at least 18 years old, whatever their location may be.
Most crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, Binance, and Gemini, have age constraints in place for opening a new account. However, teenagers can, in principle, gain entry into crypto assets.
“It is likely that these teens have received cryptocurrency as a form of a gift from their relatives,” noted Ingo Fiedler, who is a co-creator of Blockchain Research Lab.
In his words, crypto assets could be accessible to young people via a free giveaway, in the shape of payment for work, referral bonuses system, a reward package for developers, or through other means of producing income in cryptocurrency.
The Way Forward
Nishant Sharma, the founder of BlocksBridge, is concerned that currently, teens can effortlessly access crypto assets. Jason Dean, an expert at Quantum Economics, reiterated his opinion and stated that children should not be permitted to high-risk asset trading. He supports the development of safety guidelines that involve the establishment of parent-operated cryptocurrency accounts for minors, as well as rigorous constraints on trading and attaining parental consent for each action.
According to Sharma, it is truly important to educate children about financial savviness, as well as for cryptocurrencies, from a premature age.
“I think this knowledge should be a part of the news literacy courses that are being created by schools and governments around the globe to educate people how to identify fake news on the net,” he noted.
A recent study by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, also revealed that “the excitement of investing” and “status built on a feel of ownership” are driving young individuals to invest in crypto and trade on the financial market.
The survey comes after a number of other studies established that the pool of Bitcoin traders is continuously expanding.
