The blockchain technology and the cryptocurrencies are here to stay and more and more users decide to join this growing sector of financial innovations. Even the little ones are starting to familiarize themselves with the cryptocurrency world, which led to the appearance of initiatives whose goal is to explain to the kids what the blockchain technology is and the way the cryptocurrencies function.
Pigzbe, a cold storage wallet for cryptocurrencies, is one of those initiatives. By using Pigzbe, kids can play and learn about the cryptographic world and money along the way. The company believes the cryptocurrencies would be part of the everyday life of the future generations and that is why today’s kids should learn about them and the blockchain technology.
The kids can use the Piggy-wallet created by Pigzbe to learn about the cryptography in a fun and didactive way. The team developed a token called Wollo (WLO). This token is used in the game and can be stored in the wallet.
Pigzbe worked in cooperation with various companies such as Studio.Build, Pentagram and others to build this project aimed at children aged six and up. The project is powered by Stellar.org and it will be launched in the near future. Filippo Yacob, the co-founder of the project says the goal of the project is to reinvent the humble piggy-bank for a modern world: “Learning about money early is key to developing positive financial habits, but it will be impossible to do in an increasingly cashless society, and with current banking products. When I looked for digital piggy-bank apps for my own son, I couldn’t find anything that would allow me to make small payments – even 1p or 2p at a time – let alone cross-border. Most digital piggy bank apps would charge me 50p just to send 50p! And it seemed wrong to me that cross border transfers were not possible at all. Families today are globalised. It is common to have grandparents, uncles and aunts living in separate countries. They should all be able to partake in the “piggy-banking.”
To make the game more realistic, the application will be linked to a card called Wollo Card, whose goal is to imitate the appearance and functioning of the credit cards. According to Yacob, the company would not only like to create a product for family micro financing, but also a way to provide accessibility to the blockchain technology, the cryptocurrencies and integrate this innovative technology in the everyday life of homes.
Jon Marshall, the Chief Experience Officer of the project said: “What really excites me personally about Pigzbe is the combination of the Internet of Things (IoT), gaming, and teaching kids about something, in this case, digital money, saving, microfinance and the potential of cryptocurrencies, which is something everyone is going to have to learn about. Combining these into one single product, and being involved in an ICO that offers hardware + tokens as a world-first, is very exciting.
Many people don’t understand blockchain or cryptocurrency, and the reality is that we probably don’t need to understand it, we just need to understand the benefits. Pigzbe is one of the first products that is going to build on the benefits of blockchain in a way that feels trustworthy and friendly for families and hopefully that will lead to more people not just understanding more about it, but feeling comfortable using it.”
On the other hand, Yannick Naud, Economics Advisor in the Pigzbe team said the cryptocurrencies were a mainstream instrument these days: “Today cryptocurrency is a mainstream instrument. In terms of market capitalisation, the top 25 cryptocurrencies are worth more than $300 billion. Right now, we’ve only seen the first part, but the most interesting thing is how the industry will help make finance more innovative and more comprehensive for people. Going forward, we will start to see the applications of these cryptocurrencies in the real world, be it in healthcare, banking or international transfers.”
When it comes to other blockchain and cryptocurrency initiatives for kids, a digital magazine called Wired published a video on its YouTube account in which the investigator and co-founder at Animal Ventures, Bettina Warburg, explained the concept of the blockchain technology to five people who were all of different age and had different levels of preparation: a girl, an adolescent, a university student, a professional and an expert.
In the case of the girl, Warburg used simple words to explain the complexity of the blockchain technology to her. The girl was surprised by the difference between the traditional way of performing financial transactions and the new method provided by the blockchain technology.
On the other hand, Cartoon Network showed an animated series called Craig of the Creek in which one of the characters asks about Bitcoin in one of the first episodes. The most famous cryptocurrency in the world appeared in the second episode of the first season and was seen by 826 million people in the United States of America.
Meet the Bitcoins is an animated series scheduled to be launched in the second trimester of this year. The goal of the series is to educate the general public about the blockchain technology and the cryptocurrencies.
