GoHenry has released its latest Youth Economy Report, highlighting the earning habits ofUK Children. They love crypto.

Paper rounds. Babysitting. Washing a neighbour’s car. Helping around the family home. Children earning cash is nothing new. But, like most industries, pocket money has gone digital. 

One of the key areas for entrepreneurial kids is making money by trading crypto.

More than million of the UK’s children have invested in cryptocurrency, according to a new report from teen neobank GoHenry.

"I started getting interested in crypto in springsaid Woody, aged 16, who says he first heard about crypto from  Tiktok and Instagram, and is mentioned in the report.

"I felt that it was accessible to me as a teenager, so I did lots of research to find out how it works, before investing £ into various coins such as BTC, ETH and XRP. Since then I’ve been accumulating and trading crypto, and making money with the ups and downs of the market. I’ve accumulated other coins, and my investment now sits at£1, I have taken some of the profits, but I’ve kept the majority and watched it go up,” he said.

The insights into young people's earning habits are gathered from more thanUK children and teenagers. They show that digital bitcoin investment uk young are soaring in popularity among children.

Kids earned £m inaccording to the report’s estimates, representing a 9 per cent increase in earnings per child sinceand more than double the average weekly wage growth for adults (4 per cent).

“It’s inspiring to see the ambition of young people when it comes to earning their own money, especially after a tough couple of years with the pandemic. The future of work is rapidly changing now that kids are growing up surrounded by people just like them, who are starting businesses from their bedrooms, and making money thanks to the explosion in digital opportunities,” said Louise Hill, COO and co-founder of GoHenry.

A quarter bitcoin investment uk young kids and teens (25%) are also now earning from selling things on online marketplaces such as Etsy, Ebay, Depop and Vinted with an average monthly 'wage' of £

Despite bitcoin investment uk young well-known volatility, cryptocurrency is on fire and many investors are looking to profit on its white-hot rise. Cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum ebb for a while and then climb higher, and many other popular digital currencies are doing so, too. Experienced traders have been speculating on crypto for years, but what if you&#x;re new to the market and looking to get a piece of the action?

Here&#x;s how to start investing in cryptocurrency and what you need to watch out for.

5 steps for investing in cryptocurrency

First things first, if you&#x;re looking to invest in crypto, you need to have all your finances in order. That means having an emergency fund in place, a manageable level of debt and ideally a diversified portfolio of investments. Your crypto investments can become one more part of your portfolio, one that helps raise your total returns, hopefully.

Pay attention to these five other things as you&#x;re starting to invest in cryptocurrencies.

1. Understand what you&#x;re investing in

As you would for any investment, understand exactly what you&#x;re investing in. If you&#x;re buying stocks, it&#x;s important to read the prospectus and analyze the companies thoroughly. Plan to do the same with any cryptocurrencies, since there are literally thousands of them, they all function differently and new ones are being created every day. You need to understand the investment case for each trade.

In the case of many cryptocurrencies, they&#x;re backed by nothing at all, neither hard assets nor cash flow, bitcoin investment uk young. That&#x;s the case for Bitcoin, for example, where investors rely exclusively on someone paying more for the asset than they paid for it. In other words, unlike stock, bitcoin investment uk young, where a company can grow its profits and drive returns for you that way, bitcoin investment uk young, many crypto assets must rely on the market becoming more optimistic and bullish for you to profit.

Some of the most popular coins include Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano and XRP. Solana has been another massively successful coin as well. So before investing, understand the potential upside and downside. If your financial investment is not backed by an asset or cash flow, it could end up being worth nothing.

2. Remember, the past is past

A mistake that many new investors make is looking at the past and extrapolating that to the future. Yes, Bitcoin used to be worth pennies, but now is worth much more. The key question, however, is Will that growth continue into the future, even if it&#x;s not at quite that meteoric rate?

Investors look to the future, not to what an asset has done in the past, bitcoin investment uk young. What will drive future returns? Traders buying a cryptocurrency today need tomorrow&#x;s gains, not yesterday&#x;s.

3. Watch that volatility

The prices of cryptocurrencies are about as volatile as an asset can get. They could drop quickly in seconds on nothing more than a rumor that ends up proving baseless. That can be great for sophisticated investors who can execute trades rapidly or who have a solid grasp on the market&#x;s fundamentals, how the market is trending and where it could go. For new investors without these skills &#x; or the high-powered algorithms that direct these trades &#x; it&#x;s a minefield.

Volatility is a game for high-powered Wall Street traders, each of whom is trying to outgun other deep-pocketed investors. A new investor can easily bitcoin investment uk young crushed by the volatility.

That&#x;s because volatility shakes out traders, especially beginners, bitcoin investment uk young get scared. Meanwhile, other traders may step in and buy on the cheap. In short, volatility can help sophisticated traders buy low and sell high while inexperienced investors bitcoin investment uk young high and sell low.

4. Manage your risk

If you&#x;re trading any asset on a short-term basis, you need to manage your risk, and that can be especially true with volatile assets such as cryptocurrency. So as a newer trader, you&#x;ll need to understand how best to manage risk and develop a process that helps you mitigate losses. And that process can bitcoin investment uk young from individual to individual:

• Risk management for a long-term investor might simply be never selling, regardless of the price. The long-term mentality allows the investor to stick with the position.
• Risk management for a short-term trader, however, might be setting strict rules on when to sell, such as when an investment has fallen 10 percent. The trader then rotely follows the rule so that a relatively small decline doesn&#x;t become a crushing loss later.

Newer traders should consider setting aside a certain amount of trading money and then using only a portion of it, at least at first. If a position moves against them, bitcoin investment uk young, they&#x;ll still have money in reserve to trade with later. The ultimate point is that you can&#x;t trade if you don&#x;t have any money. So keeping some money in reserve means you&#x;ll always have a bankroll to fund your trading.

It&#x;s important to manage risk, but that will come at an emotional cost. Selling a losing position hurts, but doing so can help you avoid worse binary options trading income secrets 2022 later.

5. Don&#x;t invest more than you can afford to lose

Finally, it&#x;s important to avoid putting money that you need into speculative assets. If you can&#x;t afford to lose it &#x; all of it &#x; you can&#x;t afford to put it into risky assets such as cryptocurrency, or other market-based assets such as stocks or ETFs, for that matter.

Whether it&#x;s a down payment for a house or an important upcoming purchase, money that you need in the next few years should be kept in safe accounts so that it&#x;s there when you need it. And if you&#x;re looking for an absolutely sure return, your best option is to pay off debt. You&#x;re guaranteed to earn (or save) whatever interest rate you&#x;re paying on the debt. You can&#x;t lose there.

Finally, don&#x;t overlook the security of any exchange or broker you&#x;re using. You may own the assets legally, but someone still has to secure them, and their security needs to be tight. If they don&#x;t think their cryptocurrency is properly why bitcoin is not gold, some traders choose to invest in a crypto wallet to hold their coins offline so they&#x;re inaccessible to hackers or others.

Other ways to invest in cryptocurrency

While investing directly in cryptocurrency may be the most popular way to do so, traders have other ways to get into the crypto game, some more directly than others. These include:

• Crypto futures: Futures are another way to wager on the price swings in Bitcoin, and futures allow you to use the power of leverage to generate massive returns (or losses), bitcoin investment uk young. Futures are a fast-moving market and exacerbate the already volatile moves in crypto.
• Crypto funds: A few crypto funds (such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust) also exist that allow you to wager on the price swings in Bitcoin, Ethereum as well as a bitcoin investment uk young other altcoins. So accounting for investment in marketable debt and equity securities can be an easy way bitcoin investment uk young buy crypto through a fund-like product.
• Crypto exchange or broker stocks: Buying stock in a company that&#x;s poised to profit on the rise of cryptocurrency regardless of the winner could be an interesting option, too. And that&#x;s the potential in an exchange such as Coinbase or a broker such as Robinhood, which derives a huge chunk of its revenues from crypto trading.
• Blockchain ETFs: A blockchain ETF allows you to invest in the companies that may profit from the emergence of blockchain technology. The top blockchain ETFs give you exposure to some of the key publicly traded companies in the space. But it&#x;s important to note that these companies often do much more than crypto-related business, meaning your exposure to cryptocurrency is diluted, reducing your potential upside and downside.

Each of these methods varies in its riskiness and exposure to cryptocurrency, bitcoin investment uk young, so you&#x;ll want to understand exactly what you&#x;re buying and whether it fits your needs.

Cryptocurrency investing FAQs

How much money do I need to start investing in cryptocurrency?

In theory it takes only a few dollars to invest in cryptocurrency. Most crypto exchanges, for example, have a minimum trade that might be $5 or $ Other crypto trading apps might have a minimum that&#x;s even lower.

However, it&#x;s important to understand that some trading platforms bitcoin investment uk young take a huge chunk of your investment as a fee if you&#x;re trading small amounts of cryptocurrency, bitcoin investment uk young. So it&#x;s important to look for a broker or exchange that minimizes your fees. In fact, many so-called free brokers embed fees &#x; called spread mark-ups &#x; in the price you pay for your cryptocurrency.

How bitcoin investment uk young a blockchain work?

Cryptocurrency is based on blockchain technology. Blockchain is a kind of database that records and timestamps every entry into it, bitcoin investment uk young. The best way to think of a blockchain is like a running receipt of transactions. When a blockchain database powers cryptocurrency, it records and verifies transactions in the currency, verifying the currency&#x;s movements and who owns it.

Many crypto blockchain databases are run with decentralized computer networks. That is, many money lei making computers operate the database, checking and rechecking the transactions to ensure that they&#x;re accurate. If there&#x;s a discrepancy, the networked computers have to resolve it.

How bitcoin investment uk young you mine cryptocurrency?

Some cryptocurrencies reward those who verify the transactions on the blockchain database in a process called mining. For example, these miners involved with Bitcoin solve very complex mathematical problems as part of the verification process. If they&#x;re successful, miners receive a predetermined award of bitcoins.

To mine bitcoins, miners need powerful processing units that consume huge amounts of energy. Many miners operate huge rooms full of such mining rigs in order to extract these rewards. As of earlybitcoin investment uk young, running the Bitcoin system burned as much energy as a medium-sized country.

How can I invest in Bitcoin?

If you&#x;re looking to invest in Bitcoin, you have a variety of ways to do so, and you can work with a number of companies, including:

• Crypto exchanges: Exchanges have some of the widest selection of cryptocurrencies, and they tend to be the most competitive on price. Top players include Coinbase, Kraken and Binance, but there are literally dozens of others.
• Traditional brokers: Many traditional brokers also bitcoin investment uk young you to trade Bitcoin in addition to stocks and other financial assets, though they have a relatively limited selection of other cryptocurrencies. Top players here include Interactive Brokers, TradeStation and tastyworks.
• Financial apps: Many financial apps now allow you to trade Bitcoin and a few other cryptos. Top players here include Robinhood and Webull as well as payment apps such as PayPal, Venmo and Cash App.

If you&#x;re looking to buy Bitcoin, bitcoin investment uk young, pay particular attention to the fees that you&#x;re paying. Here are other key things to watch out for as you&#x;re buying Bitcoin.

What are altcoins?

An altcoin is an alternative to Bitcoin. Many years ago, traders would use the term pejoratively. Since Bitcoin was the largest and most popular cryptocurrency, everything else was defined in relation to it. So, whatever was not Bitcoin was lumped into a derisive category called altcoins.

While Bitcoin is still the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, it&#x;s no longer as dominant as it was in the very early days of cryptocurrency. Other altcoins such as Ethereum and Solana have grown in popularity, making the term altcoin somewhat outmoded. Now with a reported 15, or more cryptocurrencies in existence, it makes less sense than ever to define the industry as Bitcoin and then everything else.

Bottom line

Cryptocurrency is a highly speculative area of the market, and many smart investors have decided to put their money elsewhere. For beginners who want to get started trading crypto, however, the best advice is to start small and only use money that you can afford to lose.

Learn more:

From Bitcoin and Ethereum to Dogecoin and Tether, bitcoin investment uk young are thousands of different cryptocurrencies, which can make it overwhelming when you’re first getting started in the world of crypto. To help you get your bearings, bitcoin investment uk young, these are the top 10 cryptocurrencies based on their market capitalisation, or the total value of all of the coins currently top cryptocurrency investment funds circulation.

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1. Bitcoin (BTC)

• Market cap: Over £ billion

Created in by someone using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin (BTC) is the original cryptocurrency. As with most cryptocurrencies, bitcoin investment uk young, BTC runs on a blockchain, or a ledger logging transactions distributed across a network of thousands of computers. Because additions to the distributed ledgers must be verified by solving a cryptographic puzzle, a process called proof of work, Bitcoin is kept secure and safe from fraudsters.

Bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed as it’s become a household name. In Maybitcoin investment uk young, you could buy a Bitcoin for about £ As of Feb. 1,a single Bitcoin’s price was over £28, That’s growth of about 7,%.

2, bitcoin investment uk young. Ethereum (ETH)

• Market cap: Over £ billion

Both a cryptocurrency and a blockchain platform, bitcoin investment uk young, Ethereum is a favourite of programme developers because of its potential applications, like so-called smart contracts that automatically execute when conditions are met and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Ethereum has also experienced tremendous growth. From April to Februaryits price went from about £8 to over £1, increasing nearly 25,%.

3. Tether (USDT)

• Market cap: Over £57 billion

Unlike some other forms of cryptocurrency, Tether is a stablecoin, meaning it&#;s backed by fiat currencies like UK pounds, US dollars and the Euro and hypothetically keeps a value equal to one of those denominations. In theory, this means Tether’s value is supposed to be more consistent than other cryptocurrencies, and it’s favoured by investors who are wary of the extreme volatility of other coins.

4. Binance Coin (BNB)

• Market cap: Over £46 billion

The Binance Coin is a form of cryptocurrency that you can use to trade and pay fees on Binance, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.

Since its launch inBinance Coin has expanded past merely facilitating trades on Binance’s exchange platform, bitcoin investment uk young. Now, it can be used for trading, payment processing or even booking travel arrangements. It can also be traded or exchanged for other forms of cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum or Bitcoin.

In it was priced under 10p, but by 1 February this year, it had risen to around £, a gain of approximately ,%.

5. U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC)

• Market cap: Over £32 billion

Like Tether, USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin, meaning it’s backed by US dollars and aims for a 1 USD to 1 USDC ratio. USDC is powered by Ethereum, and you can use USD Coin to complete global transactions.

6. Cardano (ADA)

• Market cap: Over £26 billion

Somewhat later to the crypto scene, Cardano is notable for its early embrace of proof-of-stake validation. This method expedites transaction time and decreases energy usage and environmental impact by removing the competitive, problem-solving aspect of transaction verification present in platforms like Bitcoin. Cardano also works like Ethereum to enable smart contracts and decentralised applications, which are powered by ADA, its native coin.

Cardano’s ADA token has had relatively modest growth compared to other major crypto coins. InADA’s price was about p. As of 1 Februaryits price was about 77p, an increase of 5,%.

7. Solana (SOL)

• Market cap: Over £25 billion

Developed to help power decentralised finance (DeFi) uses, decentralised apps (DApps) and smart contracts, Solana runs on a unique hybrid proof-of-stake and proof-of-history mechanisms that help it process transactions quickly and securely. SOL, Solana&#;s native token, powers the platform.

When it launched inSOL&#;s price started at £ By the beginning of Februaryits price was around £74, a gain of almost 13,%.

8. XRP (XRP)

• Market cap: Over £21 billion

Created by some of the same founders as Ripple, a digital technology and payment processing company, XRP can be used on that network to facilitate exchanges of different currency types, including fiat currencies and other major cryptocurrencies.

At the beginning ofthe price of XRP was £ As of 1 Februaryits price reached 46p, equal to a rise of more than 10,%.

9. Terra (LUNA)

• Market cap: Over £15 billion

Terra is a blockchain payment platform for stablecoins that relies on keeping a balance between two types of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin investment uk young. Terra-backed stablecoins, such as TerraUSD, are tied to the value of physical currencies. Their counterweight, Luna, powers the the Terra platform and is used to mint more Terra stablecoins.

Terra stablecoins and Luna work in concert according to supply and demand: When a stablecoin&#;s price rises above its tied currency&#;s value, users are incentivised to burn their Luna to create more of that Terra stablecoin. Likewise, when its value falls compared to its base currency, this encourages users to burn their Terra stablecoins to mint more Luna, bitcoin investment uk young. As adoption of the Terra platforms grows, so too does the value of Luna.

From 3 Januarywhen its price was £, Luna has risen almost 8,% to £ just over a year later.

Polkadot (DOT)

• Market cap: Over £14 billion

Cryptocurrencies may use any number of blockchains. Polkadot (and its namesake crypto) aims to integrate them by creating a cryptocurrency network that connects the various blockchains so they can work together. This integration may change how cryptocurrencies are managed and has spurred impressive growth since Polkadot’s launch in

Between September and 1 Februaryits price grew about %, from £ to £

*Market caps and pricing current as of 1 February

Crypto FAQs

When I was a teenager, it was football stickers and Beanie Babies. Today bitcoin investment uk young collecting habits of young people are less benign, bitcoin investment uk young.

During the pandemic, young people have flocked to invest in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – essentially digital currencies and certificates of ownership. Some have made money, others have lost their shirts – and, as i reported yesterday, regulators are belatedly considering a bitcoin investment uk young shouldn’t we be trying to understand why crypto assets are so popular among young people in the first place?

History is filled with get-rich-quick schemes which turned out too good to be true, bitcoin investment uk young. Charles Ponzi made them famous in the s with a postal coupon scheme that paid returns to existing investors with the money of new investors, and Bernie Madoff updated the genre at the turn of the century. Hype-driven investment schemes have existed for centuries.

The latest trend is not quite a Ponzi scheme, but it is close, bitcoin investment uk young. Cryptocurrencies are often entirely speculative and always extremely volatile.

The NFT market is so concentrated that around 9 per cent of digital art collectors – nicknamed “whales” – own 80 per cent of market value. But what makes today’s investment craze unique is that it is explicitly targeted at those least able to shoulder losses – the young – via unregulated adverts and social media influencer campaigns.

In the UK, regulators are increasingly worried about the risks these investments pose to the young people who typically buy them. Such is bitcoin investment uk young volatility of these assets that MPs are calling for cryptocurrency trading to be included in the Government’s gambling review.

But regulation is a blunt and reactive tool that can only ever play catch-up with fast-moving markets. Policymakers need to address why young people are making money blogging on wordpress their meagre pay packets on digital assets in the first place.

Part of the reason is surely that young people are desperate to own something, bitcoin investment uk young, especially an asset that might appreciate in value. For all the talk from politicians since Tony Blair about the importance of people having a “stake in society”, ownership has become an increasingly alien sensation for people under 40 in recent years.

The “Generation Rent” phenomenon is obviously most acute in bitcoin investment uk young housing market. Official statistics show people aged today are three times more likely to rent their home than they were inand the share of people aged with a mortgage fell from two-thirds in to a half in

But the label holds for most other asset classes too. Research for the Government shows that younger generations are considerably less likely to own a car than previous generations, driven in part by the delays to life events like settling down with family and getting a job.

They are highly unlikely to own stocks and shares, bitcoin investment uk young, with 94 per cent of to year-olds and 85 per cent of to year-olds having no investments at all, according to the Financial Conduct Authority.

And the digital revolution means that the collections of music, books, films and – in my sisters’ case – Beanie Babies that were treasured by previous generations are now just streams of code in the ether.

In essence, growing up today is to grow up a drifter on the wrong side of a rentier economy. And while renting undoubtedly has many consumer benefits, particularly flexibility and choice, it also has costs. Rent-seekers, by their nature, bitcoin investment uk young, charge an economic rent on the rentee.

This can be considerable: excluding housing ways to make money from home legitimate, for example, private tenants pay 37 per cent of their income in housing costs, bitcoin investment uk young, more than twice as much as those with a mortgage, bitcoin investment uk young. Spotify, Amazon and Apple are all charging you rent every time you press download on a product you cannot touch, share or trade with someone else.

It is good news that regulators are waking up to the risks of digital speculation. But they should go beyond a simple whack-a-mole approach.

The long-term response to the current digital frenzy would be to design ways to help young people own things of tangible value, like stocks and shares or bricks and mortar, bitcoin investment uk young, and ensure consumers have proper ownership rights over new digital asset classes.

Ministers need to wake up too. The youth vote is the biggest long-term political headache the Conservatives face.

Labour enjoyed a point lead among to year-olds in – and in Scotland, research in March by Onward found 82 per cent of the same age group say they will support independence.

Younger voters will always struggle to see the benefits of conservatism if they have nothing of their own to conserve.

After all they’ve suffered in the past two years, young people deserve the chance to own something real to call their own.

While the global human population debate about crypto as a future investment or just a fad, young people rush to purchase and own this virtual currency. Today, bitcoin investment uk young, bitcoin investment uk young like the bitcoin prime have many young people with accounts and actively trading this virtual currency. And this shows that more young people are trading Bitcoin to earn money. But why is Bitcoin appealing to young people? Why do they have faith in this virtual currency? Here are possible explanations for this trend.

Young People are Tech-Savvy

Most young people might not have enjoyed living in an economically stable environment. However, Millennials grew up with computers, bitcoin investment uk young, the internet, and now smartphones. While this doesn’t mean that the older generation doesn’t know bitcoin investment uk young about computers and the internet, young people are technologically literate. But the young and the old have different outlooks for the digital world.

Older people don’t trust technologies like digital currencies. That’s because they grew up in a different world. While Millenials are quick to embrace Bitcoin and its technology, older people are skeptical about it. Since young people live in and believe in a digital world, they have more faith in Bitcoin because it’s electronic and ideal for the current world.

Bitcoin Is Social

Most young people use social media because they believe in interacting online via these platforms. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology. Essentially, people transfer funds in the Bitcoin network without involving intermediaries like banks. Therefore, many young people see Bitcoin as a social innovation. They believe that this cryptocurrency represents a new model that will revolutionize how humans do business and share value online.

Bitcoin uses computer networks to establish and maintain valuable, shared data. Blockchain technology records transaction data in a public ledger that all users can access. What’s more, people can’t interfere with the data, thereby preventing counterfeiting. With such a system, people can transfer funds or value without a trusted authority like a bank. Essentially, most young people consider Bitcoin a social innovation that will transform businesses or how people share value.

Young People Are Risk Takers

As hinted, Bitcoin is undoubtedly a highly volatile digital asset. That means market value swings can lead to significant losses when trading this cryptocurrency. But this trait doesn’t deter young people from trading or investing in this virtual currency. That’s because young people’s behavioral psychology makes them risk-takers.

In every generation, the desire to take risks reduces bitcoin investment uk young people age. Therefore, age is a primary reason why many crypto traders and investors are relatively young people. What’s more, some young people think Bitcoin trading and investing could be a way to make a decent income down the road. Therefore, they don’t want to miss out when their friends invest in this virtual currency.

Young People Understand Economic Instability

The first Millenials were born in the s. Since then, the world has experienced several financial crises. For instance, these people experienced the stock market crash inthe financial crisis inand the financial contagion in Eastern Asia. The housing bubble burst also occurred during the era of the Millenials. That means these people grew up surrounded by economic recessions and crises. Consequently, they understand economic instability and are ready to do anything that will ensure their financial stability.

What’s more, their understanding of economic instability has reduced faith in centralized institutions like the government and banking systems. Therefore, these people are bitcoin investment uk young to try something different like Bitcoin.

Final Thoughts

Young people are more tech-savvy compared to their parents, bitcoin investment uk young. What’s more, they are more risk-takers and interested in something different. That’s why they have more faith and interest in Bitcoin than people in the older generation.

‘Cryptocurrency’ has become an increasingly familiar term since the first emergence of Bitcoinin  

Since then, numerous cryptocurrencies have been developed and the combined Bitcoin and crypto market value has continued to rocket – now valued globally at around £2 trillion. 

With PayPal announcing that they will be high interest earning investments cryptocurrency payments, ‘crypto’ is becoming increasingly accessible to the public.

For children who’ve grown up in a digital world, the idea of a non-physical currency is probably something they’ve already got to grips with through playing online games. Many young people are turning to cryptocurrency as a way of making money and a bitcoin investment uk young summer camp for children aged even offers an introduction to crypto-trading. 

So what actually is a cryptocurrency? What are the opportunities and risks? And what should parents be aware of if their child is interested in crypto mining or investment?

What are cryptocurrencies?

A cryptocurrency – or a ‘crypto’ – is a piece of data used as a medium of exchange. Each cryptocurrency – for example Bitcoin or Ethereum – is real currency, much like British pounds or US dollars. 

It’s important to not confuse cryptocurrencies with in-game virtual currencies – such a Robux in theRobloxgame, bitcoin investment uk young. A virtual currency only bitcoin investment uk young you to purchase items within the game; you can buy a real house with cryptocurrency if the seller is willing. 

Most cryptocurrencies have a finite amount of tokens (a token is a unit of cryptocurrency). This is what drives up the value of a cryptocurrency, as the more people invest in them the fewer there are. 

Cryptocurrencies operate via ‘decentralised control’. This means that they aren’t regulated by a bank or government, as traditional currencies are. 

The decentralised control in the context of cryptocurrency is called the ‘blockchain’, a series of ‘blocks’ of data that act as a record of all the transactions that have been made. All of these ‘blocks’ are interconnected, which is what gives it security. If you were to try and hack into one block, it would affect all the others. You can read more about blockchain technologyhere.

There are currently many different cryptocurrencies and they have relatively minor differences. For example, Ethereum processes transactions much faster than Bitcoin, whilst Cardano is more environmentally sustainable. 

There have also been many ‘joke’ cryptocurrencies – most famously Dogecoin – bitcoin investment uk young is still struggling to reach a value of $1 on account of having an effectively limitless supply. 

Why is ‘crypto’ so popular?

Some people believe cryptocurrencies could replace regular currencies within 5 years time.

Those involved in crypto argue that they will ‘democratise’ currency by getting around the reliance on banks. On the surface, anyone with access to a computer (and a fair amount of hardware) can ‘mine’ for cryptocurrency, and with the current value of a single Bitcoin set investment strategies short term £34, anyone can become very wealthy.

Cryptocurrency transactions are usually processed in a matter of minutes, unlike bank transfers that might take days. The invest in gold or stock market involved and details of the transaction remain relatively anonymous.

What is ‘mining’ for cryptocurrency?  

One of the main ways of getting tokens of cryptocurrency is called ‘mining’. 

This involves having your computer perform an intensive series of mathematical problems needed to verify a ‘block’ in the blockchain, much like a card machine processes a transaction you might make with your regular debit card. 

As your computer solves these problems, there is a chance that you will earn a token of a given cryptocurrency, although this likelihood is decreasing as bitcoin investment uk young people take up crypto mining. 

If that all sounds pretty complicated, that’s because it is. To mine a cryptocurrency, you need some pretty specialised hardware called an ‘asic’, or ‘application-specific integrated circuit’. 

The more money you spend on this hardware, the more efficient your mining process money making metal projects be and the more tokens of cryptocurrency you’re likely to make. 

If you don’t want to mine, the most popular place to buy and sell cryptocurrencies is the siteCoinbase. PayPal recently announced that UK users will now be able to trade in cryptocurrencies – although you’ll only be able to use them within the confines of the platform.  

How old do you have to be to trade or mine for cryptocurrency?

There are technically no age-restrictions for trading or mining in cryptocurrencies – although established sites such as Coinbase and Paypal require users to be at least

However, anyone of any age can mine for cryptocurrency. 

There are also ways of purchasing tokens that don’t require you to be over For example, the site www.oldyorkcellars.com has an age restriction of 13+. Purse allows you to transfer the cost of an Amazon gift-card into tokens of cryptocurrency. 

The risk of cryptocurrency scams

As with any form of currency – there are financial risks with crypto.

The values of even the most successful of cryptocurrencies – like Bitcoin – are volatile and crashes are bitcoin investment uk young uncommon. 

There have been stories of crypto trading addiction – but the greatest risk involved for young people lies within the increasing number of crypto scams on the market.

The most regular scam is when someone creates bitcoin investment uk young seemingly valid new cryptocurrency and encourages people to invest in it. Once they’ve taken the money, the company will shut down and those initiating the scam will leave with the money. These are, essentially, a pyramid scheme. One example of this is the company Theodex, which reportedly scammed investors out of $2 billion. 

Similar scams involve bitcoin investment uk young impersonating a celebrity or company online and encouraging people to invest in what seems to be the next big cryptocurrency, claiming that the value is due to rapidly increase. The more the value rises, bitcoin investment uk young, the more people invest. However, those initiating the scam will withdraw their tokens at the peak, causing the currency’s value to drop dramatically and those who invested to lose out. 

Because cryptocurrencies are unregulated, there is little protection for victims of scams. The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority)is in the process of regulating how cryptocurrencies are advertised.

If your child wants to start investing in cryptocurrency, there is alsoplenty of financial advice available on various social channels, but remind them to be wary of advice that doesn’t have firm backing. Just because someone has an extensive following, doesn’t mean that their advice is reliable. 

Environmental cost

You might not think of cryptocurrency as being a particularly damaging industry for the environment. However, bitcoin investment uk young, to keep the blockchain bitcoin investment uk young requires a huge bitcoin investment uk young of energy. 

As tokens of cryptocurrency become more scarce and therefore more valuable, the more people are using high-powered hardware to mine and the more Co2 is produced. 

Some cryptocurrencies use a different kind of blockchain that doesn’t have the same environmental cost as it doesn’t rely on the same perpetually increasing amount of energy from miners.

What should you do?

If your child is interested, discuss what appeals to them about cryptocurrency and make sure that they fully understand the risks involved. 

Whilst cryptocurrencies might not be replacing regular currencies right away, they are definitely becoming increasingly popular and easy to trade in. The willingness of certain companies to move towards environmentally sustainable blockchains is also very promising. 

Many young people are already showing an interest so it’s important to make sure they understand that cryptocurrency can be a risky business: for every fortune fairytale, there are also stories about financial ruin. 

It’s important to discuss the process of bitcoin investment uk young in cryptocurrency with your child and to make sure that they’re able to identify when something might be a scam. If they feel like they may have made a mistake, encourage them to come to you. 

Highlight that not all financial advice is reliable and that they should explore carefully where this advice is coming from. You might want to research together to find more trustworthy sources. 

If they do get involved, it might be a good idea to stick with the more established cryptocurrencies as these are less likely to disappear overnight.

It’s also worth discussing the environmental costs with your child if they’re thinking of investing and encourage them to look into currencies like Cardano.

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