Mining for bitcoins at a summer camp
A camp in Los Angeles is providing children as young as 5 with an intensive education in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies during this season of frenetic trading.
Summer campers in Los Angeles had a petting zoo, juice boxes for lunchtime, and a game where they threw hundreds of balls on a parachute this week.
Also, they were also introduced to the concept of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
It’s an indication of how popular digital currencies are that the Crypto Kids Camp got underway on Monday in a port warehouse. Over the course of five days, the camp mixes traditional summer camp activities with a thorough introduction to the world of cryptocurrencies, including how to purchase, sell, and even mine them.
No one is too young to engage in the bitcoin economy, as shown by this week’s participation of 26 children ranging in age from 5 to 17. The organizers made a deliberate effort to include a diverse group of people.
Camp creator Najah Roberts, a Black woman, says that “most of us grew up in school and nobody really taught us how money worked.” She founded the camp in an effort to help reduce the racial wealth gap. Consequently, “we completely missed the meaning and how these things came to be” of saving and investing.
Youth groups, school clubs, social media, and other venues are all helping to spread knowledge about cryptocurrencies across a new generation of digital natives, including teens and children. Students in Georgia’s high schools are now required to take personal finance courses, which include cryptocurrencies, as part of their graduation requirements.
While computer programming “code camps” have been around for a long time, bitcoin camps are still relatively new.
In 2019, Roberts, a 50-year-old bitcoin trader, and businesswoman launched her charity camp. Customers may purchase bitcoin and Ethereum from her in person at her shop in Inglewood, making her the only digital currency exchange with such a physical retail presence.
The camp, which was shuttered during the epidemic, reopened this week. As a mother, Roberts says she wants her children to understand money history and currency trading at an early age, particularly those from underrepresented populations like Black, Latino, or other minorities.
Additionally, she said, “We need this in inner cities so kids may experiment with new technologies during break times”. We aimed to reduce the difference in wealth between black and brown communities.
For a week, campers learn about cutting-edge technology.
Blockchain, Evolution of Money, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Virtual Reality, Mining and Machine Learning, Online Gaming, Drones, and Engineering are all part of the BEASTMODE umbrella term.
She also said that this week’s campers came all the way from Texas and New Jersey.
“We want to have it set up to the point where it’s in each city.”
Maunda Land, who has started an online camp for children interested in bitcoin, stated that some parents encouraged their children to enroll in the program. She said that four of her first camp’s five students had parents who owned digital money.
Because the youngsters are underage, they may require support from their parents to finance their digital wallets, she added.
She instructed them to stock up on cash. “A few of them have crypto that their parents bought for them,” she added.
Campers from Los Angeles demonstrated their expertise. Dogecoin and the Shiba Inu token were two of the children’s first choices when Roberts asked them to name coins.
They want to persuade public schools not just in Los Angeles but also in other parts of the country to implement initiatives that are similar to those they propose.
They explained their goal by saying, “We want to have it set up to the point where it’s in each city.”