In a testament to the growing adoption of bitcoin across generations, a study revealed that younger parents are starting to use the cryptocurrency to give funds to their children. Some of these are used by their kids to make purchases on iTunes or as credits in online gaming apps while others rely on bitcoin for allowances.
In particular, a third of the parents included in the poll opt to transfer a weekly amount into their children’s digital bank accounts. This research was conducted by financial technology firm, Intelligent Environments, and included 2,000 parents in the survey.
Bitcoin for Kids
The study also found that nearly four in 10 parents choose not to give their children any pocket money, instead preferring to transfer the funds into a savings account in their children’s name. Some parents even revealed that they’d rather use bitcoin or digital money to give incentives to their kids since these will be spent on online games rather than sweets.
According to David Webber, managing director at Intelligent Environments, the increase in usage of digital devices by youngsters has altered the way we handle money. “Nothing has changed more than the way in which we manage our money; our research shows that in a world of apps, e-books, digital music, and online games, more children than ever are asking for their weekly allowance digitally to fuel modern-day spending such as in-app purchases, in-game currency and digital music downloads,” he explained.
Parents included in the survey echo these same sentiments. “I give my son Noah pocket money by topping up his Xbox account, while my daughter Lola gets money put on her iTunes account to buy music,” narrated Mr. Monaghan. “They don’t really ask for toys, sweets and football sticker books the way I used to – what they really want is all online these days. Noah uses his credit to buy new games or spend it on in-game purchases in his favourite games, and Lola uses the top-up to buy the music she loves.”
