Learning Financial Literacy Through Crypto

Financial literacy is a set of skills and information that allows a person to navigate their way through the complex set of financial choices everyone faces throughout life. Included in financial literacy is understanding concepts such as budgeting, debt, interest, and taxes, as well as skills such as knowing how to save, make investments, and spend wisely.

Teaching children financial literacy at a young age can help set them up for future success. Yet, levels of financial literacy are often low, and public education systems often don’t do enough to teach young people how to properly manage their money.[1]

Financial literacy is particularly important during a time when global debt sits at elevated levels. According to the International Institute for Finance (IIF),[2] the amount of debt held globally by households, governments, and private companies rose to $247 trillion USD in the first quarter of 2018.[3] That’s an increase of more than 11 percent from a year prior.

This chart visualizes the government debt per capita for dozens of countries:

These debts will one day have to be dealt with by future generations. Emerging new technologies such as cryptocurrencies are also changing the financial landscape at an accelerating pace. That’s why it’s so important that children learn strong financial literacy skills from a young age.

Pigzbe, the Crypto Piggy Bank

Traditional piggy banks have long been a way to teach children the value of saving and money. However, piggy banks have limitations in the lessons they can impart due to their reliance on physical money. Even digital piggy banks offered by traditional financial institutions have restrictions on which jurisdictions they can be used in and often have high transaction fees.

But the piggy bank concept is still a useful one, especially when combined with the capabilities of cryptocurrencies and the burgeoning token economy. This is where Pigzbe, the next generation digital piggy bank, comes in.

As a cryptocurrency wallet, Pigzbe offers families an engaging and practical way to teach children about how modern money works though a gamified interactive application. Pigzbe is made up of a cryptocurrency hardware wallet and interactive app which together allow children aged six and up to learn financial fundamentals in an age-appropriate manner.

Further, Pigzbe allows families to become their own microfinancing networks through the use of Pigzbe’s native cryptocurrency token, Wollo. By using the Stellar network’s flexible and reliable blockchain, family members will be able to send each other digital currency quickly and easily. They will be able to avoid having to deal with paper money and won’t have to pay foreign transaction fees, no matter where they live.

Experienced Team and Cutting-Edge Technology Behind Pigzbe

The founders of Pigzbe, which is based in Switzerland, have years of experience in the family-tech and ed-tech space. Founder and CEO Filippo Yacob is also the founder of toy company Primo and creator of Cubetto,[4] a wooden playset sold around the world that teaches children how to code. Another founder is Jon Marshall, who was part of the team that designed the Kano Computer[5] and is a partner at the storied design firm Pentagram.[6] Altogether, the team has shipped millions of products to more than 180 countries.

Pigzbe’s hardware device will incorporate a cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to store Wollo, which uses the Stellar blockchain. Transactions on Stellar are settled within three to five seconds, regardless of where the users are in the world, and fees are a fraction of those found on other blockchains.

Pigzbe also plans in the future to partner with a third-party to release the Wollo Card, a debit card that will be able to instantly convert Wollo to fiat currencies. This will allow children to safely spend the Wollo they have saved under parental guidance.

Pigzbe Token Sale Goes Until October 31st

Pigzbe is currently holding a token sale to fund the project. It has already raised millions of dollars since the sale began on September 5th and will continue until October 31st. 675,000 Wollo tokens have been created on the Stellar blockchain, of which 175,000 are allocated towards the sale.

On the last day of the token sale, October 31st, the Pigzbe app will go live. The following day, November 1st, the token distribution will begin. The Pigzbe hardware device, which connects to authorized WiFi networks to send and receive transactions, will be available to participants in the second quarter of 2019.

Pigzbe secured a token listing for Wollo on the Bitfinex exchange last summer after winning the ICO-Race in Lugano, Switzerland, where they competed against 160 other startups and won a prize of $600,000.[7]

To learn more about Pigzbe and how they are helping to spread financial literacy, please their website at pigzbe.com. You can also join their Telegram group, follow them on Twitter or Facebook, or read the latest news on their Medium blog.

Resources:

[1] https://www.brookings.edu/research/are-states-providing-adequate-financial-literacy-education/

[2][2] https://www.iif.com/

[3] https://www.reuters.com/article/global-debt-iif/global-debt-load-at-a-record-247-trillion-in-q1-iif-idUSL1N1U51A2

[4] https://www.primotoys.com/

[5] https://kano.me/

[6] https://www.pentagram.com/about/jon-marshall

[7] https://medium.com/pigzbe/were-moving-our-ico-date-here-s-why-74884add4cd9