The ‘Bitcoin Family’ One Year Later

 A year ago today, my family was featured in a Motherboard Vice article called “Meet the ‘Bitcoin Family.’”  Since that time, my two sons have learned a whole lot more about  Bitcoin and are fascinated by their father’s work as a cryptocurrency  journalist.  

Learning About The Tools of Liberty at a Very Young Age

 My son Joshua is now seven, and Franklin is three, and we often discuss  the Bitcoin industry that surrounds my life. As a journalist and graphic  artist, our family has lived off the Bitcoin economy for close to two  years now. 

 I wrote about our lifestyle a year ago and received a lot of positive  commentary and attention on how I raised my children. I also got some  negative comments that I was “indoctrinating” my sons. However, this is  entirely inaccurate, they have always been interested in their father’s occupation no matter where I worked. Since I first introduced my children to the world in a written piece  about encompassing Bitcoin into family our life, my boys have grown to  love what I do. Now, they are both even more interested in  cryptocurrency, and talking about Bitcoin is a regular occurrence. My  oldest son, Joshua, has sent payments with me, took part in my recent Ledger Wallet review, and my son Franklin wants us to be bitcoins for Halloween. 

 Joshua has probably taken in the most information about the  decentralized digital currency. He knows a lot more than most kids I  know when it comes to this amazing technology. For instance, he knows that there is no government behind Bitcoin, no corporation, and most importantly to him, no boss. However, Franklin has asked if I happened to be the boss of Bitcoin,  because it is incorporated into my everyday lifestyle. One day he asked  me, “Dad, are you the boss of Bitcoin?” to which I replied, “No,  Franklin, there is no boss of Bitcoin.” He didn’t seem to like that  answer and stated: 

 Dad, I wish you were the boss of Bitcoin   

 

Education and Fun for the Whole Family

We have a lot of fun when talking about cryptocurrencies,  and we have colored many pictures featuring bitcoins. Often times, my  children laugh at the fact that when Dad colors with crayons, he often  draws a big orange Bitcoin symbol somewhere in the drawing. A few weeks  ago we were coloring My Little Pony characters and put “cutie  marks” on the ponies’ behinds. Of course, mine had a Bitcoin symbol on  the pony, and we named her “Bitcoin Betty” — she was basically a  different version of AppleJack. 

 When it comes to learning about Bitcoin, Joshua always has a lot of  questions, and remembers quite a bit of the details surrounding the  digital currency. We talk about candlestick charts and what the red and  green candlesticks mean. We talk about cold storage, as I have Ledger,  Trezor, and OpenDime wallets laying  about at my computer station. He knows these devices hold bitcoin and  keep them preserved offline. Joshua also knows the difference between  these devices and some of the other wallets  I use, such as the one on my phone. He knows that Dad gets paid in  bitcoin, and this is what pays the bills, provides our family with food,  and buys him toys or Pokemon cards. 

 

To the Negative Skeptics

 Obviously, I don’t care too much what  people think about our children learning the basics of Bitcoin. They  have learned quite a bit over the years, always inspired by their own  curiosity towards their father’s occupation. They are learning math, scarcity, decentralization, peer-to-peer networks, and open source code. Recently, Joshua, who loves computers, has been trying out MIT’s Scratch Program, and he enjoys the educational games that subliminally teach basic programming skills. After our family got featured on Motherboard,  I was a little dismayed by the lack of understanding and acceptance  towards what we were doing. I’ve since learned to shrug it off, as I  know my children are getting an educational advantage concerning  emerging technologies.  One commenter  on Reddit at the time the article was released said he was into Bitcoin  but never spoke about cryptocurrency in front of his kid.  

 And yes, my article was submitted to the r/buttcoin forum, where they had a field day with it. However, our family got a significant amount of positive commentary and support as well. I believe the negative form of ignorance is quite ridiculous, and I want my children to know about everything their father does — whether it’s learning about fishing or putting bitcoins in cold storage. I will never regret the education I am giving my sons when it comes  to Bitcoin. They are learning about economics, sound money and  technology earlier than most people. In time, my children will be the  leaders of a new age and embrace the paradigm shift when it comes to individualism and money. They are already on the path towards this future. 

What do you think about children learning about Bitcoin? Let me  know in the comments below. I’d love to hear about your experiences  with your kids and cryptocurrencies.