Children as young as 14 are gambling sums of up to £10,000 on volatile digital currencies without their parents’ knowledge.
With a craze for cryptocurrencies sweeping through schools, tech-savvy pupils are using smartphones to get involved in trading – despite it being illegal for anyone under 18.
YouTube and TikTok are driving the trend. These platforms allow amateur investors to get financial advice from unqualified people who promise easy money.
Pupils as young as 14 are gambling sums of up to £10,000 on digital currencies, despite it being illegal for anyone under 18 (stock image)
Experts fear that scammers could target youngsters, as some have lost millions of dollars to traders.
Decentralised and unregulated, cryptocurrencies don’t have the same control over banks or governments as traditional currencies.
Some children persuade their parents to create and finance trading accounts, then reinvest the profits. While others purchase digital “coins” such as Bitcoin at specific ATMs, some pupils convince their parents.
Peter Jerrom was a former trader who is now a maths teacher. He said digital currencies talk is “rife” among 14-year-olds, many of whom view them as ‘easy money, or free money.
Some students have convinced their parents to fund trading accounts, and then reinvest the profits. Others buy digital “coins”, such as Bitcoin at ATMs. Stock image
It has been very useful in math lessons. However, the teacher had to remind some students at Croydon Comprehensive School, South London that it is illegal for children under 18 years old to trade.
He said: ‘Year 11 students are buying up to £500 worth of digital currency using an app, and the Year 13 students are trading £5,000 to £10,000. It’s a high-deprivation area so £5,000 is a very significant amount.
“Some students do it with their parents unaware,” he said. But, it is not uncommon for students to do this with their parents.
Gareth Shaw is the head of Money at Which?. He said that “the rise in young people investing cryptocurrencies in which? is very concerning, particularly as fraudsters flood social media with investment ads that target victims who have no or little experience investing.”