The Rise of the Young Bitcoin User

By Charlie Stivers

This was the day’s mantra shouted by business students at Thrive Prep Charter School’s entrepreneur assembly for middle school kids. I was invited to help a few Denver-area bitcoiners teach the kids how to use digital wallets on the Lightning Network so they could all do business together. At the end of the entrepreneur fair, you could tell most of the 7th and 8thgrade mini-business boys and girls all felt a sense of achievement and some added excitement looking at their Sat’s balance in their wallets.

From a barbers chair and shoe shine booth to a smoothie stand and eyelash extension stylist, these kids were inspired to create their own businesses and make some extra money. The sats they began stacking in their wallets were an easier way to collect payments.

The day started with Anthony Feliciano and Mark Maraia showing me the Muun wallet functionality. Super easy download, set your PIN, fund your wallet from another bitcoin stash, and secure the wallet another day in private. I discovered that the previous week they taught the students a series of lessons on money and bitcoin and how they could become sovereign or autonomous entrepreneurs. The event was sponsored by WeStrive who contributed $50 in seed capital to each little entrepreneur to start their businesses. The Rocky Mountain bitcoiners group raised about $500 in BTC to be distributed to all the participants. We had fun funding their Muun wallets with Sats and showing the vendors how to create invoices to get paid.

We all gathered in the school’s gymnasium - vendors were set up just like science fair exhibitors, but these kids were ready to do business together. The buyers scurried around us in anticipation of having portions of bitcoin in their wallets ready to send to their friends for goods and services they wanted. It was fascinating to see how easy it was for the 12 and 13-year-old digital natives to “get it” and start using it intuitively. Even their proud teachers had fun buying crafts and homemade treats from their students with their wallets.

This event was the perfect real-life scenario of how microtransactions can work effectively for a peer-topeer transaction with BTC. Each Lightning Network transaction was literally transferred in a flash. On a $5 transaction or 0.00030510 sats (BTC) the processing fee was $0.04. Less than a credit card transaction! Beyond P2P, this gives an undeniable use case for businesses of any size. With the expensive fees and delayed settlement times inherent with blockchain transactions, users have wondered if the blockchain could handle micro-transactions, $10 or less, like we do every day. Fast settlement and low fees - This is the first step in seeing Bitcoin transactions become ubiquitous. People who only think Bitcoin is a store of value need to take a look at what is being developed on Bitcoin’s layer 2, the Lightning Network.

Hey Mister! The kids proved that it works - they accept bitcoin now too!