School subjects and learning aren’t always fun. Mention financial literacy and many adults roll their eyes. They shouldn’t. 4 in 7 American adults are financially illiterate. 1 in 3 adults worldwide understands basic financial concepts. 3 in 4 teens don’t feel comfortable about their financial knowledge. 4 of 5 parents wished they’d learned more about money as a kid.
It’s clear: financial literacy is critical. Early f inancial literacy teaches kids how to have a good relationship with money. It helps young people manage money effectively to become f inancially stable, build assets, and achieve personal goals. Decisions made in early adulthood have lasting financial consequences.
“Most people think trying to earn more money is the trick to attaining financial freedom, but the real trick is to know how to make your money work for you instead of you working for your money,” says Nada Jabr, Founder of CryptoStein and Project Leader of PLEARN.
PLEARN (Play, Learn, Earn) is a blockchain based virtual board game for teaching financial literacy. It allows users to play in the Metaverse through IRL experiences to teach children how to manage their finances through investing, trading in stocks and crypto, and real estate.
Nada explains: “The gap that exists between the amount of financial responsibility given to the young and their demonstrated ability to manage financial opportunities is widening. Unless significant action is taken to alter this and enable youth to make savvy financial decisions, f inancial illiteracy will remain an obstacle to youth’s financial security.”
CryptoStein started in late 2020 as an international educational startup, with PLEARN as its educational product. CryptoStein aspires to help increase the adoption of blockchain in schools while teaching the youth the importance of financial literacy by utilising web3 tools and sustainable f inance in making savvy financial decisions.
Nada is a passionate web3 evangelist. Her blockchain journey started in 2018 when she wrote her master’s dissertation on blockchain and cryptocurrency regulations. She then started trading and investing in crypto alongside her Forex trading.
CryptoStein is a combination of ‘Crypto’ and ‘Stein.’ It used the word ‘crypto’ to emphasize its belief in the crypto future and the potential it brings to the world. The word ‘stein’ was taken from Einstein’s name, representing his theories that the universe connects everything, and all things belong to a single source. “That’s what we are trying to do through CryptoStein: connect two different markets – universes – together.”
Early financial education empowers youth to learn good money habits and skills – such as saving, budgeting, investing, and buying – and helps them be less susceptible to financial scams and poor financial decision-making consequences, teaching them life-long skills.
PLEARN’s mission is to raise awareness of the importance of teaching financial literacy and sustainable finance and how youth will inevitably be confronted with sustainable investment options when deciding how to allocate their assets. As a Middle Eastern woman, Nada understands the power of inclusivity, such as inclusion in financial markets and financial decision-making.
Sustainable finance – and education – have a significant role in transitioning customer behaviour and decision-making to aid a net-zero planet. Sustainable finance can funnel money into carbon-neutral projects and companies.
“With the increasing importance of sustainable investments in the f inancial marketplace, the youth will inevitably be confronted with sustainable investment options when deciding how to allocate their assets,” shares Nada. “Without proper knowledge of sustainability and its inclusion in financial products, the youth will be unable to make informed investment decisions and achieve efficient market outcomes. When this knowledge is absent or insufficient, youth become prone to possibly misleading marketing and manipulation by financial providers.”
PLEARN teaches users how to manage their finances via four pillars: trading deals, real estate deals, auction market deals, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) deals – ESGROW. ESGROW is a launchpad platform to support people with their innovative ESG ideas. The game has two phases: players vs the environment and players vs players. Through a player’s journey, they will use two different tokens (Ambition and Manifestation) to empower creative learning activities through P2E, P2P and socialization modes.
The roadmap indicates the game will launch in Q3 2023, but interested youth and parents can join the social media channels to begin their financial education.
Financial education can make a difference. It can empower and equip young people with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take charge of their lives and build a more secure future for themselves and their families. That’s what PLEARN, CryptoStein and Nada are doing. Here’s more power to them.
Website: cryptostein.org
