You made it to the last chapter. Knowing how money works helps you every day. Let's use it safely.
Try keeping two jars. The first is for spending this week. The second is for saving, and you leave it alone.
Cara has 10 coins. Six are for the school trip. Four are spare, with no plans for them.
She wants to try something that could go wrong. Which coins can she use?
Only spare coins.
Never put in money you can't afford to lose. Bitcoin's own website says so. Prices swing, so spare means coins you won't need soon. Ask a grown-up before you buy anything.
A wallet is an app that holds the key to your coins. Your coins sit in the shared notebook. Recovery words rebuild the key on a new phone.
Where should recovery words live? Sort each one into Safe or Not safe.
Paper. Hidden. Secret.
Never photograph them. Never type them into a website. Never share them, even with a "helper". If anyone asks, tell a grown-up.
In July 2020, hackers took over the accounts of famous people. Their posts said: send bitcoin and get double back.
It was a scam. Even a famous account with a check mark can be taken over. Bitcoin payments can't be reversed. Only the person who got the coins can send them back, so check before you send.
Source: 2020 Twitter account hijacking (Wikipedia) · Bitcoin.org: things to know · Bitcoin.org: avoid scams · FTC: what to know about crypto and scams
Scam or safe? Tap one for each message.
Big promises are a warning sign.
Only scammers guarantee you will get lots more back. If a message does, stop and tell a grown-up.
At dinner, Grandpa asks what you learned about money.
What will you do?
Learning grows slowly, like a tree. Be patient, and keep asking questions.
Learning, not financial advice.
This chapter can't know your life. Before money goes anywhere, ask a grown-up you trust and someone trained to give money advice.
You now know what money is, how it leaks, and what Bitcoin tries to fix. One page is left: both sides, together.
Ready for both sides? Open "The case for and against".
🧠 What you learned
- Only use spare coins
- Recovery words: paper, hidden, secret
- Big promises are a warning sign
🎯 Question 1 of 12 · Easy
Cara has 6 trip coins and 4 spare coins. Which can she use to try something new?
What are recovery words?
Which is the best place for your recovery words?
A message says: "Send 5 coins now and we guarantee 50 back!" What is it?
Someone says they are "support" and asks for your recovery words. What do you do?
Why keep a second copy of your recovery words in a different place?
In 2020, famous accounts posted "send bitcoin, get double back". Why wasn't the offer real?
You sent bitcoin to a scammer. Who can send it back?
You get a new phone and restore your wallet. Where may you type your recovery words?
Ben says a stranger guaranteed him lots of extra coins, and has lots of followers. Why isn't that proof?
What does "learning, not financial advice" mean?
A friend says: "It can't lose, put in all 10 coins!" What is the best reply?
Well done!
You earned a badge: What you can do
Education, not financial advice. Never put in money you can't afford to lose.
👩🏫 Grown-up corner · 1 of 5
Learning, not financial advice
This site explains ideas. It can't know your age, your debts or your plans, so nothing here is a recommendation. Bitcoin.org's own guide says the price can move unpredictably up or down in a short time, advises treating bitcoin as a high-risk asset, and says never to store money you can't afford to lose in it. Borrowing to buy adds a second risk: if the price falls, you still owe the loan. A qualified adviser, meaning someone trained to give money advice, can look at your whole situation. Two questions to take along: how does my savings interest compare with price rises, and do I owe money at a high interest rate?
👩🏫 Grown-up corner · 2 of 5
Spare money and a small wallet
Bitcoin.org's guide says to keep only small amounts on your computer or phone for everyday use. It also says to back up your wallet, keep your recovery information safe and private, and keep copies in more than one physical place. It warns that any backup stored online is highly vulnerable to theft. Paper is our simple example of an offline copy: bitcoin.org talks about durable storage media and does not name paper. A second copy is a backup, not a share: it stays hidden and out of every online account.
👩🏫 Grown-up corner · 3 of 5
Savings and spending: Saylor's view
Michael Saylor argues bitcoin works best as savings you rarely touch: a store of value you use just by holding it. He says only a small slice of your wealth needs to sit in forms that are easy to spend, and, speaking about the US, that spending bitcoin triggers taxable gains and bookkeeping. Chapter 1's three jobs of money are swapping, saving and measuring, so a fair question is whether something mostly held does all three. Bitcoin.org itself says bitcoin is not an official currency. The two sides answer this differently, and our final page lays them out.
👩🏫 Grown-up corner · 4 of 5
Hold it yourself, or trust a company?
Michael Saylor describes buying through an exchange over about a week, then moving the coins to cold storage (offline storage you control) for years. His point: you rely on a company for only a sliver of the time. Bitcoin.org says that when a third party controls your keys, you rely entirely on their security and honesty. The price of holding your own is that nobody can reset lost recovery words. Chapter 10 covers both risks, and neither choice is risk-free.
👩🏫 Grown-up corner · 5 of 5
More scam signs
The US Federal Trade Commission says only scammers guarantee profits or big returns, only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency, and scammers impersonate well-known companies. It also notes that crypto payments typically can't be reversed. Bitcoin.org adds that no real support team will ever ask for your recovery words, that you should never join free giveaways, and that urgency-driven sales are red flags. The 2020 hijacking shows that even famous accounts can be used as bait, so check with someone you trust before you send anything.