Online safety experts are warning parents of a bitcoin product available to children in Australia which they say has little educational value.
The experts say it exploits a loophole in current laws to expose children to the volatile and unregulated world of cryptocurrencies. ‘Penny the Pig’ launched this year by Australian entrepreneur Andrew Birt, co-founder of education technology startup Strive, claims to be the world’s first bitcoin piggy bank.
It integrates with crypto wallets including Coinbase and Metamask, with the balance displayed to children on the piggy bank.
Parents use an accompanying app to schedule cryptocurrency payments and monitor the digital transactions of their children.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission said the product was not regulated as it was not a crypto-asset but a product that linked to a crypto wallet.
