A transcript* of the speech given by Philippa (a lower VIth student in London) at our inaugural event.

I am a Gen Z. The last time I was in a bank I was seven years old and my main takeaway from that experience is that pouffes are impractical chairs for a waiting room. That’s all.

Money remains the cornerstone of our society and yet the vast majority of young people have never been and will never be in a bank. Money is moving online.

The last time I used cash was when I gave £10 to a friend. I should point out that I was just very proud of him for reaching 18 and thought he deserved a cash prize. I most certainly was not engaging in underage drinking….

The use of cash was because cash is generally untraceable. The untraceable nature of cash had made it and to an extent still does make it the method of choice for criminals. But increasingly there has been a shift.
They say art imitates life. And they, whomever they may be, are generally correct.But such art when it is not disbelieving is also a good indicator of how far concepts have made it into the public eye. Such art provides a clear idea of what is widely known without going to the expense of a survey or test group.
But what does this have to do with crypto?

Art imitates life.
Crypto is entering the public eye. In part through memes for my generation that make a lot of fun of the crypto. The other part is through crime books.

Put your hand up if you’ve read The Thursday Murder Club, especially the third one? For those of you who haven’t or have forgotten may I draw your attention to the screen. The plot, without giving away too many spoilers, is essentially as follows:

Guy A is a money launderer. Guy B is a younger money launderer who uses crypto rather than cash. Guy A looses his clients to Guy B because Guy B’s method is faster. To get his clients back, Guy A tells them that Guy B’s method isn’t safe. Guy B then loses clients and doesn’t like that, so he and sets out to kill Guy A over a dispute about the reputability of crypto.

At the end Guy B is proved right about the safety of crypto. This tale demonstrates the extent to which crypto and alternative forms of finance are emerging into the public eye.
Unless something goes very wrong, Gen z will succeed Gen X and millennials. It is your duty as the generation in power now to ensure we are adequately equipped to do so.

At school in Year 2 we played shop, selling carrots and cucumbers for three pennies and calculating the profit at the end of the ‘day’. In Year 6 took part in a budgeting activity in which we calculated rent and tax and food. In Year 10 we learnt what the stock market is and played a simulation.
This timeline over the last 10 years demonstrates the progress in which school has enabled our financial skills. You have a duty to ensure that everybody, regardless of their school has the opportunity to develop necessary financial skills. This can be done by adding another segment into the GCSE maths or economics. Our generation needs to learn from yours.

Thank you for listening.

*edits have been made by Philippa’s mother!