In brief
- Binance Junior is a new savings app that gives kids the opportunity to hold and earn interest from crypto.
- Parents with a normal Binance account can open up to five Junior accounts, with children limited to transferring funds back to their parents or to other Binance Junior accounts.
- Experts suggest that aside from teaching crypto literacy, the initiative forms part of an attempt by Binance to secure future customers.
Binance has unveiled Binance Junior, a new savings account that lets parents invest in crypto on behalf of their children.
Available to children aged between six and 17, Binance Junior functions as a sub-account of a parent’s main account with the exchange, with parents having full control of the sub-account at all times.
Parents can transfer funds to Binance Junior accounts via their own Binance accounts, or by sending on-chain transfers from external wallets and platforms.
Funds deposited into a Binance Junior account can, in certain jurisdictions, earn varying rates of interest via Binance’s Junior Flexible Simple Earn product.
Binance has not made geographical availability completely clear, with Binance Junior’s official webpage providing a list of countries according to age restrictions, but also specifying that the list is “not a guarantee that the product is, or will be, available to users in any of the listed regions.”
For example, Austria, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Cyprus, Bulgaria and South Korea are listed as countries that would restrict the new account to over 14s, while Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Croatia are among the nations that would restrict it to over 16s.
Users of Binance Junior accounts will not be able to trade crypto or make on-chain withdrawals from Binance, with their activity limited to sending funds to their linked parental account or other Binance Junior accounts, but only if they are aged at least 13 (or older in certain areas).
Transfers between Binance Junior accounts will have a daily cap of $400, while parents will be able to link up to five Junior accounts to their profile.
Speaking with Decrypt, Binance said that it has conceived Binance Junior as a “family-centric app” that parents can use to introduce cryptocurrencies to their children, and to the concept of saving more generally.
“Studies show that early exposure to formal savings accounts fosters positive long-term financial habits and literacy,” said a representative for the exchange. “Unlike one-time transfers or gifting, Binance Junior offers ongoing parental oversight and controlled early exposure to savings and digital assets, which empowers parents to invest in their children’s financial future and nurture positive saving habits.”
Binance also explains that the app is specifically aimed at preparing younger people for a financial world in which cryptocurrencies will be increasingly integrated.
Its representative added, “Binance Junior aims to provide young users with a strong foundation in personal finance and digital asset education, promoting long-term financial literacy and readiness for the evolving economic landscape.”
Industry commentators suggest that the new savings account is an attempt to tap into a new market, and to recruit future customers while they’re still more impressionable.
“This looks like a case of ‘Get ’em while they’re young’ – a principle every business with a long-term plan understands,” said cryptocurrency analyst and author Glen Goodman, speaking to Decrypt.
Goodman notes that lifelong habits are often formed in childhood, acknowledging that he has been saving, investing and (later) trading ever since his grandfather helped him open his first savings account when he was seven.
And while critics might suggest that it’s not entirely responsible to encourage children to start saving potentially volatile digital assets, Goodman welcomes the fact that Binance has “heavily restricted” the junior accounts.
So no trading, no buying or selling,” he said. “They’ll just be holding cryptos their parents have bought.”
Goodman also welcomes Binance’s accompanying eBook for kids, “ABC’s of Crypto,” while also implying that the glossary avoids some terms that may have given youngsters a sense of how risky crypto can be.
He said, “I just feel it’s missing ‘P is for pump & dump’ and ‘R is for Rekt’.”
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