Recently, there's been an interesting phenomenon—the traditional finance world and the crypto circle are both focusing on “grabbing kids” at the same time.

Let’s start with the big moves outside the crypto space. In early December, Trump officially announced a plan to create dedicated financial accounts for American children under 18. Kids born between 2025 and 2028 will even get a $1,000 starter fund from the Treasury. Right after this policy was announced, Michael Dell and his wife donated $6.25 billion to directly help 25 million American children open investment accounts. Their slogan goes even further: “Make every child a millionaire by 18, everyone can be a capitalist.”

Think it’s just traditional finance trying to get ahead? The crypto industry isn’t sitting idle either.

A leading exchange recently launched a special program for kids aged 5 to 17—basically a “teen version digital asset account.” Here’s how it works: the parent’s main account is in charge, while the child uses a dedicated app to receive money from parents and track returns—but—and this is key—they can’t trade or withdraw funds on-chain. This design is actually pretty smart, as it completely blocks speculation risk.

Their goal isn’t to help kids make quick money, but rather to let the next generation get acquainted with digital assets early and adapt to the future financial landscape in advance. After all, by the time these kids are adults, digital finance might already be basic infrastructure.

Whether it’s traditional or crypto, the core idea is the same: move financial literacy forward. The real question now is whether policy support and industry self-regulation can keep up, so that good intentions don’t turn into another kind of exploitation. If it can truly provide safe and positive guidance, it would actually be a good thing for the long-term development of the whole industry.