Episode 8 : What is Cryptocurrency - Part 1

What is cryptocurrency? Most are baffled on this topic. But I feel my generation certainly needs to understand this new-age currency and what it means for our investing future. So, join us in this interview with a cryptocurrency expert to break it down in a two-part episode series. The Cash Kid Podcast is underway! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Grant Newall, The Cash Kid

Welcome back to episode 8 season 2 of the Cash Kid Podcast. Whether you're listening from Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the Cash Kid Podcast website, or wherever you like to listen from, we’re glad you are here! 

Our focus this season continues to be on building super financial literacy skills, and today, we have a special guest who is going to break down a term that… well…I’ve found most people don’t want to discuss because they don’t really know or understand much about it. It’s known as cryptocurrency. Listen up and learn more in today’s episode. The Cash Kid Podcast is underway! 

 

Intro tease:

So you’ve got some cash. Maybe from an allowance, or that money your grandma gave you for your 7th birthday. Here you go, sweetie. Thanks, Grandma.

 

Whatever it is, what are you going to do with it? Spend it, hide it away… or maybe invest it? Let’s start learning how to make that money grow.

Time to learn how to be a cash kid.

 

Joining us today is Mr. Grant Newell who is an entrepreneur and a financial professional. He is the co founder and CEO of Abundant X Inc, Amana X royalties and Abundant X Investments, LLC. 

 

First off, we'd like to welcome him to the show.

 

Grant Newall 

Thank you for having me. I want to, first of all, commend you for your tremendous success and for having this podcast for even teaching kids and helping kids understand the nuances and things of finance because it's definitely needed in this world.

 

The Cash Kid

Yeah, definitely. I agree. So, um, first off, how about you tell us a little bit about yourself?

 

Grant Newall 

Yeah, so I started with finance very young like yourself. I started by bartering at garage sales. And it grew from there. I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and build businesses. And it started from a young age, I was mowing lawns, and doing construction work for my neighbor's, gosh, probably since the age of like, 10 years old. And so I learned how to advertise. I learned how to work hard. And most of all, I learned how to manage finance. Then from there, I went and played college football at Oklahoma State. And once my football career was over, I had no idea what I was going to do with my life. And so I found myself being a lifeguard at the local pool. And I had tore my shoulder playing football. And when I got done, I had to have it repaired. And in doing so, I couldn't be a lifeguard, I couldn't really save people's lives while I had a, an arm in a sling. So that led me to a company called the Joseph group. And the owner of it was a Harvard MBA, he graduated with honors and was incredible with finances, and he took me under his wings, and taught me the nuances in the finance business. And so from there, it's grown into today having a tax and accounting firm, along with an investment firm that we do trading and investments with.

 

The Cash Kid

So um, let's jump right into it. What is the basic definition of cryptocurrency?

 

Grant Newall

So cryptocurrency is basically decentralized finance. And what that means is it is finance that's not controlled by one person. And really, the easiest way to understand it is when you look at $1, the $1 Bill $5 Bill, whatever. And you're holding that in your hand. T hat currency there is controlled by the US government and the central bank. With cryptocurrency, there is nobody that rules over the cryptocurrency. It's all in the blockchain. And so it creates a path for people to have finances that aren't regulated that aren't controlled by one single government or authority.

 

The Cash Kid 

So why did this need arise for cryptocurrency?

 

Grant Newall 

Well, a lot of it arose when you know, you go to these other countries and for us, we have US dollars. And some of these countries, they wouldn't accept the US dollar , because when they take in that dollar, they then have to go to their bank, and they have to give it to their bank, their bank has to convert it into their currency that they have in their country. And then they can use it. 

 

So there's this long process. And so the need arose for there to be a currency that would go across the world, no matter where you're at, no matter where you live, one Bitcoin or one ethereum is worth that. You don't have to convert it into anything else.

 

The Cash Kid 

So what do you think confuses people most about when understanding the value or even the idea of cryptocurrency?

 

Grant Newall 

I think probably the confusion comes to not knowing what it exactly is and really how to use it. And that's part of the the hardest part about it is that it's done all online. There's no you can't go buy or you can't go get a physical Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency, you can't get them physically. So I think for a lot of people, it's difficult to understand because they can't actually touch it and actually feel it in their hands.

 

The Cash Kid 

So how do people purchase cryptocurrency or buy a Bitcoin or something like that?

 

Grant Newall

Yeah, so really, the main ways to do it are through certain apps. The main ones would be coin base, crypto.com is another one. Binance.com is another one. There's a couple of mainstream ones, but there's lots of different ways that you can buy them. And they're usually through apps. And what you would do is you would download that app, you'd create a profile, you have to enter in you know, your social security, your name, birthdate, all of that sort of stuff, they run a couple of checks on you verify your personal info, and then you're able to deposit money into that account. 

 

So you deposit your own money into there, and then you're able to buy bitcoins or ethereum or any other cryptocurrency that you choose.

 

The Cash Kid

Are there different types of cryptocurrencies?

 

Grant Newall

Yes, so that's the another thing about cryptocurrency is basically, anybody can create their own cryptocurrency if they wanted to. Now how much value goes on that cryptocurrency is up to the market. And there are, I would say, two main ones that most people would know and are invested in, and that is Bitcoin and ethereum.

  

The Cash Kid 

I think a lot of us have probably heard of Bitcoin and ethereum. So is it safe to invest in cryptocurrency?

 

Grant Newall

So that's a, that's a good question. It's, I wouldn't necessarily say any sort of investing is safe. But with cryptocurrency, one thing that people have to be careful of is that it is an industry that is unregulated. And what unregulated means is that the government doesn't come in and say, “Hey, we want to make sure that there's no scammers. There's no people getting hurt with this, there's no there's no ill intentions with these currencies.” And so you have to be careful because the government can come in and shut certain things down. I was a victim of this early on in my investing career, I had invested in something called Bitconnect, which is a form of lending for cryptocurrency. And the government came in and shut it down. And so all of my money was gone. Now, do I think that's going to happen with Bitcoin and ethereum? No. But there's still the unknown of what different governments our government are going to do when it comes to cryptocurrencies. So there is some unknown, and you can make a lot of money and lose a lot of money with unknowns. So I wouldn't necessarily say it's safe. But if you're worried about losing all of your money, Bitcoin and ethereum is what I would stick to.

 

 

Thanks Grant. We’re going to stop our discussion there for today. But join us next week for part 2 of our discussion on cryptocurrency with Grant where we talk about the future of cryptocurrency and why you should consider it an investment option. 

 

Cash Kids, we have more terms, discussions, and skills to learn. Thank you for tuning in to this episode. If you have a question, please, reach out to me at cashkidspodcast@gmail.com and I’ll answer it in a future episode. You can also reach out via our website at cashkidpodcast.com. 

Follow us on Instagram and wherever you are listening, leave a review! We need your help reaching a larger audience and building the financial skills of the next generation.

Cash Kid, out!

Disclaimer:

The information presented represents the views and opinions of the guests. This show does not intend to provide personal investment advice through this podcast. This content has been made for informational and educational purposes only. To make a full and informed investment decision, we advise you to speak with a financial advisor and for kids, definitely your parents first before investing.