Crypto prices don't work in isolation.

If you only need to take away one thing from this post, make it that. This will become even more prevalent as BlackRock and other major players come on board.

Often in this sub though, this fact is ignored and instead we consider things like the bullrun expected from the bitcoin halving, "because it happens every 4 years", without considering what else is happening in the economy in order to make that multi-trillion dollar market movement possible.

There are some glaring financial knowledge gaps in this sub, and we can blame the education system for a lot of it.

Before putting a dollar into crypto, I believe the following should be a mandatory syllabus that is taught in schools:

• How to budget and save money. At an extremely basic level. Ensuring that you have some money left over instead of living paycheck to paycheck.
• What are interest rates. And this could be in relation to earning interest in a bank account, or paying interest when you take out loans. Then for a more advanced topic, how do changing interest rates impact the rest of the economy.
• How does compound interest work, how can you calculate it. Yeah, this sounds simple, and it is, but a hell of a lot of people don't really understand the power of compounding over time.
• Basic risk vs reward. The impact of losses on compounding.
• Retirement accounts. Many/most people have these accounts once they start working full time, however they often sit in the background and are neglected, because people only care about them when they are close to retirement. Take an active interest in these today, this is a crucial part of your investment portfolio, your future self will thank you.
• How does tax work. Even if you decide to use a tax agent, you should still understand how to do the calculations. Although many want to ignore it, the requirement to pay tax must be considered as part of any investment.

You'll notice at this point we haven't even talked about the different types of investments. The above is what you need to know even if you're never "an investor", and simply want to get through life and have some money in a bank savings account.

For those who want to invest, get a basic understanding of all of the different types of investments:

• What are the different options for investing. A high level understanding of what each type is.
• The ways that you can earn money from the investment (revenue/dividends/interest/staking, capital gains).
• The pros and cons of the type of investment.

This syllabus isn't about pushing kids to become investors. It's about helping them to make educated financial decisions, and even more importantly, not make terrible decisions which could cripple them later.

If you don't understand how [crypto / stocks / real estate] works, then how can you claim that one is better than another?

I suspect that many reading this will have knowledge gaps when it comes to the above. The good news is that all of this can be self-taught, for free.

Remember to read widely, and consider adding a couple of personal finance or investing subreddits into your mix so that you enter crypto with a balanced view.