U.S. Treasury to Launch Financial Education Program Around Cryptocurrency Investing

The U.S. Department of the Treasury is launching a new program to raise awareness of the risks involved in investing in digital assets.

A senior U.S. Treasury Department official said the move comes as the asset class transitions from niche to mainstream investing, potentially attracting less sophisticated investors.

The department’s “Financial Literacy Education Committee” is developing educational materials aimed at informing the public about how crypto assets work and how they differ from traditional assets.

Nellie Liang, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, told Reuters the target group was those with limited access to mainstream financial services. she says:

"We're hearing more and more investors and families buying crypto assets, and we recognize the complexities of how some of these assets work."

Increased education and awareness "will help" in this area, Liang added.

Better education and financial literacy are clearly good for the public, as criticism has been made that regulators’ focus so far on “protecting” consumers has actually resulted in the underprivileged not having access to crypto wealth-building opportunities.

Cleve Mesidor, founder of the National Policy Network for Women of Color in Blockchain, recently told Cointelegraph:

"It would be acceptable if they were more focused on financial literacy, skills training and workforce training, but they are mainly focused on consumer protectionism."

The new Education Division is made up of 20 different agencies, including the SEC. The move is likely to assuage regulators’ concerns about the risks associated with crypto investing, and could strengthen their ongoing mission to protect investors from industry scams.

The U.S. Treasury appears to be addressing the issue aggressively, acknowledging that digital assets can provide additional benefits for cross-border payments or financial inclusion. Liang says:

"We're just trying to raise awareness, not trying to stifle new technologies and new innovations."

This week, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order outlining the government's strategy for dealing with crypto assets. Today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen inadvertently revealed details of the order, which will also direct the Justice Department, Treasury Department and other agencies to study the legal and economic implications of developing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Educational initiatives are not limited to the government sector. In January, basketball superstar LeBron James partnered with Crypto.com to launch an educational initiative to teach cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to students in his hometown of Akron.

In February of this year, according to Cointelegraph, the P2P platform Paxful launched a new education and training center "La Casa Del Bitcoin" in El Salvador, providing free learning opportunities related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Crypto education also works both ways, with leading crypto companies stepping up their lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill over the past year. Companies like Ripple Labs and Coinbase have been ramping up their efforts to "educate" policymakers about the industry and its underlying technology.

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