Crypto did for financial education what school never tried to do

Tldr: crypto and the bear market are the gateway for financial education, or at least financial curiosity, for the new generation.

I will speak for my own personal experience but I think some, if not most, will agree. Especially my generation.

I'm 30 years old and I have a decent job. But I NEVER cared or even bothered to improve my financial literacy.

How does the FED work? At what rate are they printing money? What are bonds? How big is public debt? How does inflation work? What's the current rate of inflation? What financial products does the government and banks provide? What's the risk? Etc etc..

Big mistake. Everyone and I mean everyone should know what's going on with monetary policy. It's the policy that most directly impacts your life.

I'm portuguese. And at least in my country they teach 0 about economy and how money works. Let me say that again, they teach 0.

If you never bother to do your own research and get some financial education you will become an adult with no idea how money really works and who controls it.

Now enters crypto. I get skin in the game. While the bull goes on me no care no much.

But a big bear comes along and "wtf is happening with the world? Why is inflation so high, how much did they print, why are banks collapsing, what does that mean for my crypto and my job/salary?"

I learn about risk. About rate of inflation. About burning. About securities. About reserves. About bonds. About yield. Etc etc..

Although I still feel scared about how much I don't know. At least now I can have an interesting conversation with other people about finance and current events. I can learn more. I know the terms and who runs what.

And this is a snowball of learning. I may never make any profit from crypto, but I will come out of this a more conscious and educated person.