Here’s what College Students are Saying about Cryptocurrency

Joao is majoring in Finance and Math. He’s interested in banking to some degree, but generally wants to explore different opportunities in the finance space. We laughed about the irony of his interning with us based on that interest! He’s excited to be involved with an internship that involves him with finance.

He’s interested in data analysis and will be helping us in that domain.

He told me a bit about issues he has faced that our company hopes to help with. He explained that being from Brazil, he is constantly facing issues receiving and sending money in and out of the country. Every time he is about to purchase something he first thinks about the value of the dollar compared to the Real (Brazil’s currency) and thinks of how much it will actually cost his parents at the end of the month.

He not only has to consider the low value of Brazil’s currency compared to the US Dollar but also has to take into account the transaction costs and fees applied to his parents’ bank account since he is using their card from Brazil for consumption in America. In order to avoid this, he opened his own bank account in the US so he could pay for some of his expenses and not have to face these extra costs, but he is not able to pay for everything himself.

What was it like when you first came here?

When I first came to the United States my parents converted a large amount of Reais in Dollars so I would have access to some cash in case of emergency. It was a limited amount of cash since I was not able to withdraw from anywhere and only used when credit card was not an option. Due to inflation and price fluctuations of the Reai and Dollar, doing that is risky as the value of each currency can change and the amount of money they initially used to exchange currencies may not be worth as much later.

What are your thoughts on cryptocurrency?

My first experience with bitcoin was through my dad, who had heard and learned more about the growing cryptocurrency and despite believing in its potential he only bought it as a trade mechanism, hoping that the price would increase, as it did, so he could sell his shares later on. I remember him mentioning that even though the price went up after he sold all of his shares, he was too afraid that the value of the coin could drop overnight and he could lose his money due to the cryptocurrency’s high volatility.

Do you think cryptocurrency could go mainstream?

I am also a firm believer in the potential of cryptocurrencies and admire its intentions. The idea that every single person could have access to the same currency and make overseas transactions with low to no cost sound too good to be true. I think this is a possibility but that still might be a little far from becoming true. More and more people are studying this area and familiarizing themselves with this idea, which helps build a community and supports the whole purpose of it. But research has been done for some time now and yet I have not personally experienced or seen anyone make use of these cryptocurrencies for actual consumption. The few cases that I have heard of involve people who are more experts on the area and have a deeper knowledge of the subject.

He went on to explain:

I have just started studying and reading more about bitcoin and cryptocurrency but am still reluctant to take a position as to whether this will take over in the future. If everyone buys into the idea and explores the full potential of this new form of transaction and expenditure, then people will see its advantages and lose their fear of using it. The volatility, despite not being as high is still an issue but the security and decentralization system are indeed very needed nowadays.

Joao is a welcome addition to our team and I will be interested to see how his options change as he learns more.