Finance

Why Financial Literacy Isn’t Gen Z’s Sweet Spot—Yet

Published

3 years ago

September 13, 2022

Why Financial Literacy Isn’t Gen Z’s Sweet Spot—Yet

Being debt-averse will not be sufficient. Gen Z wants to grasp the large image of private finance and investing in the event that they wish to thrive.

Solely 43% of Gen Z are financially literate, however they’re keen to alter that

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There’s extra to sensible cash administration than simply attempting to keep away from debt—and it’s Era Z’s second to study it. Even supposing this technology is among the most debt-averse generations but, additionally they scored the bottom in a latest monetary literacy research by the TIAA Institute and the World Monetary Literacy Excellence Heart on the George Washington College College of Enterprise.

Though Gen Z respondents averaged the bottom (43%) in answering finance-related questions appropriately, no technology demonstrated a very excessive degree of economic acumen. On the identical survey, simply 48% of Millennials, 49% of Gen X and 55% of each Child Boomers and Silent Era answered the questions appropriately—hardly spectacular numbers.

The excellent news is, Gen Z has essentially the most time forward of them to make up the shortfalls of their monetary information. And instruments like Bloom, an app designed particularly for teenagers and their dad and mom to grasp the world of finance, are a method that they’re doing simply that.

“At Bloom, we’re attempting to bridge this hole and present children that investing/monetary literacy may be enjoyable and actually assist you sooner or later,” says Allan Maman, Bloom co-founder and CFO. “When a teen owns $20 value of a inventory, they’re far more enthusiastic about studying what a inventory cut up is, or a price-earnings ratio, than once they haven’t any pores and skin within the sport.”

I not too long ago linked with the crew at Bloom to speak in regards to the finance challenges dealing with Gen Z and the way they will make monetary literacy their candy spot. Right here’s what they needed to share.

All within the household

With 84% of Gen Z counting on relations for the “how-to” of cash administration, it’s important that folks have the appropriate solutions to offer them. “Each dad or mum desires to ensure their teen is financially literate/ready for the world once they flip 18, however sadly, monetary literacy is essentially as easy to show as one thing like math or historical past,” says Maman.

Maman believes that cash will not be talked about sufficient in households. “Numerous dad and mom are likely to wrestle with speaking about cash/finance with their teenagers, as they don’t completely know the place to start, and what the precise curriculum appears like,” he says.

Given the comparatively low monetary literacy scores amongst all generations, apps like Bloom are doubtless giving dad and mom a couple of pointers of their very own as they discuss with their teenagers about their monetary future. “Numerous our investing training has been extraordinarily useful for folks as properly,” says Maman.

The case for monetary literacy lessons

Given the outsized influence that monetary literacy can have on a person’s life, it might appear that non-public finance lessons in highschool could be a no brainer. Sadly, in lots of states this isn’t at present the case. A separate highschool finance class is just required in 5 states, and whereas one other 5 states require that such a course be supplied, it’s not necessary to graduate.

In the meantime, an additional 15 states require that some monetary literacy content material be embedded inside different programs. Whereas that’s higher than nothing, it does present how simply an adolescent can transfer by way of highschool and into the “actual world” with out ever having discovered the fundamentals of how the world of finance operates.

One thing wants to alter. “Whereas issues like Historical past and Algebra are necessary lessons, monetary literacy needs to be taught alongside these topics,” says Maman.

Recommendation for the hesitant—and the overconfident

Like traders of any age, teen traders are available every kind, from the timid to the brash. Neither strategy is a recipe for monetary success. Right here once more, consciousness of economic constructions is paramount each in encouraging the hesitant and tempering those that err on the facet of boldness.

Can people with a deep-rooted concern of the inventory market overcome it? Based on Maman, sure—and the easiest way is to look into the historical past of the inventory market. “Traditionally, the S&P 500 has returned 10.5% a 12 months because it was created in 1957 by way of 2021,” he says. “When you study extra about how particular corporations function, then you’ve extra perception into how issues work, and why shares both develop or decline over time.”

What ought to a timid investor put money into first? “A really primary technique that I’ve is to all the time put apart some cash into the S&P, after which actually put money into corporations that I personally like that makes merchandise that I take advantage of,” Maman says.

On the flip facet, after all, are the traders who enter the market overconfident of their skill to play the sport. “I as soon as was precisely this manner,” admits Bloom co-founder and CPO Sam Yang. “Once I began investing a few years in the past, we have been in a bull market—particularly for tech shares. I grew overconfident as I watched my shares go up and up, and ended up placing in far more cash than I ought to have in a brief time frame.”

Ruefully, Yang recounts how the market inevitably got here down, bringing with it a big chunk of his private internet value. “I had by no means discovered about necessary ideas like dollar-cost averaging, diversification or budgeting once I was youthful, and as a substitute needed to study the onerous means as soon as I had began creating wealth,” he says. “This is among the important the reason why I joined Sonny in constructing Bloom—I want I actually had discovered about investing a lot earlier, and that I may have practiced constructing a portfolio of actual shares as properly.”

At this time, Yang finds that means in his work by reflecting the way it helps the subsequent technology to find out about investing and cash. “This data empowers them to make higher monetary choices for the remainder of their lives,” he says.

Discovering their candy spot

The upheaval attributable to the pandemic has impressed 52% of Gen Z to zero in on their monetary smarts—the very best proportion of any technology. Although they’re motivated to increase their information and talent on this space, many merely don’t know the place to begin.

Sonny Mo, Bloom co-founder and CEO, remembers the impetus for the creation of Bloom: his minor brother’s want for a brokerage account. “His choices have been restricted by merchandise that have been designed for a distinct technology,” says Mo. “How may we probably anticipate monetary success from the subsequent technology if the instruments to assist it merely don’t exist?”

After all, financial situations right now for many individuals are powerful—and getting more durable. “With new financial uncertainties looming massive, it’s by no means been extra essential to be sensible with cash,” says Mo.

Maman agrees. “With the economic system being so fast-changing, there’s no higher time to coach your self on what’s occurring, and what’s inflicting sure issues,” he says. “Our message first is all the time training and security. By correct training, teenagers are in a position to perceive why issues are occurring; for instance, what it means when inflation is at a excessive.”

In finance, as in so many areas of life, information is energy. Constructing robust monetary literacy at a younger age will set Gen Z as much as discover their candy spot not simply within the inventory market, however in each dream they wish to pursue.

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Finance

UK Finance Minister to Call for Defence Spending Cooperation at EU Meeting

Published

5 hours ago

April 10, 2025

Press Room

LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister Rachel Reeves will call on her European Union counterparts on Friday to work more closely with Britain on defence financing in order to boost economic and national security. Reeves will hold talks at the informal ECOFIN meeting of EU finance ministers in …

Finance

Blockchain: The Operating System For Global Finance

Published

21 hours ago

April 10, 2025

Press Room

Blockchain: The Operating System For Global Finance

Block chain network technology

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Blockchain infrastructure ↔ Traditional finance
Digital assets ↔ Real-world usage
Startups and protocols ↔ Institutional systems

In November 2024, while crypto headlines fixated on volatility, the European Investment Bank (EIB) issued a €100 million digital bond on HSBC’s Orion platform—settling the same day using wholesale central bank digital currency (wCBDC) tokens issued by the Banque de France. Days later, Goldman Sachs announced plans to spin out its GS DAP® blockchain platform into an industry-owned utility. Neither event made headlines, yet both signal a profound shift in global finance. These aren’t innovation lab pilots—they’re strategic moves by financial titans rebuilding the core infrastructure powering traditional finance. Blockchain isn’t disrupting Wall Street; it’s becoming its operating system. While headlines obsess over Bitcoin, the real shift is happening quietly. Institutions are laying tracks beneath the surface—moving trillions, settling trades, and weaving decentralization into the foundations of financial infrastructure.

This is about the mechanics of how money moves—legacy systems controlled by intermediaries, burdened by high costs and delays, or blockchain rails enabling direct, peer-to-peer, atomic settlement. By embedding itself into the plumbing of global finance, blockchain is rewiring the system from within—driving the most significant transformation since electronic trading replaced floor brokers. Just as cloud computing became the invisible backbone of digital ecosystems, blockchain is rapidly becoming the core of global finance.

That transformation is already shaping tomorrow’s winners and losers. Whether you’re investing, leading a company, or building financial products, understanding the ecosystem is essential to smart decision-making. It comes down to grasping how these once-separate worlds are converging—and recognizing the key players making it all work. This isn’t theoretical. It’s actively reshaping competitive dynamics, creating new opportunities, and rendering old models obsolete.

The Institutional Shift: From Resistance to Adoption

Once dismissed as speculative, blockchain is now a strategic priority for institutions like JPMorgan, BlackRock, and Goldman Sachs. Blockchain is quietly reengineering a financial system that supports more than $100 trillion in global capital markets and moves trillions daily. The shift has been deliberate and strategic—years in the making, but now rapidly gaining traction. What was once seen as a fringe experiment is now deeply embedded in traditional financial infrastructure. Institutions are embracing blockchain not for speculation but for cost savings through improved efficiency—streamlining operations, eliminating intermediaries through peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, and enabling atomic settlement. JPMorgan moves trillions via JPM Coin. BlackRock issues Bitcoin ETFs and integrates blockchain into its $10 trillion portfolio infrastructure. Goldman Sachs, once cautious, is now leaning in—expanding its digital assets desk and signaling that blockchain isn’t a side bet; it’s part of the long game. And rather than being sidelined, Visa and Mastercard are weaving blockchain into their payment systems—Visa alone processed billions of dollars in crypto transactions in 2024. This isn’t capitulation—it’s evolution. These giants are using blockchain to streamline systems, improve liquidity, and boost transparency.

Still, some of the most transformative innovations are coming from agile startups—solving inefficiencies in payments, trading, and consumer incentives. The companies mentioned illustrate broader trends, not endorsements or prescribed winners. They offer a glimpse into a larger shift—one driven by thousands of startups, protocols, and infrastructure providers reshaping the foundation of global finance.

The Modular Architecture of the New Financial Stack

Unlike traditional finance’s siloed systems, blockchain is built for composability—where financial applications plug into one another like Lego bricks, driving rapid innovation and more connected services. This modular architecture enables developers to stack functions—trading, lending, staking, identity, settlement—into seamless user experiences. It’s most visible in DeFi, where protocols like Aave, Uniswap, and Lido integrate natively, accelerating innovation without the friction of closed systems. But composability extends beyond DeFi. As tokenized assets, on-chain identity, and payment networks evolve, the same plug-and-play architecture is beginning to reshape how institutions build and deploy financial products and infrastructure.

Composability doesn’t just speed up product cycles—it unlocks entirely new value chains. A lending app can tap into yield protocols or tokenized collateral instantly—without the bottlenecks of backend integrations or clearinghouse approvals. In this emerging financial stack, the winners aren’t just fast—they’re interoperable.

Concept of mobile payments. Wallet connected with mobile phone.

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Crypto’s Payment Bridge

The structural limitations of crypto as a medium of real-world payment have long hindered its adoption. Digital assets remained siloed in wallets and exchanges, cut off from everyday financial systems. But that barrier is starting to break down—not by replacing payment giants, but by building infrastructure that bridges the two worlds. In fact, payment giants like Mastercard and Visa have accelerator programs focused on integrating targeted crypto solutions that can plug into existing systems, creating corridors between traditional and decentralized financial systems.

Hong Kong-based Aurum exemplifies this approach, enabling users to fund accounts with USDT and spend in local currencies. Its ecosystem offers bots, payment cards, staking, NFT licenses, and a Web3 wallet with low fees and cashback rewards. With $12M in funding, Aurum delivers institutional-grade trading and payment infrastructure powered by advanced AI, complementing traditional financial networks. Former Binance executive Bryan Benson now leads Aurum Exchange, bringing expertise in scaling crypto platforms across emerging markets.

The endgame? A world where crypto wallets function seamlessly with traditional payment systems, making digital assets as spendable as cash—without friction.

Trading’s Transparency Upgrade

For decades, financial markets have been plagued by opacity, insider advantages, and inefficiencies. The blockchain era is changing that dynamic. Institutions like State Street ($43T AUM) and BNY Mellon ($46.7T in assets under custody), with their extensive trading operations and market influence, are already implementing blockchain-based trade settlement solutions, ensuring real-time transaction verification and eliminating counterparty risks.

In the retail trading landscape, Spotware’s cTrader stands as a notable example of transparency while delivering sophisticated trading infrastructure. Built on its Traders First™ principles, cTrader aims to establish high standards for fairness, transparency, and security—tackling long-standing industry challenges and helping to level the playing field for all participants. The platform’s technology handles millions of transactions daily, connecting over 8 million traders and more than 250 brokers and prop firms to global markets.

Specialized infrastructure providers power this shift—the hidden backbone behind evolving trading systems. These providers don’t serve end users directly—they power those who do, underpinning the next generation of financial infrastructure. Fireblocks secures over $4 trillion in digital assets for institutions, ensuring transparent custody and seamless settlement. Chainlink delivers tamper-proof price data to more than 1,900 projects, forming the foundation of reliable price discovery. Circle’s USDC moves across exchanges, wallets, and payment systems, enabling instant, transparent fund transfers. Together, these firms are becoming the “essential middleware” layer of global finance—quietly powering billions in daily activity.

Beyond efficiency, blockchain is redefining who gets to participate in wealth creation.

Democratized Investment: Blockchain’s Bridge to Real-World Assets

Blockchain’s most powerful shift may be this: turning real-world value into liquid, on-chain capital—making static assets move, trade, and work for more people than ever before.

Tokenization is fast becoming the gateway to unlocking trillions in dormant capital. By converting assets like treasury bills, real estate, and private credit into blockchain-based tokens, platforms are transforming illiquid markets into accessible, tradable units. The impact? Fractional ownership, 24/7 settlement, and borderless access.

Major asset managers such as Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, and HSBC are leading this transformation by developing tokenized investment products. Their participation lends institutional credibility to this emerging market, much like ETFs did for equities decades ago. Similarly, financial institutions like JPMorgan and State Street are laying the groundwork to bring traditional assets on-chain, recognizing tokenization’s far-reaching benefits.

Tokenized assets are projected to reach $2 trillion by 2030, led by cash deposits, bonds, mutual funds, and loans. Their appeal? Mobility, real-time settlement, programmability, and transparency—infused into markets once defined by slow processes, siloed systems, and rigid structures.

8lends by Maclear exemplifies this trend, offering USDC-backed loans to vetted businesses, making passive investing more accessible. Their platform combines blockchain transparency with the familiarity of traditional finance, eliminating cumbersome procedures and accreditation requirements. Smart contracts automate the entire process, delivering predictable returns with complete on-chain visibility.

This represents a foundational shift in financial infrastructure. Tokenization is not only expanding access to investment opportunities—it’s reducing friction, unlocking liquidity, and streamlining capital flows across the global economy.

The New Financial Operating System

The future of finance won’t be defined by crypto replacing banks or banks neutralizing crypto. It will emerge at their intersection—where the trust, scale, and regulatory expertise of traditional institutions fuse with the transparency, efficiency, and programmability of blockchain technology. The boundary between these worlds isn’t just blurring—it’s beginning to vanish.

Like the internet before it, blockchain is gradually disappearing into the background—becoming the invisible rails on which global finance runs. The future of money is being written in code. The biggest winners won’t be those who merely accumulate tokens—but those who understand blockchain as foundational infrastructure. As blockchain dissolves into the conduits of global finance, it’s becoming the architecture through which value will move, scale, and settle in the decade ahead.

Finance

2025 End of Session Wrap-Up: Finance

Published

2 days ago

April 9, 2025

Press Room

The segments below provide a brief overview of MACo’s work on finance policy in the 2025 General Assembly.

Maryland’s 447th legislative session convened amidst a substantial concern over the State’s fiscal situation, with weakened revenues and cost increases for many services at every level of government. Despite the budgetary limitations, many policy issues received a full debate, with many resolutions arising from the 90-day annual process. MACo’s Legislative Committee guided the association’s positions on hundreds of bills, yielding many productive compromises and gains spanning counties’ uniquely broad portfolio.

Follow these links for more coverage on our Conduit Street blog and Legislative Database.

MACo supported HB 498/SB 427 – Economic Development – Delivering Economic Competitiveness and Advancing Development Efforts (DECADE) Act with amendments. This bill proposed a comprehensive restructuring of Maryland’s economic development programs to centralize funding and policy decisions and shift priorities toward targeted industries. Counties requested amendments to preserve local flexibility, protect proven incentive programs, maintain meaningful input in funding decisions, and ensure workforce development strategies align with local and regional priorities. This bill did not pass in the 2025 session.