Bitcoin Zealot Mom Made Daughters Sell Cookies for Digital Currency
In January, two little entrepreneurs girls wanted to set up a stand outside their San Francisco (duh) home to sell cookies and lemonade. That business plan just wasn't disruptive enough for their mother, Holly, a tech worker in the city, who set the girls up with a "wallet" for the anonymous digital currency Bitcoin and a QR code so they could accept the currency, Forbes' Kashmir Hill reports.
When a photo of the stand went viral on Reddit, Holly immediately dubbed it "Milk Road" (be sure to check out the twee blog), punning on the illegal online drug market the Silk Road, which was shut down last year. While it hasn't reached the millions of dollars processed by its namesake, the girls have made two Bitcoin cookie sales—plus a few hundred dollars in donations for Save Japan Dolphins, Mia and Taylor's charity of choice.
Holly advised eight-year-old Mia's elementary-school teacher that Bitcoin should be included in the curriculum, but when the teacher didn't respond, she took matters into her own hands, being the good techno-evangelist she is. "They're just learning about commerce," Holly said. "They know it's a means of exchange. They know they can accept this money and mommy can go home and check the wallet."
Maybe they'll also learn a lesson in gambling: When the kids get into college, those scant few Bitcoins will either be worth thousands of dollars or less than the cookies they were exchanged for. That is, unless the family gets arrested for money laundering first.