The Story of Bitcoin Junior Club: A Fun and Educational Approach to Bitcoin for Families and Kids

In this edition, we invited njump.me/npub134d6jtyveg74cuuj7qun4v2m6r7x7c6ryk69z4q7pa7f43kran2sl2yggk from Bitcoin Junior Club to share how she empowers children, teenagers, and families through Bitcoin education. She emphasizes that in the Bitcoin ecosystem, education should come before mass adoption.

YakiHonne: Şelale, thank you for being here! Before we dive into the interview questions, I'd like to introduce YakiHonne, the hosting platform for today’s discussion. YakiHonne is a decentralized media client built on Nostr—a protocol designed to empower freedom of speech through technology. It enables creators to own their voices and assets while offering innovative tools like smart widgets, verified notes, and support for long-form content. With YakiHonne, individuals can express themselves freely, without the fear of censorship, bans, or restrictions. Today, we’ll be exploring more about your community,Şelale. So, let’s start with an introduction—could you tell us a bit about yourself and your community?

Şelale：Thank you! I'm actually a big fan of YakiHonne. Nostr is my second biggest passion, right after Bitcoin. And within this ecosystem, everything YakiHonne has done—whether empowering communities or supporting creators—looks truly incredible. I could represent many different communities, but today, I want to focus on a recent project I started together with my husband—Bitcoin Junior Club. It's a fun and educational space designed for children, teenagers, and entire families.

My Bitcoin journey dates back to around 2017 when I started diving deeper into Bitcoin. During the block size controversy. I found myself repeatedly reading the Whitepaper, trying to understand why some people were attempting to manipulate the rules and why the debate was gaining so much traction in the mass media. As I often say, the Bitcoin journey is a dynamic process—over the years, my experiences, perspectives, and areas of focus have continuously evolved. Right now, one of my key priorities are families and education. The Bitcoin ecosystem had already seen various emerging trends, such as the rise of female-oriented communities, hence the need for children related topics as well. Overall, the last few years have brought more creative minds building up their projects, which is very nice to see. A good example here would be Bitcoin FilmFest, another dynamic initiative I’m involved in. These are all signs of Bitcoin's ever-expanding and evolving landscape.

YakiHonne: I would like to know, what sparked your interest in Bitcoin? And what motivated you to create Bitcoin Junior Club? What inspired you to create a whole community around it?

Şelale：There were many different aspects that drew me to Bitcoin, but I would say the most important one is the aspect of freedom, Bitcoin is the best form of money humanity has ever had. No middlemen, no one setting the rules. For the first time, people who have always been unprivileged and unbanked now have a real alternative—a way to opt out of the system they were born into. At the same time, when we look at developed countries, we see increasing surveillance, restrictions, and privacy constraints. Once again, Bitcoin serves a crucial role here. It is freedom money, a freedom tool, and that’s what hooked me the most.

On the other hand, what truly motivated me to launch our project was the realization that money is just a tool. If people stop thinking critically, if they don’t truly understand its potential, even something as revolutionary as Bitcoin can be misused or even turned against us.

Together with my husband, we believe that education is essential, especially for younger generations. We want to help them develop critical and creative thinking skills, to keep questioning topics they come across, and to think for themselves. This is the core reason we started this community. Along the way, I’ve come across many family-friendly projects with a similar mission. But most of such resources are scattered and difficult to locate. That’s why, one of our main goals is to create a comprehensive database—a place where people can find all kinds of educational resources, from the content we produce to information about existing initiatives in areas like: homeschooling, unschooling, Bitcoin, financial education, and more.

At the heart of it all, our focus remains on fostering creativity and independent thinking, because without it, we risk heading toward a future I personally don’t want to see. In the end, our mission is to help raise sovereign generations— individuals who truly understand and embrace financial and personal freedom. (source: interactive game for kids and families, “Bitcoin Calendar, Part 01”)

YakiHonne: Yes, absolutely! I really appreciate your recognition of Bitcoin’s freedom aspect, as that is its very core—sovereignty. I also deeply admire your dedication to educating the next generation—it’s truly essential. We need to nurture and guide these young minds so that when they step into this space, they can help maintain the stability of the Bitcoin ecosystem and safeguard the communities that have been built around it. Could you share with us how your community was founded and how you initially attracted members?

Şelale：Well, to make a long story short, it all started as a way for me to relax at night. I work on several projects within the Bitcoin ecosystem, and when I feel mentally exhausted, I like to unwind by designing and drawing. That’s how it all began—I started designing various creative worksheets, such as logic puzzles, coloring pages, and other engaging activities targeted at younger audiences.

My husband and I are also nomads, so a few years ago, we began distributing these materials to different homes during our travels. The response was overwhelmingly positive—kids were excited and, interestingly, it also turned out to be a subtle "orange pill" tool for their parents. Quite often, when they noticed the Bitcoin logo in these materials, it sparked their curiosity and triggered many questions.

At first, I simply wanted to share these resources freely with the community, allowing anyone interested to use them. Over time, I came across many other family-friendly Bitcoin-themed materials such as books, videos, and games. I wanted to create a space where these things could be seen and heard. That’s when I decided to build a website, which could be described more as a database rather than a community.

Since I’m involved in multiple projects and have limited time, I don’t want to focus entirely on building a community around Bitcoin Junior Club—at least not for now. Instead, my priority is to expand the database, continue creating creative educational materials, and connect with other family-friendly Bitcoin projects to give them extra visibility. (source: a snapshot from the home-page of Bitcoin Junior Club)

YakiHonne: What challenges did you encounter while creating this project?

Şelale：If we were to shift more towards community-building, I would say the biggest challenge lies in the diverse target audience—especially across different age groups. If you want to engage very young children, aged 2 to 3.5 years, you also need to involve their parents or mentors. If you want to reach teenagers and young adults (aged 11 to 20+), their interests, perspectives, and learning preferences are entirely different. To truly engage all these different groups, you need a wide range of tools that cater to their needs and interests. That is a significant challenge.

I’ve noticed that when people discover Bitcoin Junior Club, they often feel excited and relieved, realizing that such an initiative exists. But at the same time, it’s a fragmented process—it takes time to plant the seed and let people know, this resource is available if you or someone you know might need it.

These are the biggest challenges. But nothing to worry about. The project is naturally and organically growing, and the community will likely develop on its own over time. (source: Selected photos from Adopting Bitcoin El Salvador, Nov 2024, where a 2-day event for families, co-organized by Bitcoin Junior Club, was run in parallel to the entire conference)

YakiHonne: Yeah, that’s very true. The age gap and diverse target audience can indeed be a challenge for many communities. It’s a key factor to consider. However, I really admire the way you’ve been able to navigate this challenge and still effectively reach out to them despite the difficulties. That’s truly something worth recognizing.

Şelale：Thank you, that’s true. What I see here, once again, is the power of Nostr. On other social media platforms and across the Internet, there is so much noise—it’s an overwhelming space. But Nostr is different. The community is still relatively small, which means the audience is more specific and targeted. This also makes it faster and easier to understand their needs. Compared to three, four, or five years ago, this is a huge advantage when it comes to reaching specific groups and learning from them.

YakiHonne: What advice would you give to someone looking to start or grow a Bitcoin-focused community in today's landscape?

Şelale: Overall, don’t overthink it, and don’t try to build something too big from the start. Whatever you envision at the beginning will likely evolve over time. If you know your skills and have an idea that could bring value to the community, start with a high-level roadmap. Avoid over-planning—don’t try to monetize everything or map out years ahead, especially in the early stages, unless you’re working on a large-scale project in a bigger group.

Start with smaller steps and learn from the feedback. As we often say in the Bitcoin world, “don’t ask for permission, just do it”.

I would also emphasize: Learn and adapt along the way, because the feedback you receive from people is the best teacher. As I mentioned earlier, your initial idea may evolve into something different—so don’t give up, and don’t get discouraged. Just keep building. Also, especially for non-technical people, remember that contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem isn’t just about tech. Of course, technology is at the core of our freedom-oriented future, and it’s incredibly important. But you don’t need technical skills to contribute—there are many ways to add value. It can be anything.

YakiHonne: Yes, I really love the last part of what you just said—it’s so important. Many people tend to believe that if you don’t have technical skills, you can’t contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem, and this is a very common misconception. The more we educate people and help them understand that Bitcoin needs contributions beyond just the technical side, the stronger the community will become. It’s a crucial point and absolutely true. I’d love to know—does your community focus more on the technical or non-technical aspects of Bitcoin? Or do you cover both?

Şelale：I would say both, but more indirectly. Bitcoin Junior Club is not only a fun and educational space, but also an online resource providing a wide variety of materials, and so it naturally covers both technical and non-technical aspects. There are many excellent technical projects out there, such as those related to Lightning Network, which are more technical fields, and these can target young generations as well. Lightning Piggy is a great example to use here.

Also, during my recent time in El Salvador, I came across an amazing project, Node Nation, that teaches teenagers how to run their own Bitcoin nodes—a clearly technical-focused initiative.

In the future, if we continue to expand and place more emphasis on family-friendly gatherings in person, where practical activities are the core, the technical aspect may naturally grow as well. I have some ideas related to coding courses, interactive games, and other technical aspects that teenagers could be interested in. However, for now, our main focus remains on education and sharing existing resources with more people online. All in all, Bitcoin Junior Club is indirectly engaging with both technical and non-technical content.

YakiHonne: Sounds like a lot of work, but what you guys are doing is truly amazing. I can already see the large-scale impact this will have in the coming years. Since you are involved in the technical side as well, what advice would you give to technically inclined individuals or organizations looking to contribute meaningfully to the Bitcoin ecosystem?

Şelale：My advice would be: go out and speak up. Try to join different meetups—not necessarily large conferences, but smaller local meetups, hackathons, and co-working spaces. These environments will help you connect with others who also have technical skills. You may meet people who are already working on something related to your field, and eventually can guide you toward bigger areas of contribution. Face to face meetings are the best options to find potential collaborators, and to build something together, as well as to strengthen your skills, and to motivate you to start building on your own.

Also, don’t hesitate to share your ideas and ask questions publicly—for example, on Nostr, or through platforms like YakiHonne.

Simply, speak up, and see if anyone is working on something similar or wants to collaborate.

Most importantly, don’t be shy. Don’t isolate yourself in your own bubble. Just like creative people, technical people too, sometimes tend to stay in their own world, hesitant to step out. The truth is, it’s not that difficult to get involved—you just need to let people know you exist and what you can contribute.

YakiHonne: You know, many people tend to believe that only large conferences are worthwhile, thinking they won’t gain much from local meetups. But in reality, starting with local gatherings often leads to stronger connections. That’s a crucial point. So, my next question, Selale—how do you see the role of Bitcoin communities evolving as the technology matures, particularly in areas like scalability, privacy, and adaptability with other systems?

Şelale：What I’m about to say might be a bit of an unpopular opinion, but this is how I genuinely feel—especially in the past few years, there has been a lot of noise around mass adoption and scaling up, with a strong focus on doing things on a huge scale for everyone.

However, I believe there is a more important step before that—which is mass education and awareness. If we truly want to protect privacy and ensure the conscious use of Bitcoin, so that it remains a freedom technology, we need to prioritize education before expansion.

I hope that Bitcoin communities will become more aware of this and continue building on core values—the real Bitcoin ethos, such as truth, long-trem progress, privacy, and sovereignty, rather than just repeating hype-driven trends. I hope the community moves in this direction or, at the very least, remains strong enough to keep spreading the message of privacy and scalability as tools for freedom, rather than just chasing mass adoption and making everything overly simple.

Of course, user experience matters—I absolutely support improving UX across different areas because it’s necessary for broader adoption. However, before that, we need to raise awareness and ensure that people—whoever they are—truly understand Bitcoin’s potential along with the risks that come with losing sovereignty, overexposing personal data, and rushing into oversimplification.

For me, Proof of Work is not just about mining—it also means that understanding Bitcoin requires effort. You have to invest time, energy, and thought into learning about it. Making things too easy, too big, and too flashy isn’t necessarily something I believe in or support.

YakiHonne: Though it’s true that Bitcoin communities will play an increasingly significant role as time goes on and as the technology matures, they will also evolve in terms of scalability, privacy, and adaptability. These aspects align with the core values that most Bitcoin communities uphold, especially given Bitcoin’s decentralized nature. So, we’ve now come to our last question for today, and I must say, it’s one of my favorite questions. Is the government in your region supportive or opposed to Bitcoin? And how has that impacted the community?

Şelale：That’s an interesting question, because as a nomad, I don’t stay under the influence of any single government for long—usually not more than one to three months. We are constantly changing locations. However, we mostly stay within the European Union, and just using it as an example, with its centralized structure, it’s fundamentally opposite to what Bitcoin stands for. It operates against nation-states, encouraging people to think and act not as individuals, but as a collective.

I don’t see any direct threats or actions taken against Bitcoin Junior Club or any other communities I’m involved in. However, I do believe that the narratives pushed by certain jurisdictions can create obstacles—or, maybe on the other hand, they can actually awaken more people. These days, it has become popular among politicians to claim they are pro-Bitcoin, using it as a low-hanging fruit to gain attention. Hence, it’s hard to say whether some governments are truly pro- or anti-Bitcoin. From my personal journey I see them rather having a neutral approach, but it could change in the next few months, as supporting Bitcoin has suddenly become trendy. Probably a topic for a longer chat.

At the same time, I’ve seen areas in which ruling parties are officially anti-Bitcoin, yet people still find ways to work within the ecosystem and continue spreading the message of freedom.

YakiHonne: Just an outside the box question. Did anyone around your area or towards your community consider Bitcoin to be a scam?

Şelale：I had those experiences many years ago, in the very beginning. Currently, I’ve just consciously stopped spending time around people who hold such opinions, so I don’t see or hear it as often. ItThat said, it still happens occasionally—especially in Western countries. If I talk to someone new and they ask, “What do you do?” and I mention Bitcoin, sometimes they respond with:"Oh, that’s a Ponzi scheme." It’s very rare, but it still happens. For me, it just shows that those people are still too influenced by mainstream narratives—the same way people repeat things like "Bitcoin consumes too much energy" without fully understanding the subject. However, compared to five to ten years ago, these misconceptions have definitely become less common.

As a site note, I’ve reached a stage where instead of overwhelming others with Bitcoin-themed conversations, I prefer to keep building- i.e. working on various resources that will be easy enough to find to learn from. If somebody later wants to ask questions or debate, still doubting whether Bitcoin is good or bad for humanity, I am ready to join. All in all, instead of actively trying to convince people, I focus my energy on projects like Bitcoin Junior Club, Bitcoin Film Fest, and other initiatives that provide content for freedom-seekers at heart.

YakiHonne: Thank you so much. We've reached the end of today's interview, and it has truly been a fantastic conversation. I’ve gained a lot of valuable insights from you, and I genuinely appreciate the incredible work that you and your community are doing in the European Union. It’s truly inspiring. I’m certain that Europe is privileged to have you and your team contributing to this space.

Şelale: The pleasure is mine. Thank you very much for this conversation. Once again, kudos to all you are bullying at Yaki Honne.