VeeCee Gives Kids Their Own Currency

VeeCee, a startup out of London, has created a website where kids can upload a list of things they want, giving parents a way to purchase the items online. The website, which was presented at this year’s Disrupt London hackathon, also has virtual currency that kids can use to purchase things on their lists.

Known as veecee, the virtual currency can be used only after two adults authorize the transaction, giving parents more control over how kids spend the virtual currency. The new website was presented by Ebenezer Odubanjo, a 12-year-old, along with Justinas Grigas, Ashley Frempong and Ayodele Arigbabu.

“We came up with VeeCee at the end” of a week’s worth of brainstorming, said Odubanjo in an interview with TechCrunch. “We got really hyped about it.”

Odubanjo said what is really unique is that the service gives kids more control over the items they are getting, all while keeping parental oversight intact. The report noted the team used JavaScript, Php, CSS and html using PhoneGap to create the service. They also used Shop Integrator for their storefront and Amazon Web Services for its hosting.

Virtual currency is gaining in popularity as is evident from the VeeCee website. And while it is often linked to the Dark Web and criminals, in Europe, regulators seem to be embracing it. Back in January, Reuters reported the European Union plans to spend its resources monitoring digital currencies, like bitcoin, instead of formally regulating them. Citing that the virtual currency market was “hyped,” the regulatory body said that there’s just not enough known about the currencies to actually form specific regulation to curb issues that have arisen, such as money laundering. There’s plenty of virtual currencies in the world (600, according to Reuters’ count in January), and bitcoin accounts for roughly 90 percent of the $7 billion market. But that’s just a dimple in the overall global currency market. Because bitcoin is not supported, regulated or backed by central banks, it’s raised plenty of controversy about how to handle the legality that often arises from its connection to Dark Web crime.