My boys have always been decent readers — I never had to fight them to pick up a book. But I wanted reading to feel like more than just something they do. I wanted it to mean something to them financially, the way it would if they were old enough to understand investing.
So I built Marshmallow Reading. I log the books they read and the app awards sats based on page count — longer books earn more. They watch their total grow over time. When they hit a milestone (50k, 75k, or 100k sats), I deposit what they've earned into a Bitcoin wallet I control. Then Marshmallow Reading detects it on the blockchain and sends bonus sats on top.
What I didn't expect is how much more enthusiastic they'd get. They were already readers, but now when they finish a book the first thing they say is "can I see Smoar Stacks?" — that's the mascot, a marshmallow on a stick that one of them helped me design. They still choose books based on their interests - not page count - but they get even more excited to go to the library now.
They check their sats balance, and they love watching the animation and stack growth after we log a book together.
The whole point is deferred gratification. They don't spend anything — they save and watch it grow. They're learning what it means to earn something, be patient, and see the value compound over time. It's become a responsible way to teach them about money and technology through something they're genuinely excited about.
There's a free trial (6 books, no card needed) so you can see if your kids take to it before committing. I'm running a 50 First Families launch right now — the first 50 subscribers get 10,000 bonus sats sent to their wallet.
If you're a parent looking for a way to get your kids reading and stacking: https://marshmallowreading.com
https://marshmallowreading.com
Happy to answer any questions.
I checked it out. I tend not to install extra apps on my phone, so perhaps I missed out on some of the experience there, but as far as the web app goes, I'm not sure it would work for my kids.
I'm not sure that they would find logging the books they read all that exciting. Also, I think you don't need to make the fraud protection dialog quite so prominent. Probably if I'm logged in as a kid, all I want to see is my balance and the stack of books I've read.
Perhaps you could also allow parents to set a word count and require their children to write a sentence or two about the book before the log it.
Also, I'm not sure that I see $20/year of value in this. The delayed gratification of building a bitcoin stack might work as motivation for some children, but I suspect for many, heavier reliance on fun cartoons and animations would probably be more powerful.
Honestly, the biggest problem I have is with discovery. I have trouble finding new books for them to find. I like the idea of giving my kids bitcoin bounties to shoot for, but I think it would really appeal to me if I could use the app to also discover new books for them to read.
But I think you have a cool concept and I could it playing a role in education.
Yes, the app apk itself has to be side-loaded so you'd likely have to confirm downloads from unknown sources.
The logging of books is definitely made to be done by the parent with the kid at their side. Understandably, every family is going to have differing rules about screen time, and the animations upon logging are mostly my own preference for my own kids and for not gamifying it too much.
It would also be to counter-productive to have an app that's meant to lower time preference, that's also smashing dopamine reward centres in the brain too often, if that makes sense.
I tend to agree about the prominence of the fraud detection being unnecessary, and the discovery process being challenging. Those are excellent points, so thanks for sharing.
As for the 20$/year, some kids can reach the first milestone in 8-9 months, other will take 16-24, but the point is to lower time preference and learn to save. That would be the excess value the app is providing.
For me personally, for my kids to develop a low time preference is something I consider to be priceless, as it is the foundation for all advanced civilization and high culture.
ps: I just added another tool (free) parents can use with their kids to have fun and lower time preference. www.marshmallowreading.com/strength
I like the idea. I'm wondering if you need to ask your kids questions about the books they've read to make sure they're actually reading. If there's a loophole, kids are likely going to find it.
You know, that's a good point. It's worth thinking about. In my own case we homeschool and are home with them all day. At times we're sitting and reading with them and occasionally ask questions afterwards, and it's less about the memorizing and more about the habit of reading.
I'd love it if you could also check out a free tool (fitness tracker) i added to the marshmallow reading site for parents and kids. www.marshmallowreading.com/strength