Now the kids can learn to invest with a game in Snapchat

Bust out those child-size suits, because Snapchat is here to help its users become the next hot players on Wall Street.

In July, Snapchat launched its first collection of "Minis," which are mini apps from other companies that live within Snapchat itself. On Thursday, it's adding the first financial education-focused Mini to its portfolio: a trading game called StockStars.

Made by trading and education platform Invstr, StockStars gives users $1 million in fake money to play around with. They invest it in a virtual portfolio that reflects the real-life conditions of the market. Players can buy and sell stocks including $SNAP, or trade virtual currency like Bitcoin. They can compete with friends in challenges on who can make the most money over periods like one day and even one minute. There are also educational resources that teach industry lingo and the ins and outs of the stock market, and provide insights on different companies.

Users can navigate to Minis, including StockStars, through chats with friends, or by clicking the Search icon and either typing in the name or scrolling down to the "Games and Minis" section of the search page.

Via Giphy

Apps like Robinhood and knowledge-sharing forums like Reddit have made trading more accessible, and the stock market has experienced a increase in activity from independent investors as people had more time and money they weren't spending on socializing during the pandemic. With so many amateur traders out there, who couldn't use a little help playing the market before making the sorts of decisions that put real money on the line?

Invstr has its own fake trading game on its platform, which it calls "Fantasy Finance." But putting this game within Snapchat itself opens the idea up to an audience that might not seek it out on their own.

That Snapchat audience also happens to skew young, which adds an interesting dimension to the Mini. Surveys have found that Snapchat is a platform of choice among teens, and data from Statista says that almost half of internet users in the U.S. aged 15 - 25 use Snapchat. Users as young as 13 can also have accounts. With a user base like that, StockStars might very well be Snap users' first exposure to the stock market, making good little Gordon Gekko capitalists out of all of 'em.

That could be empowering, or cause for concern, depending on how you view the idea of a social media game teaching kids about the World of Finahhnce. On the one hand, knowledge is power (and money), and — as the GameStop stock streak showed — individuals paying as much attention to the stock market as brokers can impact both the market and personal wealth in a big way.

On the other more cautious hand, might learning the stock market by playing a game that encourages short term thinking send a, erm, risky message about money management? Snapchat and Invstr clarified that the game is about learning, and that players are diversified in five different assets at all times. But, ya know, a game's a game.

Happy trading, kids!