New App Incentivizes Millennials to Save By Rewarding Them With Crypto
*By Bridgette Webb*
Savings app Long Game is giving consumers a new incentive to save cash: cryptocurrency.
"It's a fun way to start getting educated about the markets and see where it's going," CEO Lindsay Holden said Thursday in an interview on Cheddar.
Launched in 2017, Long Game uses games and rewards to improve millennials' financial habits by leveraging mobile gaming and lotteries. Instead of a flat interest rate like most savings accounts, users are rewarded with coins for saving and keeping their balances up.
"We hope it will encourage savings and build the financial foundation that you need," Holden said of the feature that launched Thursday.
The app's [new](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/long-game-launches-crypto-rewards-becoming-the-first-personal-finance-app-to-give-consumers-no-risk-access-to-crypto-markets-300699779.html) cypto feature will reward users who meet savings goals with Ether, other forms of cyrpto, and special game coins. Those winnings can be applied to games of chance for prizes of up to $1 million.
The new feature arrives as saving rates in the U.S. have taken a dive. A reported [40 percent](https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/22/pf/emergency-expenses-household-finances/index.html) of Americans are unable to cover a $400 emergency expense. Over a quarter of millennials and Gen Xers have nothing in the bank for an emergency, and many don't even consider saving for retirement.
It's a reality that Holden says is destructive for Long Game's target base. But she's optimistic her app can effectively change millennial habits ー mostly because it's fun to use.
"We are saddled with student debt, and more importantly the tools out there aren't working for us today," she said.
"What Long Game is trying to do is build something that works for our millennial audience, that has fun rewards like cryptocurrency, and we will continue to stay current and offer new rewards that are compelling," she said.
For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/long-game-launches-crypto-rewards).
U.S. stocks closed Thursday at their lowest levels of the trading day, as investors continue to eye inflation ahead of the May CPI report out Friday. Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist for National Holdings, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. markets opened sharply lower on Friday on hotter-than-expected inflation data. The May CPI showed an 8.6% jump in consumer prices year-over-year, higher the expected 8.3%. Mark Howard, Senior Multi-Asset Specialist at BNP Paribas joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks closed Friday at session lows after May CPI data showed inflation in the U.S. has not peaked and is still rising rapidly. For the week, the S&P fell 5.06%, the Dow lost 4.58%, and the Nasdaq dropped 5.60%, marking the worst week since January for all three major indexes. Mike Zigmont, Head of Trading and Research at Harvest Volatility Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Benefits brokerage, Nava Benefits, raised $40 million in a Series B round. Nava says it's on a mission to fix healthcare, one benefits plan at a time. The startup is working to bring benefits to small business that are normally available to only Fortune 500 companies. Brandon Weber, Co-Founder and CEO of Nava Benefits, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The electric vehicle maker filed a proposal for a three-for-one stock split, increasing the accessibility of shares for investors for a stock trading at around $700 a share. The move comes not long after tech giant Amazon announced a 20-for-one split. The number of authorized shares rises from two billion to six billion. It was also revealed that board member Larry Ellison does not intend to stand for reelection as it pertains to Tesla.
President Biden proposed a new rule that would add 500,000 chargers for electric vehicles nationwide. The proposal comes amid the rapid shift to EVs with dozens of automakers announcing plans for all-electric fleets within the next decade. But with the new surge will the U.S. have the proper infrastructure to keep up? Scott Painter, founder and CEO of Autonomy.com joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss. "I really think the idea of standardization is a big deal. Standardization certainly makes it much better for everybody to be able to get a charge when they need one," he said.