Crypto fever is starting to percolate into the classroom.
Two fifteen-year-old scientists from County Dublin, Republic of Ireland, have developed a computer algorithm for predicting cryptocurrency market movements.
Taha Fareed and Jevin Joy from Coláiste Phádraig school in the city of Lucan are launching a website where members of the public will be able to view their model’s predictions of future crypto prices.
After seeing peers and teachers get into crypto, the pair were inspired to undertake the project.
Fareed and Joy taught themselves the basics of machine learning by watching video tutorials. Their chosen model uses Bayesian inference – a complicated theorem that infers future probabilities from a host of prior conditions.
Speaking proudly of their model, Fareed told Irish Times their model is “better [than] the best model we have come across in our research. We’re very happy with what we have achieved, but we know there are a lot of further improvements we can make.”
Their project is a contender in this year’s BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (BTYSTE). The exhibition began yesterday, and the awards will be announced tomorrow.
Crypto Wunderkinds
Fareed and Joy aren’t the only child prodigies in crypto. Thirteen-year-old Gajesh Naik is another contender for the youngest crypto developer in the game.
Last summer, he made headlines when he developed Gaj Finance, formerly known as PolyGaj, a crypto money manager built on Ethereum.
Gajesh spent five years teaching himself different programming languages, including C, C++, Java, JavaScript, and Solidity—the language typically used to write Ethereum-based smart contracts.
Today, the total value of cryptocurrencies locked up in the Gaj Finance totals well over a quarter of a million dollars, according to DeFiLllama.
It’s strange what the kids are into nowadays, eh?