THE BITCOIN CULT: Rituals and Practices

Bitcoin has over its 10 year run evolved from merely a niche cypherpunk project into a movement and bears the marks of a cult. The term “cult” has become twisted to mean something that is akin to dangerous, deviant and is to be avoided, but the historical definition, and the way I am using it, merely means a small group of people with practices that seem strange to others. Christianity was a cult in the Roman Empire for hundreds of years before its ascension to major world religion in the years after Constantine.

More than likely most Bitcoiners who read this may feel revulsion and/or unease with this observation but should know that without a cult of Bitcoin it would never have survived until now and will never achieve its future goals.

Cults and ritualistic practices surround us and those movements and companies that can achieve the cult meme are usually very successful. Apple is a perfect example of cult-like ritualistic practices. Apple fans will endlessly proselytize their friends and family with exhortations of Apples design, innovation, and power (you can’t get viruses on a mac right?). The true Apple faithful will spend DAYS camping on the streets in the heat or the cold, enduring physical trials of discomfort in order to participate in their most important ritual; consumption of the newest iPhone or iPad with the ritualistic sacrifice of money in their temple, the Apple Store. It is a Mecca like pilgrimage to go and wait outside a flagship store in L.A. or New York and has much more meaning to apple cultists than those who pre-order on Verizon. Apple is what Apple is because of the loyalty of the Apple cult, not its innovation or technology.

Bitcoin’s Rituals

Bitcoin has from its early days developed a cult and ritual practices which have evolved over time as all religious practices do and even split (forked in Bitcoin terminology) to smaller denominations with unique rituals of their own.

Bitcoin’s second wave of adoption, which I call the political wave, a large majority of these people were libertarian-leaning activists immersed in the Ron Paul “End the Fed” anti-central banking message of his 2008/2012 campaigns. This was a major push in Bitcoin evangelization as these activists took to political meetups and forum boards to spread the message of Bitcoin; a financial messiah to save us from the corruption of the temple by central banking Pharisees.

Bitcoin’s prayer:

The early ritual of Bitcoin, which is still prevalent in the Bitcoin Cash/Bitcoin Cash SV communities, was the exchange of small amounts of Bitcoin from the evangelizer to the initiate. It was as a very powerful event to be able to involve a newcomer in a ritual that leaves them REAL value they can bring home. This has been mentioned as being that proverbial “aha!” for many early adopters, Economist Jeffrey Tucker specifically related this to me in an interview I had with him back in 2018 .

The Bitcoin Cash cult is similar to Protestantism in its rejection of the orthodoxy of Bitcoin core (BTC). It doesn’t believe that only specific forms of prayer (transactions) should exist, but that all forms of prayer should be promoted as healthy for the faith. Vin Armani a Bitcoin Cash supporter and CTO of CoinText stated that “The ritual of exchange is more personalized. There is not a prescribed method… ‘Just Pray’ it doesn’t matter where or how you pray.”

One can infer that Bitcoin BTC doesn’t value this sort of individualized prayer in the Temple and deigns it more fit for the community center next door. The importance is there but isn’t fit for the sacredness of a holy place.

Node as Truth & Defense:

Most early adopters also participated in what many consider the most important ritual in Bitcoin, which still survives in Bitcoin (BTC). Running a full node. It’s important to recognize the symbolic importance of the node in the context of what it does in Bitcoin.

Fiat currencies can and are manipulated, central banks print money without oversight and often cannot account for it after (see the congressional hearings where the Fed can’t account for where 9 Trillion in loans has gone after the 2008 crisis)

These authorities require TRUST in them while demanding the need for obfuscation of what they do and why. This is anathema to truth. Purity of information, objective truth is what underpins the ritual, one might call it a sacrament, of running a full node. When you first run a full node it downloads the ENTIRE history of Bitcoin onto your computer. The importance of this is rooted in the concept of attaining objective truth, which you are receiving a first hand from the network and not from a third party. Bitcoin itself is an objective truth, it cannot lie, it can only signal truth about its history and its status. By conducting this ritual you are bringing something that is very difficult to attain elsewhere into your home and more importantly your life.

Once the objective truth of the history of the Bitcoin blockchain has fully downloaded and you are synced with the network you can sync your other wallets with the node to ensure that you are only receiving that objective truth as it is created live. This is a sacrificial ritual as well since you are sacrificing bandwidth and electricity to keep your node live and online 24/7.

The full node is also a cultural community event as Bitcoin (BTC) views the network of user nodes to be its safety and most important defense against enemies; the larger the network of nodes the more powerful and resistant to attacks it is. Signaling you are running a full node to the community is also a rite of initiation to be fully accepted as more than just an observer of Bitcoin but a full participant; the chemical reaction of acceptance helps to bind one closer to the community.

Dietary Laws:

Dietary restrictions are an emergent phenomenon specifically within the Bitcoin (BTC) culture. This makes more sense as BTC is more of a hierarchical embracing culture more so than others.

Carnivory, the eating of only meat & fats, eschewing vegetables, fruits, and grain is a diet that has been adopted by a large majority of the Bitcoin (BTC) social elite. Bitcoin meetups that are centered around carnivory diet restrictions are becoming more commonplace.

These meetups are often at a per plate costs that would eliminate those of lower socioeconomic status or the merely curious from the public inferring that commitment and moderate prior financial success are necessary to participate.

Holy Days & Celebrations:

In every cult, there need to be days that bind the community together while providing a specific point in the future where happiness & celebration can reside. Bitcoin can be a stressful ride with rapid price movements, endless debates, and accusations of guilt by association with the worst aspects of dark markets. These holidays help to buffer the anxiety and provide periods of celebration that allow those concerns to fall away if for but an hour or day.

Bitcoin has 3 main holidays.

January 3rd – Celebrating when the Genesis Block was created and Bitcoin went from paper to a living network.

January 12th – First Transaction Sent from Satoshi Nakamoto to Hal Finney

May 22nd – Known as “Bitcoin Pizza Day” This marks the FIRST real-world transaction of Bitcoin for Goods & Services. Laszlo Hanyecz sent 10,000 Bitcoin to another Bitcoiner in exchange for 2 Papa Johns Pizzas. Similar to how in Christianity, Easter is a more important day, but Christmas is a more popular celebration, Bitcoin Pizza Day is one that is marked by more public celebrations despite being of less technical importance.

Lesser holidays Include

January 9th – Hal Finney tweeted “Running Bitcoin” marking the first known public acknowledgment of its existence.

August 1st – This was the day that Bitcoin first forked creating Bitcoin Cash. Both sides of the split were seen in 2019 to have minor holiday-themed mentions/celebrations of the split. It is unsure if this will continue to be celebrated or fade.

Symbolic Imagery

Immaculate Conception:

Bitcoin is rife with symbolic imagery the most pronounced being that of the “Immaculate Conception” of Bitcoin in contrast to other cryptocurrency and blockchain projects that have followed.

I first came upon this term in a tweetstorm by Giacomo Zucco, and am unsure if it was coined by him or not. For those readers who are not Catholics, within the tradition of Catholicism and some other Christian denominations there was a theological debate over Mary, the mother of Jesus, and whether or not she had the original sin from Adam & Eve as all of humanity does. Over centuries the theological writings stating that Mary was conceived without original sin unlike any other human in creation became dogma.

The allusion with Bitcoin is that it was uniquely conceived with the purity of purpose of Satoshi and without the sin that followed with other coins. It was bootstrapped from early days and the network grew in strength and resiliency before it was ever really known to the world. No other project could ever do this again because the world has eaten the fruit of the knowledge of Bitcoin and cant unsee the nakedness of financial potential gain or centralized control.

The Mythical Creator:

Satoshi Nakamoto is the most powerful of the Symbolic imagery and meme in Bitcoin. The genius of Bitcoin is abundant but the use by its creator of anonymity is the main ingredient in its staying power and growth. Humans have emotions, reactions, thoughts, opinions, etc. All of these things that you have ever done and said make up your history and create your identity. Anonymity allows an individual to afford a clean slate, which is why it is so popular in the comments sections of the internet. You have the ability to speak, yell or accuse without the consequence of reprisal but more importantly to say without prejudgment of your opinion based on your identity.

Without anonymity, the immaculate conception dies. Without anonymity, the mystery necessary for the appeal of Bitcoin isn’t present. Satoshi has no history in the past or future, he only has Bitcoin. The anonymity of Satoshi has allowed people to guess from a wild array of individuals without ever knowing if they are correct and has also allowed for speculation of supernatural origins. While the idea that Satoshi was supernatural or a time-traveling AI are patently ridiculous, his anonymity allows individuals to paint him as they need him to be, which is a powerful totem within Bitcoin. Bitcoin itself has been described as a perfect fit for both socialism and free-market capitalist systems depending on who you speak to allowing for its appeal to spread across political spectrums.

Its ethereal and objective nature allows people to paint Bitcoin as they need it to be perceived as; that emanates from the totem of Satoshi. He is the larger than life mystical creator that we cannot see or touch; he cannot be painted or sculpted only the subjective abstraction of each individuals concept of him can be.

The One True Church & Divine Right:

This strain of theology is most visible with Bitcoin Maximalists and to a lesser degree with your average Bitcoiner. Defining Maximalism is difficult as it can vary with the person who uses the title, but at a basic level, it’s someone who zealously embraces Bitcoin and rejects all other cryptocurrency projects with an equal amount of zeal. Some Maximalists may consider some aspects of other projects as being interesting, Monero as the most glaring example, but at the end of the day rejected it. This sets them apart from the average Bitcoiner who agree Bitcoin is the most important, but the nonmaximalist may dabble in the pantheistic heretical practices of using/supporting other projects they find interesting or hope to financially gain from.

Maximalists will harken back to the immaculate conception as a pseudo-supernatural origin of Bitcoin which imparts a divine right of sorts for its claim as the one true faith, whereas all others are heretical copies that turn believers into apostates.

Finding Meaning in Bitcoin

Prof. John Vervaeke of the University of Toronto has released a massive lecture series entitled “Awakening from the Meaning Crisis” which identifies the loss of traditional institutions, religion being the most important, as the main factor in the increase of nihilistic attitudes, suicides, drug addiction, and other societal ills. Without the tools and community that traditionally we found in these institutions that helped us find meaning we are adrift and often turning to inadequate or dangerous ends to fill the void of meaninglessness.

We see veganism, CrossFit or even Marianne Williamson as the “orbmother” promulgate in society precisely because people are SEARCHING INTENSIVELY to find meaning. Veganism and Crossfit provide supporting communities, rudimentary moral standards to abide by and ritualistic practices to rely on.

In some of the same ways, Bitcoin provides a base level of meaning for many as they begin to get involved with and understand the potential of Bitcoin. The meaning will be different for the individual but a common thread is that Bitcoin provides a clear goal that it is trying to achieve. This goal is humanitarian in nature so it also appeals to peoples sense of humanity and allows positive feelings about what you are doing.

This while simultaneously recognizing that by holding Bitcoin and promoting it you will be financially rewarded at a future date. One shouldn’t disregard the power of perceiving onself as being able to help humanity while also reaping immense financial rewards, it appeals to the duality of self and selfless interest without dissonance.

Bitcoin also changes one’s mental state and incentive structure. If you have an asset that will accrue in value over time you will sacrifice the present want for the future gain.

Humanity’s development of ritualistic sacrifice was a major leap forward. We were able to, through the ritual, understand that there is immense value to be found in not just consuming whatever we have available in the present but to save, to build and create more abundance at a later date. This type of thinking is what allowed civilizations to be built. You don’t build things when you are worried where the next meal will come from, you build great things when you have time to ponder and create.

Bitcoin shifts our mindset from consuming the present to the creation of a more valuable future. Dollars and other centralized currencies lose value every year, some at more rapid paces, others at a more stable rate, but the loss of value of your labor is present. You are either incentivized to spend or forced to seek out riskier investments such as the stock market in the hope of maintaining or growing the wealth you’ve already earned.

Bitcoin breaks this cycle.

The rituals and practices of Bitcoin will continue to adapt, evolve and grow over time as Bitcoin slowly envelopes the financial systems of the world and more people wake up to its memetic power and effects. Powerful tools attract powerful adherence.

(Article originally appeared on my medium page)