19/04/2024

Elsa Marty

Scholars of religion have, by and large, ignored cryptocurrencies. Joseph Laycock has contemplated whether Bitcoin should be considered a religion, and Islamic scholars have debated whether various cryptocurrencies should be classified as halal or haram. But the discipline of religious studies has overlooked discourses emerging from marginalized communities that have embraced cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular as a means to support their struggles for empowerment and liberation. Whether as a means to subvert big banks, provide an alternative to inflationary currencies, enable refugees to travel with their assets, encourage the buildout of renewable energy infrastructure and convert methane gas to electricity, or bypass the restrictions of authoritarian regimes, progressive voices advocating for Bitcoin are growing in number. These arguments in favor of the use of Bitcoin parallel many of the areas of concern that typically fall under the purview of contextual and liberation theologies. Thus, in this paper, I propose that Bitcoin may be able to re-invigorate liberation theology, uniting marginalized communities across diverse contexts as they promote this new digital technology. Figures such as Lyn Alden, Alex Gladstein, Margot Paez, Mark Stephany, and Lamar Wilson do not explicitly engage with religious categories, yet their vision for the role of Bitcoin in creating a better world can fuel new avenues of exploration in the field of liberation theology. I am not proposing Bitcoin as a “savior” but rather as a means by which poor and marginalized communities can work toward achieving their aspirations of peace, justice, and equality.

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Michael Toy