Bitcoin is Biblical
A Look at Bitcoin through a Christian Lens
Bitcoin is areligious. It is the world’s first open, permission-less, decentralized, censorship-resistant, seizure-resistant, finite, global, immutable, digital money as Travis Kling summarizes. Bitcoin is a rabbit hole that takes us on a journey through a variety of topics, from finance and monetary history, to computer science and cryptography, to morality and sociology. Because money is involved in every facet of human interaction, it is not a coincidence that bitcoin takes its proponents into deep dives on so many seemingly unrelated topics. The Bible, which is Christianity’s instruction manual for living a Godly life, has a specific and consistent message regarding the subject of money. As the majority of our time is spent working towards earning money, it is then no surprise that Biblical teachings about the subject cover topics like: how and how not to treat our time, effort, value and money. Unfortunately, anyone that hears these Biblical teachings and tries to abide by them will not only have a difficult time, but will also be ridiculed for doing so. This is not an accident — it is a completely predictable result of the world’s current financial state, driven by central banking and its effects, namely: the artificial scarcity created by the reduction of the value of our money via inflation. To my knowledge, the book Thank God for Bitcoin is the only examination of the overlap of Bitcoin and the teachings of the Bible. This essay is my humble attempt at exploring this subject, through a slightly different lens.
First, some disclosures:
- I am a Coptic Orthodox Christian. The views expressed in this writing are solely mine and reflect only my thoughts on the subject matters herein.
- In this essay, I refer to “Christianity” quite broadly, keeping my focus on what the teachings of the Bible are, and not attributing any one sect’s interpretation of Biblical teachings, Dogma, or statements of Faith.
Biblical Teachings about Time, Effort, and Labor
Mankind has the freedom to choose. Choices have consequences.
This is a theme through-out the Bible. After all, what is Christianity but the story of humanity’s free choice to fall from grace, and God’s unconditional sacrifice by which He rescues us?
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16–18
From the very beginning, God gave us the freedom to choose. We make a free choice with every action we take, and those choices have always had consequences. God never restricted our choice, but made us aware of the consequences. The consequence of sin is death, and separation from Him. He loves us unconditionally, yet does not prohibit us from choosing to sin. Ironically, it is this exact freedom — the freedom to sin — which manifests His love for us. If we do not have the choice to sin, no choice but to live perfect lives, we would not be capable of loving Him back, by choosing to live and act in accordance to His commands.
“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13
“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people…” 1 Peter 2:15–17
“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” 1 Corinthians 6:12
Choosing what to do with our freedom is what defines us. God calls us to use our freedom for good: to serve one another (Galatians 5:13), to enlighten & honor each other (1 Peter 2:15), and to use our freedom productively, without being restrained by it (1 Corinthians 6:12).
It is this very freedom that defines humanity: we freely choose, therefore we can love. No freedom; no love. No freedom; no humanity. We pick our paths and enjoy or suffer the consequences.
It is precisely this principle — the freedom to act (hopefully in love), and endure the consequences — that is the very essence of our humanity, in accordance with all biblical teachings.
Labor is not free
“…In toil you shall eat of it. All the days of your life….” Genesis 3:17
God Himself is a worker (Genesis 2:1–3). As humans created in His image, we too are workers. Adam always had a job. His first job was to “tend and keep” the garden of Eden (Genesis 2). With the fall, humanity still had a job — except now effort was required to sustain life.
“in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground…” (Genesis 3:19)
“In all labor there is profit, but idle chatter leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23)
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work…” (Exodus 20:9)
It is labor that sustains life itself, and is, as such, sacred as life itself, which it begets. For this reason, laborers were more precious than goods (Genesis 14:21). Effort, in other words labor, had the highest value of any good. This is both rational, and can be seen as having been accepted as the natural order of things since the beginning:
Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.” Genesis 14:21
Lastly, labor is the only way of meaningful gain:
“Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished; but he who gathers by labor will increase.” Proverbs 13:11
Time is scarce
Not that this is not inherently obvious; it is. But the fact that the Bible emphasizes it, is meant to draw attention to the implications of that scarcity:
“…Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor…” Psalm 39:5
“Oh, remember that my life is a breath!” Job 7:7
“Remember how short my time is;
For what futility have You created all the children of men?” Psalm 89:47“Man is like a breathe; His days are like a passing shadow” Psalm 144:4
“ But this I say, brethren, the time is short…” 1 Corinthians 7:29
The Bible teaches in too many examples to do it justice in an essay, that the value of time is high, because of its scarcity: once it’s done, it’s done. It therefore follows that:
Effort and productivity matter — because labor is not free, and time is scarce
Squandering that which is scarce devalues it. This is especially true for time, which is absolutely scarce. It is no surprise then that the Bible teaches the importance of productivity, and for one to give forth their best effort, as to not devalue their time or labor.
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men…” Colossians 3:23–24
Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14–30
“For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” 1 Timothy 5:18
The Bible teaches us to work for the benefit of others, as well as ourselves. This is not in conflict with the first teaching of freedom, rather a supplement to it. In exercising our freedom, the Bible teaches that it is beneficial to freely choose to work for the benefit of others. Regardless of one’s view of Christianity, or Biblical teachings, this is logically coherent: we have freedom to choose what to do with our scarce time and valuable effort, thereby using them productively for the benefit of others gives us — both individually and collectively — the best return for our time and effort. You need not believe in Biblical teachings to accept the reality of this.
But how does this reconcile with the Biblical Teachings about giving?
Giving (voluntarily) is Blessed
It may seem contradictory that the Bible, while stressing the importance of labor and self-sustenance, also teaches the importance of giving:
“So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver..” 2 Corinthians 9:6
“There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty. The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself… He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like foliage” Proverbs 11:24–28
“…freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8
Yet with a closer examination of the Scripture, it becomes clear that the subject of giving is not in contradiction to the teachings about effort and productivity, rather it is complimentary. It goes back to the first point: freedom of choice and the choice to use that freedom for good. The Bible teaches us to not only work hard, but to choose to freely sacrifice the labors of our effort (which are valuable and scarce) for the benefit of others. This is not to encourage laziness nor is it to give a free pass to leeches –
“…nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves and example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we head that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.” 2 Thessalonians 3:12
“The lazy man will not plow because of winter; He will beg during harvest and have nothing.” Proverbs 20:4
– rather is it about the blessing that would ensue from freely giving that which is most valuable, scarce, and meaningfully to us: our labor and its fruits, to those who need it most:
“And do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Hebrews 13:16.
“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35
“The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself.” Proverbs 11:25
“…And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you always have all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance of every good work…” 2 Corinthians 9:8
It is only possible to receive such blessings, if we freely and voluntarily give that which is valuable and scarce to us. No freedom, no love, remember? It therefore follows that if that choice and freedom to freely give is taken away — that is if we do NOT have a choice to voluntarily give — that no such blessing can be had. So even in Its teachings about the importance of giving, the Scripture does not contradict or reduce the teachings of the scarcity of our time and value of our effort; rather compliments it. Because our time, effort, and their product: the fruits of our labor, are scarce, their voluntary concession to others is blessed.
“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. But love your enemies, do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Luke 6:32–35
To review:
- A person is free to act as they wish. Actions have consequences.
- Action, specifically labor, is not costless.
- Time, thereby effort, is scarce.
- Effort and productivity — that is what we do with our scarce time and action — are important
- Giving (of that which is valuable and scarce) is blessed.
So what does any of this have to do with money? Further, what does the Bible teach about money?
What is money?
This essay isn’t about money, but it would be impractical to have any meaningful idea exchange of Biblical teachings about money, before first defining it. Put simply, money is the man-made tool that is used to facilitate exchange of value from one party to another. As Dr. Saifedean Ammous puts it in The Bitcoin Standard, “…it [money] is a good purchased not to be consumed, nor to be employed in the production of other goods, but primarily for the sake of being exchanged for other goods.” In this sense, money is what you take in exchange for your efforts (payment), for the potential to trade for someone else’s efforts in the future. In other words, money is a store of labor; an IOU for future value exchange, which we receive for value we have already contributed. Anything can serve as money, and many things have historically served this role — but the choice of what to use as money is not without consequences.
For a more thorough and robust discussion of the topic of money, which will inevitably be a required journey for anyone keen on understanding bitcoin, read the following:
- The Bullish Case for Bitcoin by Vijay Boyapati
- The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous
- Gradually then Suddenly Series by Parker Lewis
As money is the materialization of our time and labor, Biblical teachings about time, labor, and money are all interconnected. With the definition of money under our belt, we can now examine what the Bible teaches us about money.
Biblical Teachings about Money
Value
As previously discussed, the Bible teaches that labor, the product of our time and effort, is valuable. And as our time is scarce, so also is our labor. This has implications: we shouldn’t squander it, we should value it appropriately, and we should freely (voluntarily and cheerfully) — and more importantly sacrificially — give of it to be blessed. Logically then, what we trade our time and effort for — money — should be equally valuable. Said another way, the value of something is what you’re willing to exchange for it; the value of our time, ourselves, is what we exchange (and in the case of our souls, what was exchanged) for it. This is once again in line with Biblical teaching:
“For you were bought at a price [Christ’s death]; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:20
“…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold… but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18–19
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.” Luke 21:1–4.
The above referenced verses all point to the notion of value exchange. Value is subjective; the value of something is what you’re willing to give for it. Give things up for that which is valuable, as God has given Himself for us who are valuable to Him. Give, out of your need, that which is valuable to you to God, to receive salvation. Whether you believe in these messages or not is not the point — the point here is that the lesson is clear: to receive something of value, you must give up something of value.
We see this dynamic as the normal function of society even in the ancient days, where weights of precious metals were used a measuring tool of value:
“And Abraham weighed out the silver for Ephron which he had named… four hundred shekels of silver, currency of the merchants.” Genesis 23:16
“… and weighed out to them the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering of the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered. I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold…and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. Watch and keep them until you weight them before the leaders and priests and the Levites and heads of the Fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord. So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.” Ezra 8:24–30
“So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my uncle who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the money — seventeen shekels of silver.” Jeremiah 32:9
So the Bible is clear about this: money — the thing you exchange for other things — should have value to you based on what you expect to get for it. Since our labor, the product of our time and effort are valuable, we should expect equal value in return for our offerings. This has implications.
Stewardship
Because time, effort, labor, fruits of our labor, and money are all valuable, the Bible teaches that we should be good stewards of that value:
“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’” Matthew 25:20–21
“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty… Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come…” 1 Timothy 6: 17–19
“And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has… For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Luke 12:42–48
Being faithful with what we have, what we earn, and what we produce — even growing and fostering it, is a Biblical command. This logic is consistent with the previous Biblical teachings; once again rational, regardless of one’s belief in Christianity. The Bible further examines the mechanism of this stewardship in action.
Planning and Saving
A strong theme in Biblical teachings is the importance of strategic planning for the future, and specifically the act of saving. This falls in logical sequence to the importance of being good stewards over the value we earn and create with our scarce time and effort. On the importance of planning for the future:
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, but those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5
“Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.” Proverbs 24:27
“Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds, for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations.” Proverbs 27:23–24
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it” Luke 14:28
It is impossible to plan ahead; plan for uncertainty, by definition, without having savings. This is both logical, and clear in the teachings of the Bible:
“Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land, to collect one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of those good years that are coming, and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities. Then that food shall be as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which shall be in the land of Egypt, that the land may not perish during the famine.” Genesis 41:34–36
“There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise, but a foolish man squanders it.” Proverbs 20:21
“There are four things which are little on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise: The ants are a people not strong, Yet they prepare their food in the summer…” Proverbs 30:24–25
“On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:2
As the Bible affirms, being good stewards of our value means planning for the future, and planning for the future is impossible without saving. It is only through capital accumulation, which is only possible through saving, that we can build things that will let us be more productive with our time and effort in the future, than we are today. This is again true, regardless of your religious persuasion and view of the Bible. As Saifedean Ammous puts it;
“Human life is lived with uncertainty as a given, and humans cannot know for sure when they will need what amount of money. It is common sense, and age-old wisdom in virtually all human cultures, for individuals to want to store some portion of their wealth in the form of money, because it is the most liquid holding possible, allowing the holder to quickly liquidate if she needs to, and because it involves less risk than any investment… See Ludwig von Mises’ Human Action, p. 250, for a discussion of how uncertainty about the future is the key driver of demand for holding money. With no uncertainty of the future, humans could know all their incomes and expenditures ahead of time and plan them optimally so they never have to hold any cash. But as uncertainty is an inevitable part of life, people must continue to hold money so they have the ability to spend without having to know the future. uncertainty about the future is the key driver of demand for holding money. With no uncertainty of the future, humans could know all their incomes and expenditures ahead of time and plan them optimally so they never have to hold any cash. But as uncertainty is an inevitable part of life, people must continue to hold money so they have the ability to spend without having to know the future.” The Bitcoin Standard, p.3
It is therefore both Biblical and logical to save — to be good stewards of the value we create with our scarce and valuable time and effort, and to plan for an uncertain future.
Yet modern day economic theory and reality make saving both impractical and unwise. “Hoarding money”, as if that’s a bad thing, is looked down on and a state to be avoided in today’s economic teachings. This view translates into monetary and fiscal policies, and has been since the early 20th century — it is a deliberate and concerted effort to steer people away from saving. Look no further than central bank policies that target a specific % of inflation: a devaluation-by-policy approach to ensuring no one in their right mind would “hoard cash”. No central bank in the world is an exception to this. Chances are if you’ve stumbled upon this essay, that this is not news to you. What may surprise you, dear reader, is that this was warned about in the Bible.
Warnings against easy money
While it is not often discussed amongst Christians and Biblical scholars, as money is not often discussed, the Bible has very clear warnings about easy money — that is, money whose supply is trivial to increase.
“All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon.” 2 Chronicles 9:20
Silver is the original easy money; it was easier to extract and refine than gold and thus lower in value, since it held its value less over time due to its relative abundance and ease of extraction. As Dr. Ammous puts it, “…the easy money trap: anything used as a store of value will have its supply increased, and anything whose supply can be easily increased will destroy the wealth of those who used it as a store of value.” The Bitcoin Standard, p.6.
Silver fell out of favor as a store of value, but was still useful as a medium of exchange for everyday transactions of small value. That use case is what kept it relevant, but the store of value (i.e. saving) function of money was reserved for the harder money, gold, just as described in the verse above.
This was not the only warning of easy money losing its value:
“Diverse weights and diverse measures, they are both alike, an abomination to the Lord… Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, and dishonest scales are not good.” Proverbs 20:10, 23
As previously discussed, weights of precious metals and stones were used as a measuring tool for value (Genesis 23:16; Ezra 8:24–30; Jeremiah 32:9)
What the verses above describe are deceitful tools used to deceive others into thinking they’re getting more value than they really were — a “diverse measure/weight” — i.e. a measure that was not really the weight it ought to be. This is no different than central bankers’ creation of money out of thin air today– money created out of thin air and handed to only certain people, those closest to the money printer — is a deceitful tool. By arbitrarily modifying the base money supply, central banks confuse and add noise to the measuring tool of value — money, which is the good by which we measure the relative value of all other goods and services… the modern day “weights and measures”. This is an “abomination” as the Bible describes it.
The warnings about easy money, and specifically its use for deceitful purposes or, put bluntly, as a form of theft, are not restricted only to the Old Testament.
“Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “it is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have it a ‘den of thieves.’” Matthew 21:12–13
This event took place during the Passover. Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly pilgrims, would visit the Temple in Jerusalem, where money changers were there exchanging Greek and Roman money for Jewish shekels. In the Gospels of St. Mark and St. Matthew’s account of this story, Jesus accuses the Temple authorities of thieving and deceit of the poor widows whose only hope was to offer a sacrifice to God in accordance with their rituals. The dove sellers specifically were taking advantage of the poor who could not afford more esteemed sacrifices, after they would have been taken advantage of by the money changers before they could make their purchase. Our Lord Jesus’ words do not leave room for interpretation of what He thought of this practice: “a den of thieves”. In accordance with Biblical teachings, those whose only contribution to society is to extract value from others by rent-seeking, or through seigniorage, or through any such abuse of command or authority, are thieves. In modern-day-terms, inflation of the money supply by central banks, the modern-day money changers, through the creation of money out of thin air, thereby extracting value from those who receive the benefit of that freshly printed money last, is theft.
The Bible has a stern warning to such practices, which impoverish the haves at the expense of the have-nots:
“He who oppresses the poor to increase his riches, and he who gives to the rich, will surely come to poverty… Do not rob the poor because he is poor… for the Lord will plead their cause and plunder the soul of those who plunder them” Proverbs 22:16, 22–23
If you have made it this far into the reading, I’m hoping the following point is clear: The Bible gives very sound instruction on how and how not to treat our time, effort, value and money, that cannot be followed due to the current financial system of the world, which is built on the abomination of central banking. We cannot follow the Biblical commands to save, be good stewards of our time, effort and productivity, plan for the future and save to be more productive, and so on, due to the artificial dwindling of the value of our money (and by extension our time, effort, labor) via inflation. So what’s the solution? Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is scarce
As previously discussed, our highly-valued time and effort are absolutely limited. As the Bible teaches, the value of our time and the labor which we spend our time on, is important. We should spend both in productive work for the benefit of ourselves and others. It is intuitive then to trade our time and effort for goods which honor that commandment. Money today — which does not hold its value, and by extension the value of our time and effort — fails at this specifically because it is easy money: produced at no cost and, by decree and policy, is built to lose its value over time at whatever the inflation rate de jour is in your central bank of choice.
Bitcoin is the opposite. It is absolutely scarce: only 21 million bitcoin can ever exist. No government, company, person or group, hacker, or any other entity can change this fact. Bitcoin was created to be a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that fundamentally erodes the need for any trusted third party with our money, allowing anyone anywhere who connects to the bitcoin network to trade with anyone else with no need to change currencies — no money changers needed. There are plenty of resources to learn more about how bitcoin works, and how the enforcement of the 21 million supply cap works. I encourage you to verify, don’t trust, but for the purposes of this essay I’d like to focus on the implications of Bitcoin’s scarcity on life as the Bible advises us to live.
Implications of Bitcoin’s Absolute Scarcity
- Time Preference
The concept of time preference, that is an individual’s preference for the present vs. the future and the trade-offs individuals make based on this preference, is a fundamental building block for human civilization. Chapter 5 of the Bitcoin Standard by Dr. Saifedean Ammous describes the relationship between money and time preference in great detail; I encourage you to read and understand it. The key takeaway, specifically as it pertains to the purpose of this essay, is that sound money, bitcoin being the soundest, is a universal opportunity cost measure. As a good portion of the world has now witnessed or heard of Bitcoin, whether they like it or not, believe in it or not, when Bitcoin’s price appreciation continues, they will think “I wish I would’ve bought some when I first heard of it.” Many are waking up to this reality every day. There are even calculators set up to materialize this opportunity cost:
https://www.microstrategy.com/en/hyperintelligence/asset-vs-btc
just to name a few.
This realization — that investment in bitcoin will outperform any other investment on a multi-year time horizon — will inevitably lead to individual choice to discount the future less than our current monetary and fiscal policies call for: spend now at all costs.
What does this have to do with Biblical teaching? This small but powerful shift in individual decision making will have ripple effects:
2. Saving will make a comeback
In the era of fiat money before Bitcoin, savers were punished, and therefore not able to preserve the value of their effort across time. This was done out of necessity, as anyone looking to preserve their wealth could only do so by incurring risk (i.e. investment) and therefore unable to abide by the Biblical teachings of the virtues of savings. Since there is now a way to store value across time, and more importantly, an opportunity cost of NOT saving (in bitcoin), individuals who save the fruits of their labor and time in bitcoin will be rewarded. This is in line with Biblical teachings on the subject as discussed previously. Only now, there is an actual useful tool for saving, where all else have failed in the era of fiat money. It doesn’t stop there, the ripple effects continue:
3. Stewardship and Planning Ahead
As individuals voluntarily opt into saving their effort, time, and fruits of their labor in sound money and their purchasing power increases, they will free themselves from the constant sprint on the accelerating hamster wheel of inflation. No longer hampered by the need to constantly worry about the day’s or week’s or month’s bills, individuals will have the freedom and mental bandwidth to think about and plan for their future, powered by sound money. Only in a world where saving is possible, and capital accumulation is achievable for everyone equally, not just those closest to the money spigot, can effective stewardship and sound future-planning take place. Bitcoin, unlike the current fiat regime, make this Biblical teaching of proper stewardship of our value possible.
4. Giving
As Robert Breedlove puts it, fiat money creates artificial scarcity by placing a monetary premium on essential consumption goods that would otherwise not have such premium. Real estate, for example, has gone up in value not in scale with population growth (and thereby the natural demand for it), rather as a function of central bank balance sheets and money supply. Since this new money supply does not distribute equally to all — those with access to the newly created money first get to enjoy its benefits first, bidding up asset prices and pricing those further away from the money spigot out of the market. This artificial scarcity powered by the money printer creates a divide in society and instills a culture of me-first attitude, as people compete for an artificially suppressed supply of essentials. When the cost of a roof over one’s head increases not in conjunction with one’s salary, but with the growth of the money supply, this impacts one’s ability to provide other basic necessities like food and clothing, which in turn limits one’s ability to do good for others. Artificial scarcity driven by inflation does not just stop at the goods and services level. Perhaps its worst impact is that of our time. As Jeff Booth points out in The Price of Tomorrow, technology advances are deflationary, and as such, should, if we let them, free up our time. The opposite is also true of inflationary monetary policy which, to fight the natural forces of deflationary technology, must command more of our time to work. Inflation robs us of our time at an increasing rate as time goes on. While the Bible clearly teaches to give out of our need to others, it is a practically impossible task for even the most selfless of individuals when inflation is robbing their purchasing power and time at an ever-accelerating rate. The uncertainty of the future and constant debasement of 99% of people’s purchasing power leave us in the precarious position of choosing whether to save for a rainy day to meet our current and future basic needs, or to give to others who will certainly still be in the same needful situation tomorrow as an unavoidable consequence of accelerating inflationary policies worldwide.
Enter Bitcoin. As the world embraces Bitcoin and reap the benefits of a society run on sound money, the artificial scarcity created by the inflationary monetary policies will dwindle away. More importantly, the 2nd and 3rd order effects of this artificial scarcity will also go with it. At the individual level, as our concerns about our future subside, we can focus our attention on not just our families’ and loved ones’ futures, but that of our society at large. It becomes a significantly more important and meaningful activity to engage in the betterment of society. This would involve giving, but more than just money. As we allow technology deflation to free up our time, as well as money, we’ll have more of it to voluntarily give. This will not be just altruistic, it will in a sense be motivated by selfishness. Building strong communities based on low time preference with an emphasis on future generations will become the norm, as people focus more of their energy and time on building communities that last.
“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Proverbs 27:17
In other words, because we’ll want to have better future for our children and grandchildren, we’ll look to build strong communities, push each other to be better and lift each other up when needed (via giving of not just money, but our time), similar to the society of the Roman Empire in its height. Giving, in a sound money world, becomes a pseudo-selfish obligation, not just a virtuous altruistic act.
“…that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance of every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8
Bitcoin Fixes This
The Biblical teachings on time, effort, labor, money, saving, planning, stewardship, and scarcity are areligious. The messages in the Bible about these topics are true logically, regardless of one’s position on the Bible or Christianity. Truth is self-evident. Deceit is not, as it is obfuscated by layers of bureaucracy, illogical mazes of “trust the experts’’ publications, and a general attitude of “in the long term, we’re all dead”. This is the current state of money today, and by extension all actions that involve transfer of value — almost everything. A base money layer that can be controlled by, and bent to the whims of a select group is the foundation for a world built on deceit; money being the fabric of all social interaction and value exchange. Left to be malleable and mutable to those who control it, it is
“…like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:26–27
Bitcoin fixes this is not just a meme; it’s an observation that much of what’s wrong with the world today is due to the layers and layers of lies built on top of a corruptible, and malleable monetary system that due to our human imperfection, became filled with deceit. A world that is built on sound money, is a world built on truth:
“… a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.” Matthew 7:24–25
Bitcoin is often referred to as the Truth Machine; humanity’s first and only creation of an incorruptible substance as Robert Breedlove terms it. This, like all truth, is self-evident to those who seek it. To come full circle: the first point made in this essay is regarding humanity’s freedom to choose, and to live with the consequences of those choices. Bitcoin is an opt-in system. Fiat is not. Choose wisely.
For a more thorough discussion on the implications of Bitcoin’s propagation of truth, read Thank God for Bitcoin.
Resources
If you’ve enjoyed reading this and want to learn more, there are plenty of useful resources to take the next step in your Bitcoin learning journey. Here’s a starting point:
- The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous (@saifedean) — for an economic and historical point of view on Bitcoin’s existence.
- The Bullish Case for Bitcoin by Vijay Boyapati — in my opinion, still the best short (relatively) read in existence for understanding why Bitcoin has and will continue to succeed.
- 21 Lessons by Gigi — for a dive into 2nd and 3rd order effects of Bitcoin’s existence
- Thank God for Bitcoin by Bitcoin and Bible Group — for societal implications of Bitcoin’s existence from a Christian perspective.
- Hard Money Film by Richard James — for a review of how money evolved over the generations and the current state of the world’s monetary policies
- Gradually then Suddenly Series by Parker Lewis — for a first-principles takedown of most newcomers’ first hurdles when learning about Bitcoin.
- bitcoin-resources.com — for a comprehensive, curated list of additional resources
Recognition and Gratitude
Thanks to Lyle Pratt, Dergigi, Tomer Strolight, Mklad, MSAndrawis for their valuable input and tireless editing of this essay. Give them a follow!
