How Major World Religions Perceive Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency in 2025
Exploring Views from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism on Bitcoin and Crypto
Since money first emerged, the world’s leading religions have wrestled with its impact on human ethics, wealth disparities, and the struggles of those in need. Think of it like a double-edged sword—capable of uplifting or corrupting. A 19th-century Hasidic leader once noted that money can taint even the purest hearts, while historical religious texts warn against greed and exploitation. Fast forward to today, October 21, 2025, and these same Abrahamic faiths—Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—are navigating the rise of cryptocurrency, a digital form of money that’s grown to a global market cap exceeding $2.5 trillion, according to recent CoinMarketCap data.
This new era of finance, dominated by assets like Bitcoin, which hit all-time highs above $90,000 this year amid regulatory shifts, challenges traditional notions of value and morality. Let’s dive into how these religions are responding, blending ancient wisdom with modern tech.
Debating Halal and Haram in Islamic Views on Cryptocurrency
Without a single authoritative figure like a pope, Islam relies on scholars to interpret whether Bitcoin and cryptocurrency align with Shariah principles. Key concerns revolve around what makes a currency permissible, including bans on interest (riba) and excessive uncertainty (gharar). As of 2025, the debate remains lively, with global crypto adoption in Muslim-majority countries surging—Turkey alone boasts over 10 million crypto users, per Statista reports.
Some experts argue that certain cryptocurrencies can be halal if tied to ethical projects, avoiding speculation that resembles gambling. For instance, Malaysia’s religious council deemed crypto questionable back in 2021 due to volatility and risk, a stance echoed in ongoing discussions. Critics point out that Bitcoin lacks inherent value and tangibility, making it unfit as Islamic money. Yet, supporters highlight innovations like Shariah-compliant tokens.
Projects such as ISLM continue to thrive, built on a blockchain called Haqq that emphasizes truth and ethical compliance. It uses tools like Shariah Oracle to vet smart contracts, ensuring they meet Islamic ethics. Analysts note that with clearer regulations emerging in places like the UAE, where crypto trading volumes reached $34 billion in 2024, more Muslims are finding ways to invest faithfully. Recent Twitter buzz, including posts from influencers like @IslamicFinanceHub sharing polls on halal crypto (with 65% of respondents in a 2025 thread viewing it positively), shows growing acceptance. Official announcements from bodies like Indonesia’s Ulema Council in early 2025 have even approved select stablecoins for remittances, reducing uncertainty.
Imagine cryptocurrency as a marketplace bazaar: if the goods are pure and transactions fair, it’s welcoming; otherwise, it’s off-limits. This analogy helps explain why rating systems from groups like Practical Islamic Finance label assets as comfortable or uncertain, guiding believers toward aligned choices.
Christian Perspectives on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Embrace and Caution
With around 2.4 billion followers worldwide as of 2025 UN estimates, Christianity’s take on cryptocurrency varies across its many branches, much like diverse interpretations of scripture. Conservative groups, such as the Russian Orthodox Church, still reject it outright, refusing donations in digital forms since their 2018 stance. The Catholic Church, led by Pope Francis, has voiced wariness about over-relying on tech, warning in recent addresses about a “technocratic mindset” that ignores human dignity.
Yet, plenty of Christians see blockchain as a tool for good, akin to the biblical call for stewardship. Take the 2024 tokenization of a historic Colorado church on Polymesh blockchain—it rallied community support to preserve the site, highlighting crypto’s potential for collective ownership. Pastor Blake Bush described it as a heartfelt way to blend faith and technology for communal benefit.
Bitcoin, in particular, resonates with some as a fairer alternative to traditional money. Jordan Bush, behind the Thank God for Bitcoin initiative, draws from experiences aiding Venezuelan refugees whose economy crumbled due to hyperinflation—Venezuela’s inflation rate hit 130,000% in 2018, per IMF data, pushing many toward crypto. He argues fiat systems enable unchecked power, contrasting with Bitcoin’s scarcity, which echoes the biblical principle of reaping what you sow from Galatians. “It’s about rejecting rent-seeking and embracing honest value exchange,” he explains, positioning Bitcoin as a moral counter to inflationary policies.
Recent Google searches spike for “Christian views on Bitcoin investing,” with queries up 40% in 2025, often linking to discussions on ethical mining and charitable uses. On Twitter, threads like #FaithAndCrypto trend, with a viral post from @BitcoinBible in September 2025 garnering 50,000 likes for comparing Bitcoin’s decentralized nature to early church communities. Official church statements, such as a 2025 Protestant alliance endorsement of blockchain for transparent aid distribution, signal evolving embrace.
Jewish Law’s Take on Bitcoin as a Commodity, Not Currency
In Judaism, cryptocurrency like Bitcoin isn’t seen as true money under halakhah, which defines currency by government backing or widespread acceptance. Instead, it’s treated as a commodity, similar to borrowing apples—you repay the value, not the exact item. This stems from ancient principles like se’ah b’se’ah, ensuring fair loans based on market worth.
Rabbis today apply this to modern scenarios, debating if loans in dollars abroad must adjust for currency fluctuations to avoid hidden interest. As global crypto markets evolve, with Bitcoin’s volatility dropping to under 40% annualized in 2025 (per Bloomberg data), these discussions gain relevance. A timeless Talmudic tale illustrates: a man hoards diamonds on an island where fish are currency, only to return home wealthy from a forgotten gem but broke from rotten fish. The moral? Value is subjective, driven by perception—much like crypto’s worth, which soared with institutional adoption, including over $50 billion in Bitcoin ETFs by mid-2025.
Friedman emphasizes spiritual investments as the ultimate store of value, eternal unlike fleeting assets. Google trends show “Judaism and cryptocurrency” searches peaking in 2025 amid Israel’s booming tech scene, where crypto startups raised $2.8 billion last year. Twitter debates, like a October 2025 thread by @JewishCrypto with 10,000 engagements on kosher NFTs, reflect hot topics. Recent updates include a Tel Aviv rabbinical council’s 2025 guideline approving crypto for charitable giving if transparently tracked.
When it comes to aligning your crypto investments with personal or religious values, platforms like WEEX exchange stand out for their commitment to ethical trading. WEEX prioritizes user security and transparency, offering Shariah-compliant options and tools that help faith-based investors navigate the market without compromising principles. With low fees, robust compliance features, and a user-friendly interface, WEEX empowers you to trade Bitcoin and other assets confidently, fostering a sense of trust and community in the volatile crypto world.
These religious lenses remind us that money, whether digital or traditional, is a tool shaped by intent. As cryptocurrency evolves, it invites deeper reflection on ethics, much like comparing a stable gold standard to the fluid waves of market sentiment—ultimately, its value lies in how we use it.
FAQ
Is cryptocurrency considered halal in Islam?
It depends on the scholar and the specific crypto. Many view it as halal if the project avoids gambling and interest, with tools like Shariah-compliant blockchains helping ensure alignment. Always consult a trusted Islamic advisor for personal guidance.
How do Christians use Bitcoin for good?
Some Christians leverage Bitcoin for ethical purposes, like funding missions or community projects, seeing its fixed supply as aligning with biblical fairness. Initiatives like church tokenizations demonstrate its potential for positive impact.
Can Jews invest in cryptocurrency under halakhah?
Yes, but it’s treated as a commodity, not currency, requiring value-based repayments in loans. Focus on market perceptions and ethical uses to stay compliant with Jewish law.
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Debunking the AI Doomsday Myth: Why Establishment Inertia and the Software Wasteland Will Save Us
Editor's Note: Citrini7's cyberpunk-themed AI doomsday prophecy has sparked widespread discussion across the internet. However, this article presents a more pragmatic counter perspective. If Citrini envisions a digital tsunami instantly engulfing civilization, this author sees the resilient resistance of the human bureaucratic system, the profoundly flawed existing software ecosystem, and the long-overlooked cornerstone of heavy industry. This is a frontal clash between Silicon Valley fantasy and the iron law of reality, reminding us that the singularity may come, but it will never happen overnight.
The following is the original content:
Renowned market commentator Citrini7 recently published a captivating and widely circulated AI doomsday novel. While he acknowledges that the probability of some scenes occurring is extremely low, as someone who has witnessed multiple economic collapse prophecies, I want to challenge his views and present a more deterministic and optimistic future.
In 2007, people thought that against the backdrop of "peak oil," the United States' geopolitical status had come to an end; in 2008, they believed the dollar system was on the brink of collapse; in 2014, everyone thought AMD and NVIDIA were done for. Then ChatGPT emerged, and people thought Google was toast... Yet every time, existing institutions with deep-rooted inertia have proven to be far more resilient than onlookers imagined.
When Citrini talks about the fear of institutional turnover and rapid workforce displacement, he writes, "Even in fields we think rely on interpersonal relationships, cracks are showing. Take the real estate industry, where buyers have tolerated 5%-6% commissions for decades due to the information asymmetry between brokers and consumers..."
Seeing this, I couldn't help but chuckle. People have been proclaiming the "death of real estate agents" for 20 years now! This hardly requires any superintelligence; with Zillow, Redfin, or Opendoor, it's enough. But this example precisely proves the opposite of Citrini's view: although this workforce has long been deemed obsolete in the eyes of most, due to market inertia and regulatory capture, real estate agents' vitality is more tenacious than anyone's expectations a decade ago.
A few months ago, I just bought a house. The transaction process mandated that we hire a real estate agent, with lofty justifications. My buyer's agent made about $50,000 in this transaction, while his actual work — filling out forms and coordinating between multiple parties — amounted to no more than 10 hours, something I could have easily handled myself. The market will eventually move towards efficiency, providing fair pricing for labor, but this will be a long process.
I deeply understand the ways of inertia and change management: I once founded and sold a company whose core business was driving insurance brokerages from "manual service" to "software-driven." The iron rule I learned is: human societies in the real world are extremely complex, and things always take longer than you imagine — even when you account for this rule. This doesn't mean that the world won't undergo drastic changes, but rather that change will be more gradual, allowing us time to respond and adapt.
Recently, the software sector has seen a downturn as investors worry about the lack of moats in the backend systems of companies like Monday, Salesforce, Asana, making them easily replicable. Citrini and others believe that AI programming heralds the end of SaaS companies: one, products become homogenized, with zero profits, and two, jobs disappear.
But everyone overlooks one thing: the current state of these software products is simply terrible.
I'm qualified to say this because I've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Salesforce and Monday. Indeed, AI can enable competitors to replicate these products, but more importantly, AI can enable competitors to build better products. Stock price declines are not surprising: an industry relying on long-term lock-ins, lacking competitiveness, and filled with low-quality legacy incumbents is finally facing competition again.
From a broader perspective, almost all existing software is garbage, which is an undeniable fact. Every tool I've paid for is riddled with bugs; some software is so bad that I can't even pay for it (I've been unable to use Citibank's online transfer for the past three years); most web apps can't even get mobile and desktop responsiveness right; not a single product can fully deliver what you want. Silicon Valley darlings like Stripe and Linear only garner massive followings because they are not as disgustingly unusable as their competitors. If you ask a seasoned engineer, "Show me a truly perfect piece of software," all you'll get is prolonged silence and blank stares.
Here lies a profound truth: even as we approach a "software singularity," the human demand for software labor is nearly infinite. It's well known that the final few percentage points of perfection often require the most work. By this standard, almost every software product has at least a 100x improvement in complexity and features before reaching demand saturation.
I believe that most commentators who claim that the software industry is on the brink of extinction lack an intuitive understanding of software development. The software industry has been around for 50 years, and despite tremendous progress, it is always in a state of "not enough." As a programmer in 2020, my productivity matches that of hundreds of people in 1970, which is incredibly impressive leverage. However, there is still significant room for improvement. People underestimate the "Jevons Paradox": Efficiency improvements often lead to explosive growth in overall demand.
This does not mean that software engineering is an invincible job, but the industry's ability to absorb labor and its inertia far exceed imagination. The saturation process will be very slow, giving us enough time to adapt.
Of course, labor reallocation is inevitable, such as in the driving sector. As Citrini pointed out, many white-collar jobs will experience disruptions. For positions like real estate brokers that have long lost tangible value and rely solely on momentum for income, AI may be the final straw.
But our lifesaver lies in the fact that the United States has almost infinite potential and demand for reindustrialization. You may have heard of "reshoring," but it goes far beyond that. We have essentially lost the ability to manufacture the core building blocks of modern life: batteries, motors, small-scale semiconductors—the entire electricity supply chain is almost entirely dependent on overseas sources. What if there is a military conflict? What's even worse, did you know that China produces 90% of the world's synthetic ammonia? Once the supply is cut off, we can't even produce fertilizer and will face famine.
As long as you look to the physical world, you will find endless job opportunities that will benefit the country, create employment, and build essential infrastructure, all of which can receive bipartisan political support.
We have seen the economic and political winds shifting in this direction—discussions on reshoring, deep tech, and "American vitality." My prediction is that when AI impacts the white-collar sector, the path of least political resistance will be to fund large-scale reindustrialization, absorbing labor through a "giant employment project." Fortunately, the physical world does not have a "singularity"; it is constrained by friction.
We will rebuild bridges and roads. People will find that seeing tangible labor results is more fulfilling than spinning in the digital abstract world. The Salesforce senior product manager who lost a $180,000 salary may find a new job at the "California Seawater Desalination Plant" to end the 25-year drought. These facilities not only need to be built but also pursued with excellence and require long-term maintenance. As long as we are willing, the "Jevons Paradox" also applies to the physical world.
The goal of large-scale industrial engineering is abundance. The United States will once again achieve self-sufficiency, enabling large-scale, low-cost production. Moving beyond material scarcity is crucial: in the long run, if we do indeed lose a significant portion of white-collar jobs to AI, we must be able to maintain a high quality of life for the public. And as AI drives profit margins to zero, consumer goods will become extremely affordable, automatically fulfilling this objective.
My view is that different sectors of the economy will "take off" at different speeds, and the transformation in almost all areas will be slower than Citrini anticipates. To be clear, I am extremely bullish on AI and foresee a day when my own labor will be obsolete. But this will take time, and time gives us the opportunity to devise sound strategies.
At this point, preventing the kind of market collapse Citrini imagines is actually not difficult. The U.S. government's performance during the pandemic has demonstrated its proactive and decisive crisis response. If necessary, massive stimulus policies will quickly intervene. Although I am somewhat displeased by its inefficiency, that is not the focus. The focus is on safeguarding material prosperity in people's lives—a universal well-being that gives legitimacy to a nation and upholds the social contract, rather than stubbornly adhering to past accounting metrics or economic dogma.
If we can maintain sharpness and responsiveness in this slow but sure technological transformation, we will eventually emerge unscathed.
Source: Original Post Link

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