Cryptocurrency is largely gambling at best and frequently a scam. But I believe the tech behind some crypto has potential. As a matter of fact, I think that the tech behind cryptocurrency could significantly help change humanity, the world and AI for the better.
When the church I serve in Miami started accepting cryptocurrency on Easter of 2022, one of my congregants who is a significant figure in the finance world, said to me with a smirk in the reception line – “so we’re into that now?” The implication seemed to be that, compared to traditional investing, crypto is unstable. That would be an understatement.
If we are telling the truth – crypto-currency is more than just unstable – it’s outright risky. But in a world where people YOLO their government subsidies into GameStop, gamble on their fantasy sports team picks on their cell phone and take out loads of student loans to get through higher education – it’s difficult to find an investment strategy that isn’t actually risky. Every investment has a level of risk. What individuals must decide is what are their goals and what is their risk tolerance.
When we made our announcement on Easter – it immediately went viral on the internet. Many positive news articles were written about our church which is in the heart of the Miami financial district. And, notably – we received donations of Bitcoin and Dogecoin that morning as we celebrated the Risen Lord.
To be clear – our church doesn’t hold the crypto donated to it. Donations are immediately converted into fiat and deposited into our bank account to be used for the mission of the church. The reason for this is that we want to eliminate our risk, given that much of the crypto world is a rug-pull waiting to happen.
But I think that, when it comes to technology, humanity also needs to be careful not to throw the crypto baby out with the bathwater. There are numerous reasons for this, but the best one, in my opinion, is because nearly all crypto currencies use a technology has the potential to radically change the world for the better. That technology is called the blockchain.
The blockchain is an interlocking accountability system that links “blocks” containing a list of, at least in theory, unalterable transactions forming a “chain.” I say “at least in theory” because it is theoretically possible for parts of the blockchain to be rewritten. This could potentially be done by a superintelligent-AI quietly gaining control over more than 50% of the networks nodes (computers) on a mass scale and surpassing existing rapid detection and security measures. But if this were to happen, humanity would likely be facing much greater problems in the financial world and elsewhere.
So even with this theoretical risk in a rapidly developing world of AI tech, the idea of the blockchain has value because it raises the potential for accountability in the world which increases the likelihood of humanity continuing to build, refine and advance systems of trust. And a lack of trust is one of the main reasons that the world still has so many solvable problems today.
The church universal is a perfect example of one place in the world where there is often a lack of trust. While most churches around the world today do great work in helping individuals and their community at large – the unethical behavior of various churches and related institutions throughout history have largely created a healthy skepticism by people. Many wonder whether or not they should trust churches. The implication being that compared to the teachings of Jesus, institutional religion is unstable. That would be an understatement.
But coming full circle, this is where emerging tech like the blockchain may have the potential to help religious institutions – not to mention – humanity and the world. Because, if we can begin to build systems of trust through technological means that foster values like transparency, accountability, integrity, security, reliability, fairness, empathy, collaboration, innovation, inclusion, empowerment, resilience and sustainability – then not only will we be bettering humanity and the world but we’ll have a much better shot at ensuring that the theoretical AI threat that could undermine those systems never has a chance to come about.
