Bitcoin is Freedom: Rituals in Bitcoin Maximalism

The concept of religion has proved rhetorically useful for both advocates and detractors of Bitcoin in their analysis of this new digital technology for storing and exchanging value, highlighting the good and wholesome aspects of religion or its irrational and dogmatic tendencies respectively. But scholars of religion have, thus far, mostly ignored cryptocurrencies. This paper turns to ritual theory to help us better understand this new technology and the freedom that its advocates find in it. I describe what Bitcoin is, discuss the reasons its advocates consider it liberating, and identify rituals that sustain Bitcoin “maximalists” in spite of the volatility of crypto markets. I argue that investing in Bitcoin can be understood as a ritual action that seeks to restructure power relations in the global economy, resulting in a sense of personal dignity and freedom.