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@ Tim Bouma
2025-05-01 11:14:56
Bitcoin is not a mystic thing, it’s a math thing.
One of the big traps I see people falling into is making Bitcoin more than what it really is - it’s a technological innovation, not a religious innovation.
This does not take away from Bitcoin; I’m obsessed with Bitcoin because of what it can enable and more importantly, make obsolete.
As for Bitcoin becoming a mystical movement, or ‘religion’, I want no part of that.
While in India, I learned that history is repeating itself. The Jain religion, which values life and total non-violence, was never intended to be a religion. But because of their inviolable values, the Jains ended up being the storage and clearing houses for the traders, along the many tributaries of the Silk Road route. Using the architecture of the time, they built ‘temples’ to house the administrative processes, and before they know it, ‘poof’, it became yet another religious destination, and by association, became a religion. The traders liked it, but there was nothing better to back your promises and IOUs than a religion.
Bitcoin is on a similar trajectory. That’s ok, but I avoid anything that treats Bitcoin as mystical, and just focus on Bitcoin as technical.