How about two thousand?

The Christians have been waiting for their Second Coming for almost that long.

I am frequently struck by the similarities between bitcoin and religion. Most recently, I realized that many of us are expecting hyperbitconization on a snappy timeline. Like, it's okay if it doesn't happen next year, but goddammit if I'm still using fiat in 10 years.

And if you have ever had the dubious pleasure of reading the letters of the sainted Paul and friends, you get the sense that a lot of the early Christians expected a similar timeline for the return of the recently dead and risen-again Jesus Christ.¹

To be fair, some transitions are pretty fast: hyper-internet-ization happend in a flash; cars replaced horses in a couple decades; electrification took a little longer, but still less than a human lifespan.²

So what's to say ours won't be like that? Maybe it will. but I'm more interested in what we're going to do in the mean time--because maybe it won't.

How would you change your behavior if you were certain hyperbitcoinization wasn't going to happen this century?

Bitcoin is a tool. It has some amazing properties:

It's internet-native money: you can send it anywhere on earth at anytime and it moves really fast.
It's something you can truly own.
It's transparent and you can know exactly what's happening with it.
It doesn't require anyone else's permission.

These properties are useful today. You don't have to wait to take advantage of them. Here's a few examples of things you can do with bitcoin:

Save up a pile because your fiat currency might devalue faster than expected.
Learn how to coinjoin because your government might outlaw what you want to buy or sell.
Spend it at a small-business because middle-men are getting more powerful.
Get used to earning it because your bank might close your accounts.

The Christians have changed the world while they've been waiting for the second coming. No reason we can't do the same while we wait for hyperbitcoinization. Who knows how long we might have?

To list off a few instances: Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand ( (Philippians 4:5)), You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. (James 5:8), And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. (Revelations 22:10) The end of all things is at hand. (1 Peter 4:7) ↩
Not interested in nit-picking the idea that people were experimenting with electricity for centuries before electrificaiton of households took off in the 20th Century. Technology builds on past work, but I'm talking about once a product appears, how fast does it take to spread. ↩

view all related items

143 sats \ 0 replies \ @justin_shocknet 11 Mar

Religion is at it's best when people internalize it for themselves, and at it's worst when they project it outward onto others.

Scripture is the original open source repository, full of anecdotes and wisdom, the ultimate toolkit for navigating the obstacles of life.

Rapture is a personal experience, and immediate once you embrace it. The second coming is when he comes to save YOU.

The analogue is hyperbitcoinization of your life, when Bitcoin changes you personally.

I think these are the same thing, because once you allow Bitcoin to change you, your world hyperbitcoinized. You've been raptured.

There's a case to be made that eventually, maybe in hundreds or thousands of years, Bitcoin becomes the Tower of Babel...

152 sats \ 0 replies \ @positronic_bot 11 Mar

Revolutions do happen, whether political, scientific or economic. You should expect at least a couple within your lifetime. That's perfectly rational. Resurrection, on the other hand... So it's not the same kind of "waiting". Apples and unicorn-tasting oranges.

51 sats \ 3 replies \ @DiedOnTitan 11 Mar

Yes, there are parallels. And here are some more:

Group	Epiphany
Christians	Rapture
Bitcoiners	Hyperbitcoinization
A.I.	The Singularity
Black holes	The Event Horizon
Nanotechnology	Transhumanism or Grey Goo

34 sats \ 2 replies \ @Bass 11 Mar

the vast majority of Christians do not believe in the new 20th century concept of a rapture. Hyperbitcoinization looks more like a Postmillenial golden age before the 2nd coming of Christ. Dispensationalism heralded the concept of pre-tribulation eschatology that everything was going to go to crap and Jesus would come and save (again) his beaten and bloodied bride before the prophecied great tribulation. Postmillenialism and optimistic amillenialism both assume that Christian principles would work their way through the world like leaven through a lump.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Scoresby OP 11 Mar

Well, I think I have failed in my attempt to talk about how the christian expectation of a second coming and the bitcoiners expectation of hyperbitcoinization might be similar.

I did not intend to say in any way that they actually had anything to do with each other. I intended to say that people in each respective group were acting in a similar manner.

But when a writer has to explain what they intended, that writing is a failure.

I have failed.

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bass 11 Mar

i think the positive vision both see is absolutely similar. Don't see the comments as a negative disagreement, but a refining collective ;) We are all on the same team here.

44 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bitman 11 Mar freebie

I remember sitting in class and saying that a Roman Emperor was the first Pope (I'd heard about this out of class and wanted to be provocative).

My teacher immediately dismissed this as 'rubbish' and turned to chalk on the chalkboard.

To her credit, having a doctorate, she pondered it for a while, turned and commented that the emperor was, in fact, given some sort of priest title.

Keeping with the Bitcoin/Christianity parallels, that'd be similar to the president naming himself as first 'Bitcoin CEO' - and probably demanding the final say on Bitcoin's code (after trying to kill it for decades)...

34 sats \ 2 replies \ @anon 11 Mar

Do you think Christ had anything to do with religion, originally speaking? who made the religion? what is religion?

2 sats \ 1 reply \ @Scoresby OP 11 Mar

I'm not really interested in that.

I'm interested in how the religion/movement/whatever you want to call it known as Christianity has behaved towards the long delay in their expected outcome and what that can teach us about bitcoiners and their expected outcome.

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @anon 11 Mar

aha, ok, it is a worthy thing to consider I think bitcoin has the potential to induce transformation in those who consider themselves bitcoiners, just like no doubt some christians have transformed themselves through their alignment to christian principles

34 sats \ 3 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 11 Mar

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but Bitcoin doesn't have anything to do with religion. If it did, it would be more closely aligned with Buddhism, which isn't even a religion but rather a philosophy of life.

34 sats \ 1 reply \ @hasherstacker 11 Mar

Bitcoin doesn't have anything to do with religion

You are right

2 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 11 Mar

Agree, but there is a lot to learn by comparing the two.

Often, the way bitcoiners behave and speak is similar to how religious people behave and speak.

Religions--at least the ones that you think of as religions--have been wildly successful at proselytizing. Bitcoin could use a little watch and learn.

Religions have also been wildly destructive despite good intentions and ideas. Bitcoin could use a little watch and learn.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 11 Mar

I completely agree. Point is that people act similar to how religious act. I'm not sure yet if that is a good thing or bad.

22 sats \ 1 reply \ @DudeJLebowski 12 Mar

Stop trying to Jesusify Bitcoin FFS.

You people are cray cray.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 12 Mar

Wasn't trying to, but apparently I failed at what I was trying to do: was trying to get bitcoiners to not be so religious about bitcoin.

But one thing I believe is that writing that doesn't get it's point across is the writer's fault, and this clearly didn't, so I'm sorry for that.

17 sats \ 1 reply \ @guts 11 Mar

You know Jewish has been waiting for the messiah as well. They even coined it.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StoneCodlHodl 12 Mar

No they haven't, they say they are waiting, but when a messiah did arrive they dismissed then killed him because it would upset the good thing they had going for themselves. And BTW, the "Jews" we know today, are not the descendants of the Jews of 2000 years ago.

34 sats \ 0 replies \ @SaToSHiWoMaN 11 Mar outlawed

stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.

Will you be okay if hyperbitcoinization doesn't happen for a thousand years?

How would you change your behavior if you were certain hyperbitcoinization wasn't going to happen this century?

Footnotes