Buddhism and Bitcoin
In the Bitcoin community, we often hear mantras like stack sats; not your keys, not your coins, HFSP and get to 6.15, 1, or 0.1 BTC, and your financial salvation is assured. But how can this focus on accumulation and tightly hodling onto wealth be reconciled with Buddhist principles, which emphasise renouncing the pursuit of wealth and embracing generosity as paths to liberation?
What Bitcoiners recognise in the importance of getting a position is its potential for future growth and reward. Unlike the legacy financial system, which can be likened to a leaky vessel, Bitcoin is a holistic system—it expands as more value flows into it. Rather than sinking under a flood of printed money, your Bitcoin position rises with the tide. It’s easy to see why Bitcoiners place such importance on this, especially when the legacy financial system appears on the brink of collapse.
Buddhism sees the world holistically as well, but in terms of consciousness or spirituality. In Buddhism, taking a position equates to living in accordance with ethical principles. These are not arbitrary rules laid down by a creator god, but rather guidelines for aligning one’s actions with the nature of reality to maximise spiritual growth and happiness. These principles are perhaps most famously and concisely presented in the Five Precepts:
- Nonviolence
- Not taking what is not freely given
- Avoiding sexual misconduct
- Avoiding false speech
- Avoiding intoxication
By aligning with these values and contributing to the world in these ways, you and those around you benefit. Due to the holistic and interconnected nature of reality described in Buddhism, you also benefit from what you give out.
Parallels can be drawn with Bitcoin. There is often an altruistic element to hodling; many Bitcoiners believe strongly in the societal benefits that Bitcoin can bring: Came for the number go up, stayed for the revolution. While many are idealists or libertarians at heart. Bitcoin is a revolution from the ground up, a chance for the plebs to throw off their financial yokes and envisage a fairer and more prosperous world for all. By hodling they are staking what they have on this dream.
Buddhism shares this vision too: a commonwealth of consciousness and a humanity with its own shared consensus on how to act, with the understanding that benefiting others also benefits yourself - a perfect alignment of incentives for a happier and more harmonious world.
At this point, some may think of the Objectivist ideas of Ayn Rand, which are popular among Bitcoiners. These ideas emphasise that people must stand on their own two feet, that handouts and pity help no one, and that they ultimately undermine our societies, as evidenced by bloated and ineffectual welfare states. These ideas argue that welfare weakens people and misaligns natural incentives and morals. However, what I think Rand misses in her analysis is a concept found in Buddhism: seeing no clear distinction between self and other. This is a subtle but profound distinction. We are not pityingly throwing away our own resources to help someone undeserving; rather, in its best manifestations, we are extending our sense of self, where the flow of material goods (time and energy) is not the only currency. Moreover, we can give to ourselves too in this conception - we are equally important - and if we are not all benefiting, then we are not doing it right.
This strikes at the chord of interconnection. Bitcoin has profoundly connected us economically, influencing various aspects of our lives, from how we perceive value to how we engage with communities. Looking over the Five Precepts above, I’m sure anyone who considers themselves a Bitcoiner can see many ways in which Bitcoin aligns with and supports these spiritual laws.
Buddhism does not advise against ambition and drive, advocating a docile passivity. Rather, it cautions against seeking satisfaction in the wrong ways. We are all familiar with the image of someone overly consumed with ambition in one area to the detriment of their health, relationships, and enjoyment of life. In a sense, it is less about what you do and more about how you do it and what your underlying motivations are. Are you seeking wealth and status for their own sake, or are you looking to build a strong team, solve vital problems, and win together?
Bitcoin has perhaps the most positive, egalitarian, and hopeful global community in the world. However, I think what is lacking in our community is the opportunity to connect on a more human or spiritual level. Bitcoin has given us prosperity, peace, and sovereignty, but we also need to connect as living or even spiritual beings. In fact, it is in times of peace and abundance that culture of a higher order can emerge.
It might be said there are other things we can stack: friendship, quality communication, giving back to our communities, time out from the noise and hustle of society, peace of mind. Having a strong social network and community that you are plugged into may arguably provide more security in times of distress and need than being an isolated anon sitting on a large stack. What’s more, we don’t have to choose between the two—we can have both. Ultimately, we might find more meaning in the mantra: stay humble and stack sats.