God and Bitcoin: Why a Growing Wave of American Evangelicals Are Betting Their Faith — and Savings — on Cryptocurrency

During a cryptocurrency workshop in a Chicago church, the emcee asks everyone in the room to declare out loud, “This money is mine.” The participants comply. Some people chuckle a little. Some people don’t. Then Michelle Renee enters the stage wearing a dress embroidered with her company’s initials, telling the audience that she was healed from a stroke at the age of nineteen and that her mission is to guide God’s people toward prosperity. The room has the same level of attentiveness as church spaces, a specific type of listening that lies in the middle of hope and belief.
Even five years ago, this scene would have seemed out of the ordinary. Now, it’s a window into a subculture that has been subtly growing throughout evangelical America: one in which scripture and cryptocurrency coexist, where market declines are presented as divine opportunities, and where purchasing bitcoin is, for some, as much a spiritual as a financial decision.
The Nashville-based radio program “God, Freedom and Bitcoin” was started by Todd and Janet Gatewood in January, just before the market fell by almost half from a peak of about $126,000 in October. In February, Janet, a Nashville-area real estate agent, told her husband and a guest on the show that she specifically wanted to close more homes in order to purchase more bitcoin at the reduced price. She reframes purchasing the dip as an act of discernment, almost thankfulness, and does so with a casual confidence. It wasn’t a disaster. A sale took place.
This specific combination of religion and money isn’t as coincidental as it may appear. From Mary Kay cosmetics to multi-level marketing firms that spoke the language of purpose and calling, evangelical communities have long been drawn to entrepreneurial endeavors dressed in the language of mission and values, according to Leah Payne, a professor of American religious history at Portland Seminary. The notion that God uses the marketplace has a long history. In that regard, Bitcoin might just be the most recent development.

Jimmy Song, a co-author of the book “Thank God for Bitcoin” and a bitcoin developer with over 354,000 followers on X, has maintained that the digital currency is more in line with biblical values than the US dollar. For believers who have become concerned about inflation and Federal Reserve policy, his logic makes sense. Some Christians consider it a moral failure rather than an economic abstraction when prices continue to rise and the government continues to print money. They see Bitcoin as a solution. a choice to abstain from what Song refers to as the excesses of government expenditure and central banking.
It is also difficult to overlook the political aspect. Donald Trump, who won the evangelical vote handily in 2024, has introduced his own meme coin and promoted cryptocurrencies. After praying at Trump’s inauguration, Pastor Lorenzo Sewell announced his own cryptocurrency. This announcement sparked immediate criticism, with one commenter stating that Jesus wouldn’t have approved. In defense of himself, Sewell claimed that he had utilized earnings to help kids transitioning out of foster care. It’s the kind of defense that falls somewhere between sincere charity and convenient framing, making it difficult to assess objectively.
However, not all cross-wearing people are optimistic about cryptocurrency. Dave Ramsey, whose Financial Peace University used to pack church fellowship halls across the nation on Sundays, has been growing increasingly doubtful. Ramsey didn’t think twice when a caller told him that God had guided her to make cryptocurrency investments. He stated, “It might have been a spirit, but it wasn’t the holy one,” while speaking live. His views on emergency savings, mutual funds, and debt repayment have not changed. Furthermore, he is not alone among Christian financial scholars who are concerned that the enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies that is sweeping through some churches is more about speculation disguised as divine language than it is about stewardship.
There is a documented and actual risk of fraud. Eli Regalado, a pastor in Colorado, is on trial for allegedly using Bible verses and prayer to promote a worthless coin as a divinely mandated investment that promises wealth. Investors lost over $3 million, according to the prosecution. In simple terms, religious communities are susceptible to fraud because they are based on trust, according to William Schultz, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. The skepticism that might otherwise slow you down tends to go away when someone speaks your language and shares your beliefs.
As you watch everything happen, you get the impression that two completely different things are taking place at the same time. For some, such as Dorothy Hill, a 72-year-old grandmother who is a retired bank employee and is carefully setting aside money and praying over her timing, this is a sincere, deliberate effort to create something for herself and her family. Others find it more difficult to distinguish between the opportunistic and the sincere. After her digital wallet was hacked years ago, 55-year-old Alicia Tappin returned to the community and continued to make purchases despite the decline. She’s not in a panic. She advised reporters to return in 2028.
It’s still unclear if the convergence of faith and bitcoin will result in a long-lasting financial subculture or if market volatility and a few too many fraud scandals will cause it to eventually crumble. It’s evident that the decision to purchase bitcoin is no longer solely a financial one for a sizable portion of American evangelicals. Politics, identity, mistrust of institutions, and something that appears to be very similar to faith are all involved. 2028 may start to address the question of whether that faith is well-placed—in God, in the market, or in both at once.