Earlier this month, a conference held in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, brought together ideas from two seemingly distant worlds. The first-ever Catholic Crypto Conference gathered over 250 Catholics – theologians, philosophers, cryptocurrency enthusiasts and professionals from the financial services industry among others – to discuss the relationship between Catholicism and cryptocurrencies. More attended online. The ethos of the conference was fraternal and inquisitive: what are the opportunities “crypto” can bring? What are the risks? And how should Catholics view blockchain technology and Web 3?
The conference opened with a speech by host Matthew Pinto who has worked in Catholic marketing initiatives for decades. He welcomed the attendees whom he saw had “hopeful and hungry hearts for new technology which can be used for the common good”.
The technology might be new, but such observations stand in a tradition that stretches back to at least Leo XIII. Pinto’s inaugural address stressed how new the technology we had assembled to discuss really is, and how we will look back on these early days of crypto and laugh. As a comparison, he showed a video from the early days of the internet, where TV personalities had no idea what exactly the internet was and how to pronounce “@“.
Divided into several break-out groups, as well as having a few joint keynote sessions, the conference contained everything from basic explanations to advanced discussions. If you were entirely new to crypto, blockchain, and Web 3, there was a “New to Crypto Track” which included sessions on what each of these technologies is and how they can be used. Other more advanced sessions discussed practical applications of these same technologies and moral dilemmas they can present us with, such as how solidarity and subsidiarity apply to crypto and what role technology can play vis-a-vis humans.
Given the past few weeks, one might legitimately wonder why anyone – let alone a Catholic – would be interested in the future of crypto. We have just witnessed perhaps the biggest scandal and collapse of the crypto world to date. After the crypto exchange FTX collapsed earlier in November following still-investigated allegations of misconduct by company CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, there has been reasonable scepticism about crypto in general. But as Chris Tyrell, one of the early speakers who also has over 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship and capital markets, maintained: crypto is morally neutral. It is what we do with technology that determines the morality of it.
Crypto is still in the early stages but many see wide applicability going forward. Blockchain technology can be used outside of the confines of the financial world, for example as a way of storing parish documents. Blockchain, at its simplest level, is an immutable, resilient, database of things. Through the technology the pedigree of a document, coin, or artefact can be traced with precision to its origins, potentially making storage safer. Such safe storage can also help to ensure corruption becomes less prevalent by keeping exact records of when and by whom parish documents have been accessed.
Tyrell turned to Pope Francis who has asserted that a “better world possible due to technology if it is accompanied by an ethic inspired by a vision of the common good”. This is the key, and it was present throughout the conference: all technology can be good if used to promote the common good. The Church has to look at the world and find ways of guiding the faithful towards Truth. In order to do so it engages with the contemporary world and the things that come out of it, steering the world out of danger and towards Christ. Initiatives such as the Catholic Crypto Conference should be encouraged as more thinking has to be done to meet the challenges of the future.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.