When I entered the crypto space in 2017, I saw myself as a practical entrepreneur, attracted to the disruptive power of blockchain technology. My mind was focused on utility and innovation—the excitement of solving real-world problems through decentralized tools. I thought I had a clear vision of where the future was headed: a changing world order, like the technological upheavals between 1880 and 1950 that Ray Dalio writes about.
But looking back now, I realize something was staring me in the face all along—a truth I struggled to accept. It was all around me in the crypto space, embedded in the symbols, stories, and language we used, and even the projects we celebrated. I saw it as clever marketing, a fun nod to mythology and classic story arcs like Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, but not as something serious. And yet, slowly, the idea has become harder to ignore: tokens (including meme coins) are more than speculative assets—they are symbols around which real revolutionary movements are forming. They are, in essence, the seeds of new ideologies and possibly new religions.
A Struggle to See What Was Right in Front of Me
In 2018, I remember reading about Matt Liston's avant-garde stunt—a “blockchain religion” called 0xΩ. It was absurd and theatrical, with sacred texts, rituals, and all the trappings of a spiritual launch. I brushed it off as a playful experiment and performance art. At the time, it seemed over-the-top, but now it feels eerily prophetic.
There’s something to it—something that connected to a growing feeling in the crypto space: Bitcoin’s “immaculate conception” by an anonymous figure, Ethereum’s community led by the almost saintly Vitalik, and phrases like “The Token is the Product” all painted crypto as more than tech. It was mythology, unfolding in real-time. But as focused as I was on “real” utility, I couldn’t see it for what it was. I was completely mid-curving it.
Even now, as I write this, I struggle to fully accept it. I didn’t grow up in a religious family and never had strong ties to religion in my life. My youthful observations of religion were often negative: I saw it as a force for ostracizing and persecuting people, even driving atrocities and genocide. Yet, as I grew older, I began to yearn for the ability to participate in the beautiful aspects of religion—the sense of community, belonging, and purpose it provides. I came to realize that its absence in my life, and increasingly in the lives of others, has been a significant driver of the social drift toward nihilism and the “meaning crisis.”
Now, I think I’m ready to accept that, in the absence of a religion passed down through my lineage, I’ve been participating—perhaps blindly—in the process of choosing one my whole life. And I’m not alone. The entire world may be walking this path alongside me. This isn’t a once-in-a-century changing world order; it may be a once-in-a-millennia shift in the dominant religious forces shaping our world. The oldest stories and beliefs will take on new forms, new avatars, delivered by new prophets.
Playful Memes, Serious Meaning
As the years went on, I kept hearing the same refrain: that the key to success in crypto was building “a cult around your token.” Community “vibes” were discussed in the same breath as tech specs, and “lore” was treated as valuable as any smart contract audit. These were the things that made communities “stick.” But I dismissed it as surface-level branding and community building. To me, memes and cults of personality were cringy, shallow—tools to grab attention, not the foundation of real value. I would nod along, acknowledging that good marketing borrowed from mythology and religious allegory, but I wasn’t ready to see these playful memes as seeds of something more.
Then came the turning point. Watching Token2024, it hit me. Murad’s talk laid it out plainly: meme coins are tokens of belief. People rally around them not just for gains, but for identity, purpose, and a sense of belonging. This wasn’t just about marketing—it was about meaning.
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Embracing Tokens as Totems
The token isn’t just a product; it’s a totem—an icon that people rally around. In a world where traditional forms of belonging—religion, local community—are fading, tokens are stepping in as new cultural and spiritual anchors. Bitcoin and Ethereum, with their own mythologies and prophets, have established themselves as more than digital assets; they’re ideological movements, symbols that people follow with near-religious fervor.
Tokens are evolving into vessels for identity and belonging. They’re becoming a way for people to say, “This is who I am; this is what I believe in.” They’re more like modern religions than financial assets. When we choose a token, we’re choosing a set of values and a movement to align with. It’s not just like a brand promise—it’s more like a congregation. Financial contributions resemble tithing, while the shared beliefs inspire collective action. This is all reinforced by storytelling about those actions when the congregation digitally gathers. These social patterns are what give these tokens their deeper power and they are imbued with ancient wisdom.
Seeing What Was Always There
It’s taken years for me to fully acknowledge what I’ve been a part of all along. I used to view meme coins and their community dynamics as side shows—clever marketing and gambling, but nothing more. But now I see them as vital, living symbols that embody the beliefs of thousands. They’re becoming a cultural force, an expression of modern spirituality and revolution.
Crypto has taught me that it’s not about following the crowd. It’s about finding the stories and movements that resonate deeply with me and standing by them. My values are expressed by the tokens I collect and HODL. After all, in a world desperate for meaning, even a meme can become sacred. They offer what traditional institutions and state nations once did—belonging, purpose, meaning, freedom, and agency. I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that crypto isn’t just about disrupting finance, technology, or even the world order. It’s about the emergence of new, decentralized belief systems. And that might be its most powerful utility of all.
Up Next: I'm going to unpack my theory of why the next prophet and soon presidents will be AI
We're grateful for all the writers out there that are courageous enough to share their stories, insights, and ideas with the world. We appreciate you! To that end, we're back with the 23rd edition of Paragraph Picks, highlighting a few hand-picked pieces of writing we enjoyed over the past week or so.
@danielmcglynn explores the cyclical “bubble dynamics” of Bitcoin, emphasizing how its boom-and-bust patterns, driven by halving events and market psychology, contribute to adoption and innovation but also present significant risks for investors caught in the hype. "It’s also helpful to think that each market cycle is a series of bubbles or a chain of bubbles, that all connect at regular intervals to drive market adoption, development, and innovation." https://paragraph.xyz/@open-money/bubble-market-dynamics
@usv's Grace Carney highlights the challenges faced by internet knowledge creators in competing with AI-generated content, proposing a third path where creators retain ownership of their work while using AI tools to enhance engagement and preserve the value of human expertise. "The future looks like creators combining their expertise with AI in ways that preserve humans’ most valuable assets: their relationships and their ideas." https://paragraph.xyz/@in-transit.com/a-third-path
@asha profiles photographer @ozlem, exploring her journey of documenting disappearing cultures, her commitment to preserving human stories through respectful and empathetic photography, and her passion for exploring diverse traditions that connect us through shared human experiences. "Despite our diversity in beliefs, cultures, and faiths, we share this world, and the only thing we need to do is practice empathy and respect." https://paragraph.xyz/@beams/framing-humanity-ozlems-journey-through-disappearing-cultures
Excellent article penned by my friend @bpetes.eth "[Crypto]’s about finding the stories and movements that resonate deeply with me and standing by them" So, by extension, the meme/memecoin curators are curating on universality, how widely experienced and understandable is this meme
whats the difference bw a cult and a religion for you in this framing @bpetes.eth?
When I think of cult I think of it as cult of personality (or token) it lacks depth, likely no shared values and rituals to support them. Cult rituals have a lot of 1: many sharing…religions are more decentralized and more networked storytelling when they congregate.
Great read. As someone who is religious, the cryptosphere definitely has the characteristics of a religious movement. It will be interesting to see what new gods and deities are birthed as the movement evolves. I can def see a future where full blown religious institutions come about as a result of crypto. What's yet to be seen is how a decentralized religion will function and influence society.
we already have one. Satoshi
I’m starting to wonder what roleAI plays too in these new religious frontiers.
Profit
Great essay by @bpetes.eth “Tokens are evolving into vessels for identity and belonging.” https://paragraph.xyz/@bpetes.eth/tokens-as-the-seeds-of-new-religions
Looking fwd to the next article too...presidential AI inbound.
We will tune the core prompts and training data, they will hold the keys to the coins. 🤝
After 6yrs of chasing utility, I've capitulated 🤣 Alt Title: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Memes
An idea that's been shouting in my head for the past year is that we as a species need some better religions, and with the explosion of crypto and AI tech we might finally have the infrastructure to build some good ones.
I hope so.
I believe many feel the same way as you and its been difficult to take meme tokens seriously
so so difficult! not sure I fully have yet, writing it down so my heart and habits can have a better chance at following my recent thoughts.