Caras is sometimes asked: Can I mine Bitcoin during a day of rest? (Camilo Freedman\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Although there are thousands of things now called cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the world\u2019s oldest and most decentralized blockchain network, with the most diverse population of users as of 2021. People can store, send and receive currencies like Bitcoin without a third party, like a bank. <\/p>\n
Most avid cryptocurrency users keep track of transactions with a public network and a ledger called a blockchain. For example, the Bitcoin ledger is a record of all transitions with bitcoin (the asset). However, many cryptocurrency traders prefer to use mainstream financial marketplaces (such as Fidelity or the Israeli company eToro), which don\u2019t necessarily need to use the public blockchain for all transactions.<\/p>\n
Caras is among the avid users who prefer to participate in the grassroots Bitcoin network, transacting with open source tools rather than merely trading cryptocurrency like stocks. <\/p>\n
Caras, like many rabbis, is a huge fan of old records, ledgers and sacred secrets. With regards to the \u201cprivate key management\u201d he mentioned, bitcoin users keep track of their bitcoin using a unique password called a private key \u2014 protect that key, and the bitcoin will remain in your custody. That\u2019s why knowledge related to private key management is so important to Caras. <\/p>\n
The public blockchain ledger is not unlike the way Jewish communities maintained written records about their societies for thousands of years. This combination of history and technology fascinates Caras. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a \u2018the chain of tradition\u2019 quite literally in Hebrew, this point of following the tradition back in written history,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are continuing a chain, and it is a continuous chain. There are soft forks and hard forks within Judaism, different customs, like protocols, that are compatible with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caras, 31, was raised in a \u201cfairly secular\u201d household, he says, and considered a degree in computer science before switching to rabbinical school. His brother, also a well-known Bitcoin advocate, became more religious after visiting a Chabad house as a teenager and Caras followed suit.<\/p>\n
Now a father of six and observant member of the Chabad movement, Caras finds many similarities between the cypherpunk ethos and Judaism. He\u2019s not alone, as there are numerous WhatsApp groups for Jewish crypto fans, including the \u201cJewish Crypto Chat\u201d where Caras is among nearly 190 participants. <\/p>\n
\u201cJudaism has a lot of legal frameworks for how money is used. A Jewish wedding is a transaction. The groom puts a ring on her finger because he needs to give her something of value under the huppah. [In private DMs] I address questions like, could that wedding transaction be done with bitcoin?\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
As a family, Caras and his wife see Bitcoin stewardship as part of their household virtues. <\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, the majority of the time, we use this technology for good,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s what I like to encourage people to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s always a way to apply guidance from the Torah to new conundrums in the modern world. Some people have asked Caras about running trading bots or bitcoin mining on Shabbat, or if checking the always fluctuating bitcoin price (it\u2019s value compared to the dollar) disrupts from a day of rest. <\/p>\n
Bitcoin is often used for donating to charity and securing savings. On the other hand, there are, of course, controversial and harmful ways to use bitcoin. For example, Hamas \u2014 the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip and is deemed a terrorist organization by the U.S. and Israel \u2014 has reportedly fundraised using the cryptocurrency. <\/p>\n
Caras, who lived in Israel for four years of rabbinical school and has a brother who lives there, says he\u2019s been thinking a lot about the Holy Land since the most recent conflict.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s impossible to say exactly how many bitcoin users there are in Israel, although some local exchanges have garnered more than 55,000 users (each) and thousands of people work in the local crypto industry, including some companies that expanded globally to serve millions. (On a much smaller scale, some Palestinian bitcoin dealers also get their wares from Tel Aviv\u2019s same crypto hubs.)<\/p>\n
Caras strongly believes in Israel\u2019s right to defend itself, and hopes that Bitcoin could present economic opportunities that could lessen the stranglehold he says that Hamas has on the population of Gaza. Before the pandemic, in 2019, several Gazan Bitcoin dealers were reportedly transacting with more than $5 million worth of cryptocurrency each every month for civilian use cases like international shopping, paying tuition abroad or accepting freelance payments without PayPal or credit cards. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not concerned about Hamas using relatively small amounts of bitcoin to fund their terrorism, as it seems rather insignificant compared to their other funding methods,\u201d Caras says. \u201cTerrorists use cellphones and electricity and every other type of technology that most people use for good peaceful purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am glad that individual Palestinians can use a money which can\u2019t be easily controlled or taken from them by the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.\u201d <\/p>\n
This sentiment is common among Caras\u2019 Twitter compatriots. Israeli investor Eylon Aviv of the crypto-savvy fund Collider Ventures, who knows Caras and enjoys his Twitter feed, says \u201cthe promise here is for Palestinians to not be dependent on the financial services provided by these terrorist organizations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aviv also agrees with Caras that the Bitcoin ethos complements Jewish ethics.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically every holiday is \u2018insert an overpowering someone who tried to kill us,\u2019 they fail, and we celebrate. The celebration is about the freedom and liberation that happens around the unsuccessful elimination attempt,\u201d Aviv says, adding that censorship, resistance, loss and liberation are all recurring themes throughout Jewish history. <\/p>\n
As a tool for self-sovereign transactions, people fleeing a dictatorship or freely transact despite persecution often use bitcoin. <\/p>\n
And some Jewish users like Aviv wonder if Bitcoin would be useful if a Holocaust-like situation were to arise again, with governments and armies seizing assets from Jewish communities. Bitcoin would be easier to escape with. <\/p>\n
Israeli crypto industry veteran Danny Brown Wolf thinks so, saying that \u201cbeing Jewish, we pretty much all have in our family history some form of immigration story that involves being forced to leave assets behind.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cGiven this history, Jews of all peoples ought to appreciate financial sovereignty,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
To be clear, Caras isn\u2019t an advocate for any \u201cblockchain revolution.\u201d He only answers questions when asked and firmly considers himself a \u201cmaximalist,\u201d meaning he only uses Bitcoin, no other cryptocurrency. He thinks users\u2019 energy is best spent on Bitcoin rather than exploring new token experiments. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a hardcore maximalist. I don\u2019t believe the blockchain has any use case outside of Bitcoin and securing the Bitcoin blockchain,\u201d Caras says. \u201cMy brother in Israel tells me about every blockchain thing under the sun, but I\u2019ve yet to see anything positive that it\u2019s useful for beyond that.\u201d <\/p>\n
Instead, Caras prefers to contemplate what Jewish law says about loans and earning interest, for example, so he can learn for himself and help others learn how to apply Jewish ethics to the way he manages his Bitcoin.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery piece of technology in this world, it\u2019s up to us to choose for ourselves,\u201d Caras says, \u201cwhether we use technology for good or bad.\u201d <\/p>\n
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