US church adopts cryptocurrency for offerings, tithes

A United States church has adopted cryptocurrency as payment for offerings and tithes by members.

At first, the church, Back Bay Baptist Church, during the surge in COVID-19 cases stopped passing baskets around to collect offerings, according to a report by Baptist Press.

The south Mississippi church has however taken things a step further by launching its cryptocurrency giving method last month.

The church takes seven different assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD coin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, Die, and Bitcoin cash.

“We stopped passing around an offering basket when COVID hit,” said Back Bay Baptist’s Pastor Adam Bennett.

“We actually have a little basket in the back of the room.”

“This is different,” said Bennett. “This is cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency is a new technology called the blockchain and it’s a network.

“Basically, in order to use this network, you have to have crypto assets or cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin. And so, with these assets, you can use the network.”

The St. Martin church has everything set up for digital donations. Members only have to determine the amount they would like to give or invest.

“You can give as much or as little as you want,” said Bennett. “Cryptocurrencies can actually be divided down to the 16 digit.

“So, people can choose how much they want to give. You can give as little as $10 worth of what’s called Litecoin if you want to, or you can give $10 worth of Ethereum or you can give $100,000 worth of Ethereum.”

“It’s not normal [in churches] today, but can be in the future as more people become interested in cryptocurrency,” said Bennett, who started investing in crypto in August of last year.

“One reason Back Bay did this is because I’m an early adopter and like to be on the cutting edge of things. But we also have other people who are invested in crypto,” he said.

“We want to take some of our assets we’ve invested, see it appreciate in value and give it to the work of the church.”

The church still accepts traditional forms of currency. But the pastor sees cryptocurrency as being the future of currency transactions.

At the end of the day, digital money is still money that can help towards the church’s mission, the pastor said.