A cryptocurrency is a digital that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend. Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.
Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
Christianity is a monotheistic religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus and has its roots in Hellenistic Judaism and Jewish messianism of the 1st century A.D. Although the Bible says nothing about gambling, and Jesus has never spoken about gambling in his speeches, Christianity has always been critical of the games of chance. Early Church councils prohibited gambling and until the Reformation, the Church had an unfavourable view towards gambling considering it as sinful and reprehensible. The very nature of gambling as winning money at the expense of others was seen in contradiction with the Bible’s warning to ‘guard against every sort of greed’.
After the Reformation, the Catholic Church gradually adopted a more liberal attitude towards gambling, which continues today. Games of chance are not considered as sinful in themselves, but only when they become addictive and when ‘deprive someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others’, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. So, you can play for fun, but be warned not to play in excess! To sum up, the current stand of the Catholic Church is that there is no moral impediment to gambling as long as it is fair, all bettors have the same chance of winning, there is no fraud, and the parties involved don’t know the outcome of the bet. Also, the Catholic Church often uses mild forms of gambling such as lotteries to raise funds for charity.
With its emergence, the Protestanitism opposed gambling stressing arguments related to the work ethic. Lutheran churches harshly condemned gambling until the 1950s, when many of them adopted a more permissive view on the games of chance. However, there are still many Lutherans who firmly oppose all forms of gambling, including raffles and bingo aimed at a charity.
The orthodox Church has not changed much its attitude to gambling and still considers that it is the complete opposition to God’s love. According to the teachings of Jesus, people should love and respect each other and help each other in difficult situations, while gambling pushes people far from love and respect. The Orthodox Church says that gambling propagates greed for money and selfishness. Besides, gambling is risky as it often leads to addiction. Even gambling for fun is not acceptable. Fortunately, the Orthodox Church doesn’t blame the players.
Gambling and Islam
Islam is a religion with a strong emphasis on monotheism teaching that there is only one God, and that Prophet Muhammad is his messenger. It is the second-largest religion in the world with over 1.8 billion followers. At the same time, it is the youngest religion of the world’s major religions, which officially started in 610 A.D. when Prophet Muhammad received revelation from God which was later written in the Quran. Islam harshly condemns gambling. Games of chance are either entirely prohibited or very restricted. In Islam, there are two types of deeds, including the ‘haram’, which is sinful, and the ‘halal’, which is lawful. Gambling is seen as haram and is punished severely under Islamic law. Yet, Prophet Muhammad and his followers opposed all forms of gambling. On the other hand, Muhammad mentioned in the Sunan Abu Dawud that there were two acceptable forms of gambling
Muhammad was tolerant of these forms of gambling because they helped Muslim armies improve their strength.
Islam condemns gambling as it’s an easy way to take the money of somebody else, so it’s dishonourable to win money through gambling. To sum up, we can say that Islam is the less tolerable religion regarding gambling.