Todd and Janet Gatewood launched their Nashville-based radio show “God, Freedom and Bitcoin” in January, blending their passion for cryptocurrency with their strong faith.
Then the market crashed. At roughly $69,000 on Thursday, the price of the cryptocurrency is down by 45%, struggling to recover and nowhere near the $126,000 high it reached in October.
But the couple sees the slide as a blessing.
Janet, a real estate agent in the Nashville area, told her husband and a guest appearing on a Feb. 9 show that she hoped to close on more houses, so she could buy bitcoin at a lower price.
“This is what we call ‘on sale,’” she said. “Buy the dip. If you’ve ever heard anything in the bitcoin space, this is when you want to buy.”
The Gatewoods are among a diverse group of Christian financial influencers, entrepreneurs and even pastors working to pitch the faithful on digital currencies. Their positions vary — some are bitcoin hard-liners. Others dabble in meme coins — crypto assets that are quickly spun up and traded around memes and cultural moments.
During this time of volatility, some of the Christian investors who are following them are doubling down.
“It’s not fazing me at all,” said Alicia Tappin, 55, who has purchased bitcoin during the dip. “I’m not emotionally tied to it right now — if I was I would be a wreck.”
Tappin said she follows updates from a Christian businesswoman named Michelle Renee, whose firm charges $499 a year for a VIP membership that provides access to webinars, its “cryptocurrency watchlist” and a Telegram chat.
But some Christian finance influencers have faced backlash and scrutiny for their takes and predictions, as the market, once peaking under an industry-friendly White House, now flails.
Viewers have recently challenged the optimistic outlook of Jebb McAfee, a YouTuber whose Crypto Jebb channel has 248,000 subscribers. The 25-year-old describes himself as “a Christian who loves bitcoin and promotes financial sovereignty.”
“Not everyone can make a $100 million, but everyone can make a couple of million dollars,” McAfee said in a mid-February video encouraging viewers to subscribe. “My dream is for all of you to have peace.”
“You were wrong about everything, why follow you now,” a viewer posted.
“Only tell u to buy but never when to sell,” another complained. “It should be illegal for all of these hacks to be in here running their mouths.”
McAfee’s team told NBC News he wasn’t available for an interview.
From churches now allowing congregants to tithe with digital coins to blogs promoting bitcoin as biblically sound, there’s an emerging Christian crypto subculture.
President Donald Trump, who carried the evangelical vote in 2024, has promoted crypto. As did the nondenominational Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, who announced the launch of his own crypto coin after praying at Trump’s inauguration. (Although he has promoted it, Sewell said he doesn’t know who created the coin.)
“Whether we understand it, whether we like it or not,” Sewell said, “it’s an investment trend.”
Christians are buying into cryptocurrency for different reasons. The Gatewoods have framed it as a path toward a better work- and faith-life balance that moves away from phones that ring constantly. (“They don’t even respect Sunday mornings,” Janet lamented on a recent show.) Some cite end-times beliefs and interpretations of biblical prophecies as part of their interest. Others see a need for a covert way to support missionaries. And others simply see crypto as a way to build wealth and devote more time to worship.
But some observers fear the enthusiasm is ripe for financial abuse. In Colorado, prosecutors said investors lost more than $3 million after a pastor sold them a cryptocurrency he created and improperly kept at least $1.3 million of their funds for himself.
“Religious communities are often vulnerable to fraud because they are bound together by these networks of trust,” said William Schultz, a professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. “I think our defenses are often lowered when there is someone who speaks our language, who in some cases dresses the same way we do — professes the same beliefs.”
While there’s not a definitive survey on the reach of crypto in Christian circles, there are indicators of growing interest. There’s at least one nonprofit, Thank God for Bitcoin, dedicated to educating Christians and churches about the digital asset. Its annual conference has almost doubled in size since its first gathering in 2022. More dispersed are individuals like the Gatewoods, who independently share information about cryptocurrency (they’re quick not to label it financial advice) on social media or in person.
Jimmy Song, another prominent figure in the Christian bitcoin space, has more than 354,000 followers on X.
Like McAfee, Song has also stuck by the asset even as it’s fallen.
“If you can’t hold at $75,000, you don’t deserve it at $1,000,000,” Song posted on X in January, referring to the decision to hang on to bitcoin during downturns.
Even with the volatility, crypto backers argue it has advantages over traditional currency. Song, a bitcoin developer and a co-author of “Thank God for Bitcoin,” said that the higher cost of living has led some Christians to question what’s behind rising prices. For believers who share his conclusion that expanding the money supply is part of the problem, he said, bitcoin is appealing.
“They’re happy that bitcoin exists,” he said. “That they have a way to opt out of all the inflation and all of the shenanigans of the Federal Reserve, and the weird government spending.”
When crypto enters the pulpit
The embrace of cryptocurrency by some church leaders has not been without controversy.
When Sewell pitched his own meme coin, the backlash on social media was swift.
“I enjoyed your prayer at the inauguration more than I can express,” one commenter wrote on X. “But somehow … I don’t think Jesus would approve of this.”
Sewell acknowledged there’s disapproval and that some investors lost money. Like most meme coins, his quickly lost value. But he defended his promotion, saying that he’d used profits to support children aging out of foster care.
“There’s a difference between creating wealth and scamming people,” Sewell said. “I capitalized on someone using my name, that’s what happened.”
There’s long been a sensitivity to intertwining the divine and moneymaking ventures.
For decades, prominent televangelists have been accused of exploiting their followers with a message known as the “Prosperity Gospel.” Sermons implying that listeners may obtain blessings through giving have long drawn condemnation.
Adherents who believe God wants them to prosper are often drawn to entrepreneurial pursuits, according to Leah Payne, a professor of American religious history at Portland Seminary.
“There’s been an idea that God can and does work through the marketplace,” she said.
Payne said religious subcultures have long embraced entrepreneurial pitches framed as mission-driven or values-driven, from direct-sales companies like Mary Kay to newer online ventures.
One of the biggest draws of crypto for believers and nonbelievers alike — the lack of regulation — carries its own drawbacks.
In Colorado, Eli Regalado, the pastor of an online church, is expected to go to trial this year over an alleged crypto scheme. Prosecutors say he and his wife used Bible verses and prayers to market a coin with “zero value” as a divine venture promising “abundance” and “blessings.” Representatives for Regalado did not respond to requests for comment, and an attorney for his wife denied wrongdoing.
Many Christian cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been quick to distinguish their own promotion of bitcoin, the world’s first and most popular digital cryptocurrency, from scams and other more far-flung cryptocurrencies.
Jordan Bush, the founder of Thank God for Bitcoin, says the organization has turned down several offers to promote certain crypto projects and sponsorships.
No one should expect to hear him say God told him to launch a coin, he said.
“If you ever hear me say something like this, you know I’m being threatened with my life,” Bush said.
A new bitcoin politics
As President Donald Trump has embraced crypto and bitcoin — including by launching his own meme coin — and rejected the Biden administration’s previous crackdown, synergies have begun to form between culture warriors and crypto enthusiasts.
In addition to Trump’s inauguration pastor, conservative stakeholders have encouraged companies to invest in bitcoin. The issue has also come up in state legislatures. Last year, Dusty Deevers, a right-wing firebrand known for trying to ban no-fault divorce, introduced legislation that would allow government employees to be paid in bitcoin.
And about 88 miles outside of Nashville, Tennessee, a Christian real estate developer has been promoting the creation of a new “bitcoin hub.”
The developer, Josh Abbotoy of RidgeRunner, said the Highland Rim Project, with land in four counties spanning Tennessee and Kentucky, appeals to homebuyers at a time when families leaving New York and California are seeking a slower pace and “a traditional Bible Belt feel.”
Incoming businesses have been encouraged to accept bitcoin, he said.
Part of the draw for religious folk, he believes, stems from fears of being de-banked. In recent years, some conservatives have alleged they’ve been barred from banking services because of their political beliefs.
“They don’t like the feeling that their ability to transact and operate is kind of subject to the whims of a financial institution that may or may not align with their viewpoints,” Abbotoy said.
He said 10 years from now, he sees businesses in the enclave opening and accepting bitcoin for payment.
The Highland Rim development has stirred up controversy and concern by appealing to the far right: Two of its most high-profile residents have been described as Christian nationalists in local media. Their remarks about immigrants, the Civil Rights Movement and gender roles have led to backlash in the area.
For some Christians who got into crypto before Trump came around, the president’s embrace has been welcomed.
Janet Gatewood and her husband, Todd, said they both started learning more about bitcoin after the latter heard about it on a podcast in 2021.
On the radio show, the couple doesn’t shy away from their views that bitcoin can be a path for getting more involved in church and politics. On a recent show, Gatewood expressed support for the SAVE Act. Both voted for Trump.
“He is a business president,” she said. “Is he perfect? No. Is anyone perfect?”
Christian voters, and in particular white evangelical voters, are a critical part of Trump’s tent. He has described himself as the crypto president and courted bipartisan criticism with the launch of $TRUMP meme coins at the beginning of his second term. Several Christian investors told NBC News they disapproved of the move.
Gatewood, the Nashville-area real estate agent, has given talks about bitcoin to a Christian private school and Catholic priests. One of her goals is to help churches establish strategic reserves of bitcoin, she said.
At least one nonprofit, the Magnalia Foundation, started by an ordained Presbyterian minister Tim Fox, is also dedicated to this effort. Fox, based in Texas, has spent the past year and a half advising churches on bitcoin.
It may be that congregants beat them to the punch. Fox said that most inquiries he receives from churches start when someone makes a crypto donation.
As a precaution, Fox said his group tells churches not to put funds into bitcoin that they might need to withdraw within four to five years.
'Sensitive to the spirit'
As bitcoin continues to tumble from its highs, many investors are uncertain, but that hasn’t deterred many of the faithful crypto fans.
For Dorothy Hill, who at 72 is just learning about cryptocurrency, the plunge has seemed like an opportunity. Hill said she prays over her financial decisions and takes “comfort” in what she sees as God’s interest in even the smallest details of one’s life.
Last year, she attended Michelle Renee’s crypto workshop at a church in Chicago. In the days leading up to the event, bitcoin’s value dropped from highs above $120,000 to below $100,000. During the class, Renee didn’t explicitly dwell on the price drop, instead choosing to emphasize the highs. But she told the room they should get excited about dips, which she sees as a time to buy.
“We like when the markets are red,” Renee, the founder and CEO of In40rmative Services, said. “We like when they say, ‘The world is coming down on our heads.’”
At the start of the session, attendees were encouraged by an emcee to say, “This money is mine.” Taking the stage in a dress monogrammed with her company’s initials, Renee told the room that God had healed her from a stroke at 19 so that she could help other people financially.
“My destiny is to lead God’s people to the wealth,” she said. Sitting at the beginner’s table, Hill took note. The retired bank worker and grandmother left with a plan to purchase bitcoin.
“I don’t want it to start climbing back up and I miss that climb,” she later told NBC News. For Hill, the possibility of crypto leading to wealth piqued her interest.
“I’m not going hungry, but there are more things I want to do,” she said. She mentioned traveling with her husband to Singapore and substitute-teaching to give back as some of the ways she wanted to spend her days.
She prayed, and some time later a church member told her about Renee, she said.
“I’m just kind of being sensitive to the spirit,” Hill said. “I don’t think it was just me going out on my own. I have to trust God and pray about it.”
Months later, with bitcoin’s price below $70,000, she said she hadn’t yet made a purchase, having watched the market tumble and controversy swirl around the Trump family’s crypto projects. In the meantime, she’s kept learning and has set aside funds for when she’s ready to begin.
“I’m only going to invest what I can lose,” Hill said.
While American churches have been fast to adopt new technology, it’s still the case that most Americans don’t own any cryptocurrency. Dave Ramsey, one of the most prominent Christian financial experts in the country, remains skeptical.
Churchgoers in the 2000s may remember a time when small groups met up for Ramsey’s Financial Peace University in hopes of achieving a debt-free life. Some houses of worship helped congregants cover fees for the class.
In his radio show, Ramsey has equated buying crypto to investing in Beanie Babies.
When a caller struggling with debt said God was the reason she’d invested in crypto, Ramsey seemed in disbelief.
“It might have been a spirit, but it wasn’t the holy one,” Ramsey scolded.
For decades, Ramsey, who’s known for framing personal decisions as the root of most financial troubles, has promoted investments in mutual funds like 401(k)s, prioritizing building up an emergency fund and a strict debt payoff schedule.
Others have warned that cryptocurrency poses something spiritually worse than a financial risk. On TikTok and YouTube, videos are dedicated to the question of whether crypto could be a sign of the Antichrist.
Gatewood acknowledged that some Christians “are afraid of bitcoin. They think it’s the mark of the beast,” she said.
“That’s OK,” she said. “We were scared when we first heard about it. We thought it was a scam.”
Faith amid the dip
While some churchgoers puzzle over what to make of crypto, Renee has found that at least one pulpit is welcoming.
“I think I was attracted because of her faith,” Tappin said. “Because of my faith, I believe God has put me in this space with her. It’s up to me to put in the work.”
Tappin initially heard Renee speak at a conference in 2021. She started buying ethereum, but said she lost hundreds after her digital wallet was hacked. Ready to give cryptocurrency another chance, she started attending Renee’s workshops again last year.
During one of the day’s breaks, Tappin won a gift bag, including a flat iron, after answering a question correctly. One attendee, who won a silver coin, remarked that she would have preferred the straightener.
In the months since, Tappin has been busy purchasing bitcoin during the dip, even as bitcoin’s price slid into the 60s.
For Tappin, who wonders what her crypto portfolio might have looked like if she hadn’t taken a break from investing, now’s not the time to pause. “Talk to me in 2028,” Tappin said. “I’ll let you know how it went.”
