Religion as a framework for blockchain
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Religion as a framework for blockchain
BTC is digital gold, ETH is the world computer.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: PAUL VERADITTAKIT
Translation: Block unicorn
Today’s blockchain is approaching the “good enough” stage.
Transaction costs have dropped to less than $0.01 per transaction, and after EIP-4844, Solana, Avax, Sei, Sui, and L2s are all expected to achieve this. On-chain throughput may already be sufficient—many blockchains now claim TPS (transactions per second) of 10–50K or more—but this only becomes critical when hitting those limits, which likely won’t happen for another 3–5 years. The path toward better user experience is now clearly visible through account abstraction and wallets like Rabby, Zerion, and Backpack.
For new Layer 1s (L1s) and Layer 2s (L2s), it's becoming increasingly difficult to find differentiation. Once these baseline technical requirements are met, everything turns into a competition for attention and follower communities. The best analogy here is religion—an exemplar of powerful follower ecosystems.
So how do you become the next religion? How do you become the next BTC/ETH/SOL?
Every religion needs a leader
No one knows ETH without Vitalik, the genius boy whose blog posts are treated as scripture. SOL has Anatoly, who debates ETH nerds daily on Twitter.
Perhaps the most notorious example is LUNA, led by the controversial cult figure Do Kwon (aka DK, R.I.P.), who mocked every bear. Cardano (ADA) is another strong case, with its founder broadcasting live several times a week from sunny Colorado.
Blockchain leaders have become legendary figures who pass down ideological frameworks and visions for the future via whitepapers. When these icons pass away, their ideologies often grow stronger. Satoshi is “dead,” yet BTC’s ideology is more powerful than ever. If Vitalik were to pass, ETH would continue thriving as the decentralized world computer.
I see a problem with projects like large-cap tokens—they lack a central figure to worship or rally around. This is also why Ethereum L2s struggle; they depend on ETH’s mythos but remain followers of an existing religion. That’s why I believe L2s still require heavy marketing push from centralized players like Base x Coinbase—their communities aren’t organically strong enough on their own.
Every religion needs a near-death moment and resurrection
Jesus was crucified, then resurrected. BTC experienced its near-death during the Mt. Gox hack, but miraculously came back stronger. ETH survived the DAO hack (read more in “Who Stole $11 Billion in Ethereum?”), where 14% of ETH was locked in a contract. The community proposed a fork to create a new ETH chain, recovered quickly, and emerged even stronger. SOL was closely tied to FTX; when FTX collapsed, SOL plunged from $35 to $9, and many saw it as the next LUNA. Yet today we’re witnessing its revival.
Emerging from a near-death experience eliminates everyone except the most loyal believers—and forms the bedrock of your core following.
LUNA fell and never returned (though “Luna Classic” still has diehard fans). FTM also collapsed, but lacked a mythic figure—someone like Andre Cronje (AC), rather than Michael Kong (FTM’s CEO). Fortunately—or unfortunately—most other chains haven’t faced such existential crises yet, largely because many are still too new, especially L2s.
Make early believers rich—like 100x wealth growth
Rising prices are the best business development strategy—you make people rich, and they become your biggest advocates. Bitcoin delivered over 200x gains to early adopters between 2013 and 2018, forming its core base of followers. Ethereum grew roughly 40x between 2020 and 2022, enriching ICO supporters—a diverse group who chose ETH among hundreds of other ICOs.
SOL achieved about 100x in the last cycle, but much of those gains went to VCs rather than the broader community, limiting its grassroots impact compared to ETH. Unexpected airdrops like JTO and PYTH enriched the Solana community—people who staked just 1 SOL received $10,000 worth of JTO. They made small holders rich, not just those with massive stakes. Note: Most airdrops (or related point systems) don’t enrich communities—only unexpected ones do.
During the bear market, L2s ARB and OP also executed highly successful airdrops. It’s clearly a positive feedback loop: price rises attract passionate supporters and attention, fueling further price increases.
Looking ahead, I’ll be watching how TIA leverages momentum from its airdrop and subsequent 10x price move. Early Celestia developers are now receiving ~$200,000 in airdropped tokens. SEI, meanwhile, botched its airdrop and lost early community members, though it’s slowly rebuilding. Aptos and Sui are VC-backed chains, so they need exceptional airdrop strategies to earn organic community support.
Build religious communities using memes and unique identifiers
Even with financial incentives, you need fast-spreading, easily shareable memes. You need inside jokes so people feel part of a unique club. You need people to blindly support a “greater cause” because they feel they belong.
Nothing illustrates this better than BTC’s “laser eyes” meme—almost a cultural hallmark of Bitcoin maximalism. For Ethereum, there’s the “.eth” X handle suffix. With SOL, some use “◎” or “.sol”—but adoption is limited. Now BONK, dogwifhat, and Popcat are defining Solana culture. And you’ve got 0xmert, who basically lives on X, mocking every Ethereum nerd. AVAX users adopt “🔺” in their handles, while OP and ARB use 🔴 and 💙💛 respectively.
Memes must emerge organically from the community—you can’t force them. You can’t just slap “Inu” at the end of your token name and expect success (inspired by Shiba Inu, countless meme coins added “Inu” to seem legit). “Solana Inu” didn’t catch on, but $BONK and $WIF did. The Base community did surprisingly well with $BALD—it was original, slightly funny, but unfortunately turned out to be a scam.
You need a charismatic, narrative-driven leader to kickstart the flywheel and lay the foundation for your followers. Then it becomes a virtuous cycle: early community → memes & culture → price rise → more community → more memes → price rise → more community.
The closest thing to a “religious community” I’ve seen outside the mainstream is Berachain. These people just get crypto humor and community. SEI has done fairly well with multiple “Sei” puns—$SEIYAN community even launched an ecosystem fund. Sui and Aptos lag here, but I believe as volume grows, so will their cultural footprint.
A simple narrative or slogan as a battle cry
To spread your faith, you need a simple phrase to sell it. BTC is “digital gold,” ETH is “the world computer.” SOL is “parallel processing” or the “ETH killer.” Recently, strong narratives have emerged—Celestia leads the “modular blockchain” charge, while SEI and Monad promote “parallel EVM.”
It’s far easier to tell people you have a “parallel EVM” (still EVM, but faster execution) than explain how EIP-4844 reduces data costs for Ethereum rollups via blob transactions secured by KZG commitments.
Summary
Blockchain success ultimately comes down to strong communities—made up of developers, speculators, and users. And the strongest communities are religious.
With over 240 L1s/L2s and only a handful of truly original applications, blockchains face fierce competition for attention. Technology is no longer a differentiator. Blast doesn’t talk much about its tech stack (because no one cares)—it focuses on community and yield, and for good reason.
I wrote this piece because everyone loves speculating on L1s/L2s—they carry market premiums and offer the easiest narrative when “investing in blockchain technology.” But in reality, I’d rather discuss real-world use cases.
So which L1s/L2s will become the biggest religions in the next cycle?
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