Crypto as a Cult: When Hope Becomes a Financial Asset

Look around and you’ll quickly spot people praying for a green candle or casting market spells like, “God, I swear if my short position survives, I’ll never go over my limits again!”

Every pump hits with a burst of dopamine. Every story about someone turning $200 into millions sparks envy right at the core. And every new project on the radar feels like a lottery ticket that will finally pay off.

And we keep bringing our money back into the market. 

Because if not now, when?

Related: Religions and Blockchain: A Surprising Connection

FOMO, Envy, and the Cult of Xs

The panic that comes from missing a good market opportunity is known as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). It drives people to act irrationally, buying at the top (because others made money before them), and selling at the bottom (before the market leaves them with nothing but their socks).

However, the roots of this go much deeper. 

It’s not just about missing a chance to earn. It’s the fear that someone else will break free from the system while you stay stuck. That others are smarter, quicker, braver. And you’re not. You’re the loser.

You follow dozens of Telegram channels and see the same thing over and over. Someone posts a screenshot showing a 1000% profit on a high-leverage futures trade, and you sit there thinking: Where was I? Why didn’t I join in? Why didn’t I believe?

This can turn into what’s known as survivorship bias—and it usually does. The crypto market thrives in this kind of environment, quickly planting and growing a sense of inadequacy in every trader, like a mycelium spreading beneath the surface. 

The traditional stock market, where people trade shares of public companies, runs on emotion too. But crypto takes everything to the extreme. It moves faster, feels louder, and hits harder. 

People talk about utility, strong communities, and breakthrough technology—but let’s be real. Most are here for the gains (aside from maybe the idealist Vitalik Buterin).

And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s human nature. But it’s worth admitting it to yourself.

Read more: Pastor Charged in Crypto Ponzi Scheme Faces Trial

Old Money vs New Money

In many ways, this is a clash between old and new money. Wall Street trades through financial advisors and Bloomberg spreadsheets. However, crypto flows through Telegram chats and tweets from crypto influencers. 

One crowd sits at the kitchen table, digging through Excel files, switching between tabs on dividends and bonds. 

The other stares at the PancakeSwap app, where a cartoon duck keeps winking until they finally buy a token with a name they can’t pronounce.

These are two completely different approaches. The first looks for predictability. The second bets on luck.

Old money stays quiet. New money speaks loudly.

Could it just be a generational gap? 

Most people in the crypto crowd are under 40. Many don’t have stable jobs or social safety nets, but they carry big ambitions and strong belief in themselves. Crypto feels like their chance—a way into a world where everything seems possible. What matters most is moving fast and doing it on their own terms.

But even this world has rules. They’re just different. 

And in some ways, more dangerous. Hardly anyone here thinks about long-term investments. Few want to plan 20 or 30 years ahead, and why bother, when you might hit the jackpot today?

Read more about what fast wins really cost in our article: Fast Money, Fake Riches—How Young Crypto Scammers Burn Out Fast

The World Is Losing Its Mind, and We're the Reflection

Financial markets have always followed human psychology. They weren’t built to make everyone rich.

At the same time, the crypto market mixes volatility with panic and euphoria.

We like to say crypto stands for technology, progress, and decentralization. But maybe it’s not that deep.

What if it’s just a candlestick-shaped mirror of the chaos we feel in the world around us?

When old systems collapse and the newsfeed reads like scenes from a disaster film, people start looking for something to hold on to. For many, that something is crypto. 

We live in a time of constant uncertainty. Climbing prices look like a light at the end of the tunnel. But too often, that light turns out to be nothing more than the glow of a screen showing yet another illusion. 

We don’t just respond to the outside world. We recreate it through trading and the hype we generate with our own hands. 

The same three emotions drive it all:

• Fear
• Greed
• hope

And every day brings another attempt to turn those emotions into profit.

However, the old-school guard has their own take on this. Read more in our article: George Soros and His Theory of Reflexivity in Financial Markets.

So who shapes whom—the market or us?

The answer likely lies in the cycle. First comes fear of the future. Then we search for meaning, reach for hope, take risks, and… end up facing fear all over again. 

The market reflects our emotions and pushes them even further. New heroes rise. Crisis memes flood the internet.

And we respond by moving faster, shouting louder, grabbing more.

It’s a shared performance. We’re the audience, the actors, and the directors all at once.

The show must go on. But we can’t forget who we were before it began.

Why Are We Here?

Some might say, “I’m not here for the moonshots, I’m here for the fun.” But in crypto circles, “fun” usually means passive income with low risk.

In most crypto chats, no one talks about financial genius. What really matters is risk, bold moves, hype, and a belief in the next big miracle. Everything else feels like sideways action—boring and draining. And if you don’t keep up with the momentum, you start to feel like the weak link. 

But maybe you’re not the weak one—maybe you just don’t want to keep living in a loop of hope, pumps, and burnout.

The crypto market acts like a mirror. It reflects both our greed and our convictions. But if we don’t learn to separate real dreams from manipulation, we stop being players and start feeding the system.

Life doesn’t work like university. It punishes first, then teaches.

That’s why it’s time to ask yourself the right questions. Not the easy ones like “When moon?” but something real and responsible like “Why am I here?”

That shift might be the start of the same transformation every successful crypto trader goes through: turning the cult into a profession.