Did you know that there is now a blockchain-based religious organization

Ever talk to a cryptocurrency aficionado and wonder, perhaps, if they had joined a new cult? Well they really might have: there’s now a religion built on the Ethereum blockchain.

Its founder, Matt Liston, is the former CEO of Augur, a blockchain-supported prediction platform. Liston’s departure from Augur was contentious, and just last week he filed a lawsuit for $152 million against his former employer.

Liston unveiled his blockchain religion, which he calls 0xΩ (“Zero ex omega”? “Zero times omega”?), during a May 19 event at the New Museum in New York City. He distributed 40 hard copies of a document he calls 0xΩ’s “flame paper,” the closest thing the religion has to a “holy book,” that reportedly outlines how Liston wants 0xΩ to function.

“It’s a religious framework that could allow for belief sets to update much more quickly and also to democratize the relationship between membership and convergence on what everyone believes in this religion,” Liston said at the May 19 launch

The fundamental idea is that blockchain could eliminate the need for the faith to have a governing authority. In many of today’s major religions, the beliefs and decisions of the people at the top — the Pope, the Dalai Lama, the Chief Rabbi — trickle down to the rest of the believers. The average follower has very little influence on the religion’s core beliefs.

0xΩ could work differently, because users could have a say. Followers might decide they want to change parts of the blockchain religion’s texts (starting with the flame paper) or start using donations to support certain charitable causes. To prove that funds will, in fact, materialize in the real world, Avery Singer, an artist and supporter of 0xΩ, presented a statue of a “Dogewhal” at the May 19 event, stating that future votes could decide to commission such pieces