The Divorce of a Lifetime - Separating Money and State
Duration: 00:28:22
Speaker: Paul Almasi
Type: Talk
Expertise: Beginner
Event: Devcon
Date: Jun 2026
The aftermath of the financial crisis made it evident that there was a real need for non-state money. When explaining the need for cryptocurrencies I draw from the analogy between the freedom to choose one’s religion and the freedom to choose one’s money. Simply put, Ethereum is the separation of State and Money. Growing up in school all of us learn about the separation of church and state, which happened hundreds of years ago. We are taught why it is so important that humans can live in societies where their religion, something very precious to them as individuals, is unethical to leave under the management of the government. In the future, this same philosophy should and will be applied to the freedom of choice towards an individual’s money. Today, one can argue that a separation of money and state might be, if not more important than, freedom of religion. Money is as fundamental to our lives as religion, because it affects almost every aspect of your life. The choices that you make about your finances impact your life and those around you, so to have money controlled by a central entity is comical.
