Cryptocurrency Made for Catholics Backed by Former US Senator

Rick Santorum is the last person you would expect to support a cryptocurrency project, but now he’s taking his religious fervor to the blockchain space. Santorum is currently sitting on the advisory board of a cryptocurrency and company called Cathio.

Cryptocurrency for Catholics

According to the project, the aim of Cathio is to make payments easier within Catholic institutions. It is intended to ‘bring financial transactions into alignment with [Catholic] beliefs.’ Santorum’s son-in-law is the project’s CEO. However, Santorum is not the only former government official throwing his support behind the cryptocurrency project. Former US ambassador to the Vatican, Jim Nicholson, and former head of the US Mint, Ed Moy, are both also on the board. The co-founder of Cathio, Cameron Chell, is chairman of ICOx Innovations, responsible for running Kodak’s “Kodakcoin” ICO. As per a press release, Santorum said that the effort was to reach out to religiously-minded millennials. “We have to learn from successful tech companies, and we have to provide a universal solution that makes it easy for younger generations to engage with the Church,” he said.

Venmo for Catholics

The entire project sounds more like ‘Venmo for Catholics’ than anything else. Part of the issue with the existing Venmo is that it is owned by Paypal, a known supporter of Planned Parenthood. Because the fintech company is ‘antithetical to Catholic values,’ Cathio would allow for a cryptocurrency payment system more aligned with the Christian faith. Cathio is more than just about financial transactions, however. The platform will additionally allow users to rate Catholic organizations. Overall, it claims it will promote transparency in payments, allowing them to be tracked and spent effectively. Cathio is not a charity, however. It will be making a profit off of its endeavors, charging a fee of around 2 percent per transaction. All its advisory board members own shares of the company. No dates have been given on the release date for the Cathio cryptocurrency. However, given its support among high-ranking right-wing US officials, we can expect this strange project to pick up steam as the year goes on. Will Cathio be a success or it is just another obvious cryptocurrency money grab? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.