In the name of the father, the son, and the HODL spirit … amen. Rick Santorum — former Pennsylvania senator, two-time failed Republican presidential candidate, conservative Catholic — is getting into cryptocurrency. He’s an adviser on the board of a new company called Cathio, which says it “provides Catholic organizations with a payments platform that aligns with Catholic values, provides the tools necessary to increase donations and connect with both local and global Catholic communities.” Santorum’s son-in-law is Cathio’s CEO.
From the Financial Times’ Alphaville blog:
There are some other big hitters on the board too, including former US ambassador to the Vatican Jim Nicholson, and former head of the US Mint Ed Moy, who also happens to have been an adviser for “bitcoin IRA”, an investment fund that encourages people to put their retirement savings into crypto (what could possibly go wrong, etc). Also on the board — and co-founder of Cathio — is Cameron Chell, chairman of ICOx Innovations, the company that ran Kodak’s infamous “Kodakcoin” ICO, which managed to raise less than 7 per cent of its target.
Santorum, via a press release, said he thinks Cathio is a way to connect with young Catholics. “Millennials don’t carry cash, they date on apps and watch on-demand entertainment,” he said. “We have to be there, 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.” Translation: We thought if we put the word “blockchain” near the word “Catholicism,” we might pull in some millennials.
Another way Cathio is “learning from successful tech companies” is by charging a 2 percent transaction fee. All I have to say is that “Vaticoin” was sitting right there, guys.
