15 Mar CAN YOU GIVE CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR MATANOS LA-EVYONIM?
Cryptocurrency has gained traction in recent years, valuing over two trillions dollars in circulation. Can you fulfill the mitzvah of giving money to poor people on Purim (matanos la-evyonim) with cryptocurrency? I have not seen any poskim address this question so I will begin the conversation with some preliminary thoughts.
I. Is Cryptocurrency Considered Currency?
Wikipedia defines cryptocurrency as “a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.” You can buy a specific cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, with dollars (or other currencies) and then use the Bitcoin to purchase items where it is accepted. You can also sell items and receive Bitcoin as payment, and redeem it for dollars (or other currencies).
The first issue to address is whether cryptocurrency constitutes money or an asset/commodity. Do you use cryptocurrency to buy something or do you buy cryptocurrency and trade it for things? If you Google the question, you will see that this is a matter of debate. Some consider it a currency, a form of money. Most consider it an asset, an investment, a commodity — and this is the way nearly every government sees it. However, what really concerns us is whether cryptocurrency falls under the halachic definition of currency.
Rav Yitzhak Grossman addresses the question of whether cryptocurrency is halachically a currency (“Crypto-Judaism: Is Bitcoin Money?”, on the Bais HaVa’ad website). This has implications for mitzvos that require a currency, such as redemption of ma’aser sheini, pidyon ha-ben, and the prohibition against charging interest. He quotes three contemporary poskim who rule that it is a commodity and not a currency. Rav Asher Weiss says that cryptocurrency is not money because 1) it is not recognized as money by governments and 2) it is not widely accepted as payment for goods. Rav Shlomo Ishon rules likewise. Rav Shlomo Aviner writes similarly, that the current reality is that cryptocurrency is not widely accepted and therefore it is an asset and not currency. This could change in the future but currently it means that halachah recognizes cryptocurrency as a commodity and not as currency.
II. What Can You Give For Matanos La-Evyonim?
The reason for the obligation to give charity to the poor on Purim is to ensure that they have food to eat for their Purim meal. Therefore, Rav Yosef Te’omim (18th cen., Germany; Pri Megadim, Mishbetzos Zahav 694:1) says that we fulfill the mitzvah by giving either food or money to the poor. Mishnah Berurah (20th cen., Belarus; 694:2) rules likewise. Rav Meir Simcha HaKohen (20th cen., Latvia; Or Samei’ach, Hilchos Megillah 2:16) writes that you do not fulfill the mitzvah — even bedi’eved — by giving clothing (although Mishnah Berurah and others accept it bedi’eved). The poor person does not have to use the money for food, whether for the Purim meal or otherwise. He can use the money for anything he wants. However, we have to give it to him in a way that he can use it for the Purim meal, if he so chooses.
If cryptocurrency is considered money, then presumably you would be able to give it for matanos la-evyonim. However, since we saw above that cryptocurrency is not considered money, and certainly it is not food, then perhaps you cannot fulfill the mitzvah with it. And even if it is considered money, it might face another problem.
Perhaps we do not have to be so strict on our definition of money. Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl (cont., Israel; Yerushalayim Be-Mo’adeha, Purim, Q&A no. 153, p. 416) was asked whether you can fulfill the mitzvah of matanos la-evyonim by paying a poor person with a credit card or giving him a regular or post-dated check. Rav Nebenzahl does not answer by attempting to define what is considered money. Rather, he focuses on whether the poor person can use the gift to acquire food. If he can take even a post-dated check to a supermarket and trade it for food, then you can give it to him for the mitzvah. Similarly, if your credit card payment gives him the ability to purchase food, then you fulfill the mitzvah.
I have not seen this discussed but I suspect that this would not disqualify foreign currency even if it is not widely accepted locally. For example, if you give euros to a poor person collecting on Purim in New York. Perhaps that fulfills the mitzvah since, even though stores in New York do not accept euros, the poor person can go to a bank or a money changing store, or he can find a neighbor who will exchange dollars for euros.
However, currently, this is not the case for cryptocurrency. It is not accepted in any stores (or at least not in the vast majority of them). A poor person cannot easily pay for groceries with cryptocurrency. Nor can he exchange cryptocurrency in banks, stores or (generally speaking) with neighbors. This may change in the future but that is the current situation based on my experience. Therefore, tentatively it seems to me you cannot fulfill the mitzvah of matanos la-evyonim with cryptocurrency — not yet.