Bitcoin marriages: Digital I dos

Wanna get married on blockchain?

Couples are increasingly looking for unique ways to make their wedding day unforgettable… so much so that some are using cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to create a secure and personalized wedding experience. Behold: Bitcoin marriages.

A crypto or Bitcoin wedding offers a modern take on traditional matrimony by recording the marriage on a blockchain. By using blockchain, couples can safeguard important memories, documents, and even digital assets related to their special day.

But there’s a catch: the digital “I dos” aren’t legally binding. Rather, it serves as a symbolic commitment between partners. This approach also holds particular significance for couples who face legal or societal obstacles to marriage in the traditional sense, offering them a way to publicly affirm their bond.

Let’s walk down the aisle on this topic.

By the digits

$26.91 billion: The global market size of blockchain technology in 2024

560 million: The number of cryptocurrency users around the world as of July 2024

50%: Bitcoin’s share of the crypto market cap

23%: Cryptocurrency ownership among American adults in 2024

40,000: Crypto ATMs worldwide

Remember NFTs?

Symbolizing love, digitally

There are different ways to incorporate blockchain into marriage. For instance, couples can take their blockchain wedding a step further by storing their marriage certificate or license as a digital asset in the form of an NFT (non-fungible token). An NFT refers to a unique digital asset that can take the form of art, music, videos, and other types of digital content stored on a blockchain network and traded using cryptocurrency as a means of exchange.

In an NFT marriage, the couple creates and exchanges unique digital tokens between their crypto wallets that symbolize their union, often minted on blockchain platforms like Ethereum. These tokens can be personalized with meaningful elements such as vows, digital wedding rings, or even special artwork representing their relationship. Each token is unique and is stored on the blockchain, so the exchange is permanently recorded.

Ok, but do people actually do this?

Where blockchainers say I do

There are platforms like “Marriage-Chain” on GitHub that provide couples with the ability to register their marriage using blockchain technology.

In 2023, Web3Wed launched its “Words of Love” season where couples could tie the knot using blockchain technology.

In 2022, Unilever’s (UL) oral care brand and toothpaste, Closeup, introduced a platform that allows couples to marry in a virtual setting represented by digital avatars. After the ceremony, they receive an NFT certificate, marking their union in the digital realm.

In 2018, Swedish sports fashion brand Björn Borg launched a digital platform called “Marriage Unblocked,” inviting LGBTQ+ couples from around the world to marry on the platform. Sybille and Alexandra from Switzerland became the first couple to do so, as their home country did not legally recognize same-sex marriages then. Same-sex marriages became legal in Switzerland on July 1, 2022.

Pop quiz

In which year did the first blockchain couple get married?

A. 2014
B. 2016
C. 2020
D. 2018

We’ve got the answer below — keep reading.

Quotable

“Most people get married in a place of religious worship, on a beach, or in the mountains. Peter (@_iphelix) and I are NOT most people. We got married on the #blockchain.” — Rebecca Rose posted after getting married to Peter Kacherginsky

Brief history

2014: The first blockchain-based wedding is held when David Mondrus and Joyce Bayo get married via a QR code at the Bitcoin conference at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.

2021: Rebecca Rose and Peter Kacherginsky, employees of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN), get married on Ethereum’s blockchain. In addition to a traditional Jewish ceremony, the couple writes an Ethereum smart contract named Taba’at (the Hebrew word for the ring) that issues tokenized “ring” NFTs in the form of TBT tokens into the couple’s wallets. The blockchain wedding ceremony takes 4 minutes, and the couple pays $587 in transaction fees.

2022: Another young couple from India, Shruti Nair and Anil Narasipuram, gets married using nonfungible tokens and pays $35 to digitize their love till eternity.

One more thing

With cyrpto marriages come… crypto divorces. We’ve got a guide to managing the separation of those assets.

Poll 

Would you get married on the blockchain?

• My wedding attire is going to be bright Bitcoin orange
• I want to exchange vows IRL
• Honestly, I just want some cake

Give us your take — our survey is just one question.

💬 Let’s talk!

In last week’s poll on chalk, 45% of you said you prefer writing on a chalkboard, while 28% of you like a whiteboard, and 27% are all digital.

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Today’s email was written by Vinamrata Chaturvedi and edited and produced by Morgan Haefner.

The correct answer to the pop quiz is A., 2014.