State Dept Taps Bitcoin Lobby to Defend "Digital Freedom" — Privacy, Please Hold 📡

The US Department of State has launched a new public-private initiative to advance digital freedom and freedom of expression, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute is on the founding partner list. BPI announced on Friday via X that it would join the Freedom Tech Excellence Program, or FTEP, alongside Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

Under the program, partner organization employees will be embedded for limited-term assignments to work alongside State Department experts. According to the State Department, FTEP is designed to "bring private sector talent to the Department for limited-term assignments to advance diplomatic efforts on key issues including online freedom of expression, privacy-enhancing technologies, countering digital surveillance, and responsible AI governance." BPI said its staff would "work alongside state department experts and defend digital freedoms around the world."

BPI was created in 2021 as a "non-partisan research and advocacy" organization focused on Bitcoin ($BTC) policy. The group has endorsed efforts to codify into law an executive order signed by US President Donald Trump in March 2025 to establish a strategic crypto reserve. As of July, US lawmakers had not passed legislation implementing that order.