The US State Department is release A program that includes Bitcoin as a means of promoting digital freedom around the world.
The initiative, called the Freedom Tech Excellence Program, will see the State Department work with the Bitcoin Policy Institute, data analysis company Palantir Technologies, defense technology company Anduril Industries, and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation on issues including online surveillance, encryption, AI governance, and protecting free expression online.
In accordance with the program’s stated goals, participants will focus on five priority areas: the First Amendment and protecting freedom of expression in the digital age; combating illegal digital surveillance and online fraud; Privacy-enhancing technologies such as strong encryption and virtual private networks (VPNs); responsible governance of emerging technologies including artificial intelligence; and protect children and other users online.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute’s inclusion indicates that the department views bitcoin and blockchain technology as relevant tools for circumventing financial censorship and surveillance in authoritarian states – a topic the organization has long championed in its advocacy work.
The FTEP will operate through limited-term assignments, placing private sector employees within the State Department in temporary positions tasked with shaping diplomatic efforts around specific digital freedom issues.
President Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the cryptocurrency space, and since taking office, his government has taken a more pro-crypto approach in regulating and including elements of the space in his administration.
In March 2025, for example, President Trump signed an executive order to create a strategic reserve of bitcoin and a separate stockpile of US digital assets, with a capital stock of about 200,000 bitcoins already held by the government through criminal and civil forfeiture.
This placed Bitcoin alongside strategic reserves held by the United States for items such as gold, oil and pharmaceuticals, treating it as a rare national asset rather than just a speculative asset.
