{"id":53655,"date":"2026-07-24T15:20:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/?p=53655"},"modified":"2026-07-24T15:26:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T20:26:34","slug":"state-department-tech-program-with-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/news\/state-department-tech-program-with-bitcoin","title":{"rendered":"State Department to Debut Freedom Tech Program with Bitcoin Policy Institute, Palantir as Founding Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. State Department is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/current-partnerships-global-partnerships-unit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">launching<\/a> a program that includes Bitcoin as a way to advance digital freedom worldwide.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Named the Freedom Tech Excellence Program, the initiative will see the State Department work with the Bitcoin Policy Institute, data-analytics firm 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the program&#8217;s stated goals, participants will focus on five priority areas: First Amendment and free expression protections in the digital age; countering unlawful digital surveillance and online scams; privacy-enhancing technologies such as strong encryption and VPNs; responsible governance of emerging technologies including AI; and safeguarding children and other users online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The inclusion of the Bitcoin Policy Institute signals that the Department views Bitcoin and blockchain technology as tools relevant to circumventing censorship and financial surveillance in authoritarian states \u2014 a theme the organization has long championed in its advocacy work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The FTEP will operate through limited-term assignments, placing private sector personnel inside the State Department on temporary embeds tasked with shaping diplomatic efforts around specific digital freedom issues.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Trump campaigned on a ticket to help the crypto space and since taking office, his government has taken a more pro-crypto approach to both regulating and including elements of the space in his administration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In March 2025, for example, President Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a separate U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, capitalized with roughly 200,000 Bitcoin already held by the government through criminal and civil forfeiture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The order framed Bitcoin alongside strategic reserves the U.S. maintains for materials like gold, petroleum, and pharmaceuticals, treating it as a scarce national asset rather than merely a speculative one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The initiative wants to protect free expression online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3860,"featured_media":53658,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4378],"tags":[76,641,6658],"class_list":["post-53655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitcoin-policy-institute","tag-us-state-department"],"author_data":{"id":3860,"name":"Mathew Di Salvo","nicename":"mathewdisalvo","avatar_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cropped-Mathew-Di-Salvo-scaled-1.jpeg"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pics-4.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3860"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53656,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53655\/revisions\/53656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}