US State Department Embeds Bitcoin into Foreign Policy through Freedom Tech Program
The US State Department has launched a new program called the Freedom Tech Excellence Program (FTEP), which embeds employees from private organizations into diplomatic operations focused on digital freedom. The program, announced earlier this month, is a public-private partnership that treats Bitcoin and encryption as instruments of foreign policy.
FTEP operates through limited-term assignments, placing private sector personnel inside the State Department to shape diplomatic efforts around specific digital freedom issues such as online freedom of expression, counter-surveillance measures, and responsible AI governance. The program's founding partners include Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, and the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI).
The BPI has been working on US policy engagement around Bitcoin specifically and is hosting a Freedom Tech DC summit scheduled for September 22-23, 2026. The program represents a structural change in how the US government categorizes crypto technology, moving Bitcoin from being viewed as a 'speculative asset we need to regulate' to a 'freedom tool we want to promote abroad.' However, experts warn that FTEP's influence depends on political continuity and can be quietly defunded or restructured without congressional action.