Open-source lawfare and bitcoin’s defense with Peter Van Valkenburgh | The Last Free Americans

Peter Van Valkenburgh is the Executive Director of Coin Center, a leading nonprofit research and advocacy group focused on cryptocurrency policy. In this episode, Peter joins The Bitcoin Frontier to explore why defending the right to self-custody is about much more than bitcoin — it’s about the future of individual freedom, open-source innovation, and financial privacy. We dig into the parallels between the 1990s “crypto wars” and today’s digital sovereignty battles, the threats facing developers of privacy tools, and the constitutional foundations for privacy and property in the digital age.SUPPORT THE PODCAST: → Subscribe → Leave a review → Share the show with your friends and family → Send us an email: [e-mail] → Learn more about Unchained: https://unchained.com/?utm_source=you... → Book a free call with a bitcoin expert: https://unchained.com/consultation?ut...TIMESTAMPS:0:00 – Intro and Peter’s journey from acting to bitcoin policy2:00 – Discovering the cypherpunks and the roots of internet freedom4:00 – Entering bitcoin through law school and meeting Jerry Brito6:00 – Founding Coin Center and defining “permissionless innovation”9:00 – The mission: protecting the freedom to build and use open blockchains11:00 – Bitcoin’s privacy problem and the legal risks of building privacy tech13:00 – Educating DC: explaining bitcoin to Congress in the early days16:00 – Navigating the SEC, ICOs, and defining what counts as a security18:30 – The evolution from education to constitutional litigation22:00 – Bitcoin as the revival of a “bearer instrument” economy26:00 – The “secret right to cash” and the Fourth Amendment’s blind spot30:00 – Privacy, property, and what bitcoin reveals about constitutional limits35:00 – The Keep Your Coins Act and why it matters for financial sovereignty43:00 – The DOJ’s shift toward prosecuting developers — and why it’s dangerous46:00 – Inside the Tornado Cash and Samurai Wallet prosecutions50:00 – How Coin Center is fighting for software publishing rights54:00 – Legislative progress: Clarity, Keep Your Coins, and BRCA1:00:00 – Lessons from the 1990s encryption wars1:03:00 – How liability protections shaped (and centralized) the internet1:08:00 – The convenience dilemma: why self-custody must become easier1:12:00 – The Bank Secrecy Act, mass surveillance, and new legal challenges1:19:00 – Coin Center’s constitutional lawsuits for privacy and association rights1:23:00 – Why the BSA is ripe for reform — and bitcoin’s role in that debate1:27:00 – Zero-knowledge proofs, AML, and a future of privacy-preserving compliance1:29:00 – How self-custody wallets enable digital identity and personal sovereignty1:31:00 – Closing thoughts: bitcoin as the foundation for a freer digital futureWHERE TO FOLLOW US: → Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom → Unchained Newsletter: https://unchained.com/newsletter → Joe Kelly’s Twitter: https://x.com/josephkelly → Peter Van Valkenburgh’s Twitter: https://x.com/valkenburgh