Self-custody is foundational to bitcoin's value with Zack Shapiro | The Last Free Americans

Zack Shapiro is the head of legal and policy at the Bitcoin Policy Institute and a key architect behind the Peer-to-Peer Rights Fund. He’s spent years on the frontlines where law, technology, and human freedom intersect—helping lawmakers and judges understand what it means to hold value in the digital age. In this episode, Zack joins The Bitcoin Frontier to break down why self-custody is foundational to bitcoin’s value, how the Clarity Act could define financial freedom for a generation, and why the right to hold your own money might be the most American right of all.We dig into the constitutional roots of property rights, how U.S. law is being stretched to fit a peer-to-peer world, and why the fight for non-custodial software developers will determine the future of bitcoin in America.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 & the mission behind The Last Free Americans series2:00 – What self-custody really means and why it’s the foundation of bitcoin’s value3:45 – ETFs, financialization, and the fading connection to real bitcoin5:00 – Why self-custody matters more than ever in 20256:15 – How outdated laws are clashing with a peer-to-peer world7:40 – The Clarity Act and the battle for non-custodial rights9:00 – Would bitcoin even be valuable without self-custody?10:00 – How self-custody connects to America’s founding values12:00 – The Constitution’s protections for holding bitcoin: 1st, 4th, 5th, 9th Amendments16:00 – The history lesson: Executive Order 6102 and gold confiscation18:30 – Enumerated powers, the 9th Amendment, and the people’s retained rights21:00 – Why protecting non-custodial developers is critical to freedom23:30 – Tornado Cash, Samurai Wallet, and the dangerous new legal precedents27:30 – Knowledge vs. intent: how the DOJ’s theories stretch the law31:00 – The risk of calling developers “money transmitters”33:30 – Steelmanning the other side: why regulators see a loophole37:00 – How the Bank Secrecy Act evolved from mob busting to digital dragnet40:30 – From halawa networks to bitcoin: applying old laws to new rails42:30 – The real ideological divide: state control vs. individual liberty46:00 – Why self-custody embodies the American idea of limited government47:30 – If Bitcoin existed in 1776, would the framers have protected self-custody?49:00 – Strategy going forward: the Clarity Act, education, and vigilance52:00 – The political battle ahead: Elizabeth Warren, ICOs, and what’s really at stake54:00 – How bitcoin helps the least powerful—and why that matters mostWHERE TO FOLLOW US: → Unchained X: https://x.com/unchained → Unchained LinkedIn: / unchainedcom → Unchained Newsletter: