The US State Department has officially launched a program that treats Bitcoin, encryption, and privacy tools as instruments of foreign policy. The Freedom Tech Excellence Program, or FTEP, is a public-private partnership that embeds employees from private organizations directly into diplomatic operations focused on digital freedom.
The Bitcoin Policy Institute is one of four founding partners, alongside Palantir Technologies, Anduril Industries, and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
How the program actually works
FTEP operates through limited-term assignments, placing private sector personnel inside the State Department. These aren’t permanent government hires. They’re temporary embeds tasked with shaping diplomatic efforts around specific digital freedom issues: online freedom of expression, counter-surveillance measures, and responsible AI governance.
The founding partner list tells its own story. Palantir and Anduril are defense-tech heavyweights with deep government ties, known for building surveillance and intelligence infrastructure. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation brings a human rights lens focused on authoritarian regimes. And the Bitcoin Policy Institute, established in 2021, has been working on US policy engagement around Bitcoin specifically.
