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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nBy Zack Cohen, Bitcoin Policy Institute<\/em><\/p>\n Before diving into the recap, I want to say thank you. On behalf of the entire team at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, thank you to everyone who attended, supported, spoke, tuned in, or participated in any way. We spent months preparing for our third Bitcoin Policy Summit. What unfolded in Washington last week exceeded anything we could have expected.<\/p>\n More than 1,000 people joined us: builders, policymakers, students, agency staff, journalists, energy experts, and human rights advocates. And what they found was not a party dressed up as a conference, but a serious two-day working session that reflected how far the Bitcoin conversation has come \u2013 and where it\u2019s going.<\/p>\n Bitcoin has long been misunderstood or sidelined in DC. It\u2019s been easy for policymakers to dismiss or ignore it. But the 2025 Summit sent a different signal: Bitcoin isn\u2019t going away. It\u2019s not on the fringe. It\u2019s at the center of emerging conversations about national strategy, economic strength, digital rights, and innovation.<\/p>\n We opened the week with a packed welcome party, co-hosted with our friends at PubKey. To outsiders, DC may seem like a rigid town \u2014 buttoned-up, formal, slow-moving. But if you spend real time here, you know the truth: DC runs on relationships. And relationships are built in places like this.<\/p>\n Over 450 attendees gathered in a room buzzing with live karaoke, strong cocktails (shoutout to Unchained for devising the Old Fashioned Bull Run and the Miner\u2019s Mule), and constant conversation. It was loud. It was joyful. But most of all, it was serious energy. Bitcoiners had arrived.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s summit brought in:<\/p>\n Attendees included national security experts, financial regulators, think tank analysts, open-source developers, nonprofit leaders, and more. Bitcoin\u2019s coalition is broadening, and it showed.<\/p>\n The program was structured around clear themes: national security, energy, privacy, financial inclusion, and legislative strategy. Keynotes, panels, and lightning talks made space for both technical depth and broad vision.<\/p>\n In the opening segment, Zack Shapiro outlined BPI\u2019s national strategy framework<\/a> \u2014 a vision of American Bitcoin leadership grounded in open-source values, resilience, and forward-looking policy. That was followed by a sharp panel on Senate priorities<\/a>, including the BITCOIN Act.<\/p>\n Alex Leishman gave a data-rich talk on the American Bitcoin advantage<\/a> \u2014 why our institutions, capital markets, and rule of law position the US to lead. Alex Gladstein brought the human rights lens to life, reminding the room that Bitcoin is still the most powerful freedom technology of the 21st century<\/a>.<\/p>\n Patrick Witt, Deputy Director of the President\u2019s Council on Digital Assets, reiterated the administration\u2019s strategic interest in Bitcoin<\/a>, highlighting ongoing progress:<\/p>\n \u201cThere will be the forthcoming report on the interagency activities. We\u2019ve already taken some steps with the SPR. The question now is, how do we follow that up with an accumulation plan? There\u2019s no shortage of opportunities and work to be done. So after we leave here, I\u2019ll get right back to it.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Two democrats, Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) joined Bitcoin Core\u2019s 10th known developer Matt Corallo and BPI Co-president Grant McCarty to discuss the need for making the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act bipartisan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n At one point during the panel, Rep. Torres remarked,\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe value of Bitcoin is more secure than the value of gold because you can always find more gold, but the supply of Bitcoin in the world is going to remain fixed in perpetuity.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Rep. Gottheimer, who recently signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill, joined Rep. Torres on stage to explain his decision to co-sponsor the bill and underscore the importance of protecting innovators and preserving the integrity of the open-source development ecosystem.<\/p>\n In one of the most high-impact sessions, BPI\u2019s Zack Shapiro sat down with SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce<\/a> to discuss ETF structure, qualified custody, and what the future of Bitcoin-native financial infrastructure might look like. It was detailed, honest, and substantive \u2014 exactly what this moment calls for.<\/p>\n New this year, we introduced structured office hours: one-on-one sessions where attendees could sit down with our research fellows. These conversations dug into mining, privacy, regulation, and monetary strategy in an unfiltered setting.<\/p>\nA Welcome That Set the Tone<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Who Was in the Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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What We Talked About<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\nOffice Hours and the Q&A Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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