FBI Director Kash Patel and Acting AG Todd Blanche will speak at Bitcoin 2026 next week on a panel titled "Code Is Free Speech: Ending the War on Bitcoin."
Two years ago, this would have been unthinkable. The heads of the FBI and DOJ appearing at a Bitcoin conference to affirm that code is protected speech is genuinely significant.
But the gesture rings hollow if Samourai Wallet developers and Tornado Cash developers remain under prosecution or behind bars while these officials take the stage.
The right move is obvious. Pardon them before stepping up to the microphone.
If the pardons come during the panel, it reads as a publicity stunt. If they come before, it reads as conviction.
The title of the panel is "Ending the War on Bitcoin." You cannot credibly claim to end a war while still holding prisoners of that war.
Two years ago, this would have been unthinkable. The heads of the FBI and DOJ appearing at a Bitcoin conference to affirm that code is protected speech is genuinely significant.
But the gesture rings hollow if Samourai Wallet developers and Tornado Cash developers remain under prosecution or behind bars while these officials take the stage.
The right move is obvious. Pardon them before stepping up to the microphone.
If the pardons come during the panel, it reads as a publicity stunt. If they come before, it reads as conviction.
The title of the panel is "Ending the War on Bitcoin." You cannot credibly claim to end a war while still holding prisoners of that war.
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