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Susie profile picture
The UK needs Bitcoin; Bitcoin doesn’t need the UK.

Bitcoin is sound money, open infrastructure, and long term thinking built into code. It doesn’t need permission but it does reward those who pay attention.

With the right approach it can strengthen innovation, energy systems, and economic resilience.

I’ve reflected on the year in my letter to members and supporters below.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us in 2025, We are now looking forward to 2026.

Tick tock, next block.
@nevent1qqs...
Susie profile picture
Britain is heading toward a monetary breaking point and Steve Baker doesn’t hold back. In this conversation he lays out why fiat money is failing, why Westminster can’t see the crisis it created, and why Bitcoin is the only credible way out.

We get into democracy, technocracies, media misinformation, forever wars, CBDCs and the incentives quietly steering UK policy off a cliff. If you want the unfiltered version of political reality this one is worth a watch.

Watch the full episode on @nprofile1q.... Link below:

https://youtu.be/179-rRPoV9E?si=3Ol_VmqxBY3AwWD7

Susie profile picture
Today has been a wild day at Bitcoin MENA.

My day was going to start with a panel, which turned into a fireside thanks to visa issues, and almost became a keynote.

Thankfully @nprofile1q... jumped in and saved me.

Loved hanging out with the @nprofile1q... team, interviewing Tony at The Bitcoin Way, @nprofile1q... , and Kyle Knight from Bitcoin Culture Hub.

It was great spending time on the livedesk with @nprofile1q... and Lukas Duczko, Chairman at Blink.

Thanks @npub1rwh33... , it’s been a blast!


Susie profile picture
One year ago today, I became CEO of Bitcoin Policy UK.

Since then, our small team of volunteers has achieved what most well funded organisations struggle to do, in one of the toughest environments for UK businesses.

Individuals and companies are leaving the country at a record pace, and the policy space is dominated by pay to play dynamics and crypto lobbying money.

Despite that, we have delivered. What we have accomplished together:

- Helped secure Bitcoin’s recognition as property in UK law.
- Responded to government consultations, submitted detailed policy papers, and held constructive conversations with MPs, Lords, regulators, and civil-service teams.
- Launched our new website
- Distributed our 2025 Manifesto to all 650 MPs and expanded our research across energy, tax, financial inclusion, and infrastructure.
- Hosted events on Human Rights, Bitcoin in Business, and Bitcoin for Institutions.
- Had a presence and a main hall stall at the 2025 Labour Party Conference, opening new Bitcoin conversations.
- Partnered with 11 organisations and hosted multiple BPUK events that connected the bitcoin industry with policymakers, energy experts, and regulators.
- Appeared in multiple podcasts, interviews, and media articles
-Set up mining proof of concepts
-Launch our 'On the Record' podcast.
- Spoke at industry events around the world.
- Designed and delivered the ‘Contact My MP’ App, helping supporters reach their representatives directly and raising the bar for political engagement in the Bitcoin space.

All of this has been achieved by a team of outstanding volunteers with no full time staff, very modest funding, and no compromise to our values. We have been pushing uphill in a system where influence is usually bought.

We have moved the dial and proven that the UK does have a place in Bitcoin’s future, provided we continue to fight for it.

Year one was foundations.

Year two is where we build strength and momentum.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us, shared our work, and contributed time, expertise, or energy. BPUK exists because the community wants it to.

Here’s to the next chapter.

A special thanks to my amazing team: Freddie New Dr Cristina Llamas-Rey Russell Rukin Nick Bowick Jeremy Cline Juniper Jason Jason Sami Shams and others who prefer to stay behind the scenes.

@nprofile1q... @nprofile1q... @nprofile1q... @nprofile1q...

Susie profile picture
Privacy has taken another hit with the conviction of Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.

A Manhattan jury found him guilty of operating an "unlicensed money transmitting business," based on the idea that the software he helped build functioned like a financial service. The jury could not agree on the more serious charges of money laundering and sanctions violations, but the single conviction is still significant.

This case challenges how the law defines and responds to open source code. Tornado Cash is not a company, nor does it hold or move user funds. It is a set of smart contracts on Ethereum that let users break the link between the wallets they use to send and receive funds. These contracts were deployed in a way that made them unchangeable. The private keys were destroyed. No one, including the developers, could modify or shut down the system.

A money transmitting business typically holds and transfers funds on behalf of customers. At no point did Tornado Cash or its developers do this.

The protocol gave users a tool that enabled them to mask the public trail of their transactions by depositing into a shared pool and later withdrawing without revealing the source.

The case focused heavily on North Korean hackers using the protocol to move stolen funds. But others testified that they used the tool for legitimate purposes, including donating to humanitarian causes, preserving privacy in repressive regimes, and protecting activists from surveillance.

The bigger issue is whether software developers can be held criminally responsible for what other people do with tools they create. If someone uses a car as a getaway vehicle in a robbery, we don’t prosecute the manufacturer who built the car. Responsibility should fall on those who commit the acts, not those who build general purpose infrastructure.

Storm's defence argued that the team had already taken steps to limit abuse. They added a sanctions screening oracle built by Chainalysis to the public interface, which blocked flagged wallet addresses from interacting with the app. This was one of the few actions available, given the immutable nature of the contracts. Even so, prosecutors claimed they should have done more, and that Storm conspired to operate a financial service without authorisation.

To secure the conviction, the government needed to prove intent. They had to show that Storm knowingly operated a money transmitting business, despite the absence of custody, accounts, or control over user funds. They argued that because he was aware that bad actors were using the tool, he was complicit.

This interpretation of the law creates a dangerous precedent. It opens the door to charging developers for building privacy tools that are later used in ways they cannot control.

Roman Storm now faces up to five years in prison. The outcome of this case will be watched closely by developers, privacy advocates, and anyone building open source infrastructure. It raises urgent questions about whether it is still safe to publish permissionless code in a world where intent can be inferred from other people's actions.

What happens next will determine the fate of a developer, test the legal boundaries around publishing open source code, and reveal just how far the state is willing to go to punish software it cannot control.

The fight over the future of digital freedom continues.

Brilliant reporting on this case from @nprofile1q... and @npub12apcw....

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/news/tornado-cash-trial-concludes-roman-storm-found-guilty-of-one-of-three-counts
@nevent1qqs...
Susie profile picture
KYC doesn’t just put your data at risk; it puts people at risk.

Hackers recently demanded $20 million in Bitcoin from Coinbase, threatening to leak sensitive customer data.

While no passwords or private keys were accessed, the attackers obtained full names, addresses, contact details, partial Social Security and bank account numbers, and identity documents. This is the kind of data that can be weaponised for identity theft, fraud, or worse.

This is exactly the kind of risk I raised on the compliance panel at the Financial Times Digital Assets Summit last week. While KYC and compliance frameworks are presented as security features, they often do the opposite. They create massive, centralised honeypots of personal data that can and do get breached, sold, or exploited.

We’ve seen what can happen when that data gets into the wrong hands. Earlier this year, David Balland, the co-founder of Ledger, was kidnapped along with his wife. His captors cut off one of his fingers and sent it to a business associate to demand crypto ransom. He was rescued by French special forces, but the message was clear: real-world consequences are now linked to digital identity exposure.

We need better solutions that don’t force users to sacrifice privacy and safety for access.

Compliance shouldn’t come at the cost of security.
Susie profile picture
In June 2023, I published "Why I believe the Bank of England’s CBDC consultation amounts to a national scandal", highlighting concerns over transparency and control.

Since then, the Bank of England has promised legislation to protect privacy and maintain access to cash. But officials are now expressing doubts about launching Britcoin before 2030, citing privacy concerns, costs, and public apprehension about government control over finances.

As the House of Lords' Economic Affairs Committee aptly described, CBDCs are "a solution in search of a problem," potentially costing taxpayers significantly without clear benefits.

To date, there have been no successful CBDC launches when measured by adoption. Every attempt so far has failed to gain meaningful traction. So why are we doing this?

Also, the choice of the name Britcoin is certainly interesting. Whether intentional or not, it risks confusing a state-controlled currency with Bitcoin, which operates outside government control.

Is this a win for privacy—or just a delay before rollout?

https://t.co/ZVoZFxGX5S