Peter Van Valkenburgh is the Director of Research and co-founder of Coin Center — the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit research organization focused on cryptocurrency policy — who has produced the most rigorous publicly available analytical work on the constitutional and regulatory treatment of decentralized blockchain protocols in the United States, arguing consistently that open, permissionless cryptocurrency networks are protected speech and financial activity and that applying money transmission regulations to non-custodial software developers is legally unjustified and constitutionally problematic.
Background
Peter Van Valkenburgh has a law degree, is a member of the New York bar, and was engaged in technology policy research before co-founding Coin Center. His academic background combines law and computer science, giving him the technical fluency to explain blockchain mechanics to lawyers and policymakers and analyze legal frameworks for engineers.
He was a research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University prior to Coin Center’s founding.
Coin Center Research
Van Valkenburgh is the primary researcher at Coin Center, producing reports and legal analyses including:
“Open Matters” Series
Van Valkenburgh authored a series of analyses distinguishing between open, decentralized cryptocurrency networks and closed, centralized cryptocurrency services, arguing that regulation should be calibrated to this distinction:
- Custodial exchanges (like Coinbase, Binance) hold customer funds → appropriate candidates for financial regulation.
- Non-custodial wallet software developers → no customer funds held, cannot freeze or reverse transactions → should not be treated as money transmitters.
- Protocol developers → create the underlying rules, have no ongoing control over the network → should have First Amendment protection for the code they write.
Framework for CVC Regulation
Van Valkenburgh’s 2018–2019 research on the proper regulatory framework for “convertible virtual currencies” became influential with FinCEN and state money transmission regulators attempting to write cryptocurrency guidance.
Tornado Cash Analysis
When OFAC sanctioned the Tornado Cash smart contracts in August 2022:
- Van Valkenburgh published detailed legal analysis arguing that sanctioning immutable autonomous smart contracts rather than persons was legally unprecedented and potentially unconstitutional.
- Coin Center, under his research leadership, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas and continued litigation through 2023-2024.
- His argument: Tornado Cash’s core contracts are software code (protected speech); once deployed, they have no operator; sanctioning “property” that is actually open-source code and mathematical computation is qualitatively different from sanctioning a person or company.
Testimony Before Congress
Van Valkenburgh has testified multiple times before U.S. Congressional committees, Senate Banking Committee, House Financial Services Committee, and other bodies. His testimony typically covers:
- The technical mechanics of how specific crypto protocols work.
- Why certain regulatory proposals would or would not affect the protocol’s actual operations.
- Constitutional dimensions of proposed crypto regulations.
Key Dates
- 2014 — Co-founds Coin Center with Jerry Brito.
- 2017 — Testifies before Congress on ICO regulation and securities law.
- 2018 — Publishes detailed analysis on the regulation of decentralized exchanges and non-custodial financial technology.
- 2021 — Coin Center advocacy on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act broker definition.
- August 2022 — OFAC sanctions Tornado Cash; Van Valkenburgh leads research response and Coin Center files constitutional challenge.
- 2023–2024 — Tornado Cash litigation continues; Van Valkenburgh continues congressional testimony.
Common Misconceptions
- “Peter Van Valkenburgh is a lawyer for the crypto industry.” — He is Director of Research at a nonprofit, not a practicing attorney representing corporate clients. His work is public-interest policy research and constitutional analysis, not client legal representation.
- “Coin Center’s legal positions always favor crypto companies.” — Coin Center’s positions follow constitutional principle more than corporate interest. On some issues (e.g., requiring custodial exchanges to comply with Bank Secrecy Act requirements) Coin Center’s positions have aligned with regulation. On others (sanctioning autonomous code) Coin Center has opposed positions that some large crypto companies were more ambivalent about challenging publicly.
Last updated: 2026-04