My guest today is Alena Vránová, entrepreneur, author, and builder of freedom tech who has spent over a decade pioneering tools that defend both digital and physical sovereignty. She co-founded SatoshiLabs (Trezor’s mother company), which launched the world’s first commercially available hardware wallet, joined the Casa Node team to make running Bitcoin and Lightning easy, and co-authored The Little Bitcoin Book, a global bestseller introducing why Bitcoin matters for freedom and finance. Today, she is building GLOK, a project dedicated to protecting Bitcoiners against kidnapping, extortion, and physical threats. In this episode, Alena shares her journey from legacy finance into Bitcoin, recounting how she helped establish an entirely new market for hardware wallets. We discuss the ongoing attempts to co-opt Bitcoin through regulation and confiscation, the dangers of KYC and data leaks, and why physical security is the next frontier for Bitcoiners worldwide. Alena also reflects on the role of women in Bitcoin, the growth of a truly global community, and why she believes building tools for self-defense—digital and physical—is essential for human freedom
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-- LINKS –
Alena’s Twitter: https://x.com/alenasatoshi
Alena’s Nostr: https://bit.ly/4msttRb
Glok’s Website: https://glok.me/
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-- CHAPTERS –
00:00 - Coming Up
01:40 - Intro to Alena & Her Background
08:27 - Alena’s Journey Into Bitcoin
11:08 - Building Trezor: Pioneering Hardware Wallets & Their Importance
19:17 - Bitcoin Nodes: From Fringe to Mainstream
22:37 - The Little Bitcoin Book
29:08 - The Inevitable Evolution of Bitcoin: Regulation, Co-opting, Confiscation
36:27 - Tech Innovation in Bitcoin
40:02 - Kidnapping, Extortion & “Glok” - Alena’s New Security Project
45:07 - Operational Security Checklist
48:07 - Kidnapping Use Case & Glok’s Deterrent Solution
59:17 - Women’s Safety in Europe
1:00:17 - Empowering Women Generally & in Bitcoin
1:11:27 - A Pronoic Mindset: Alena’s Hope for the Future