Cash Controls, App-Store Censorship & the Battle for Privacy - Lea Petrasova | Ep. 110

My guest today is Lea Petrasova, co-founder and CEO of Vexl, a peer-to-peer bitcoin app that lets people exchange bitcoin privately, without identification (KYC) or any middlemen. Lea is a prominent voice in the European cypherpunk community, dedicated to privacy, digital freedom, and restoring bitcoin’s original peer-to-peer design. We discuss why identity-linked bitcoin undermines true self-custody, how tightening cash controls and app-store censorship accelerate financial surveillance, and why Vexl chose to remain open-source and non-profit. Lea explains Vexl’s reputation-based trust model, the real risks of “dirty fiat,” and the growing global push toward CBDCs and digital IDs. We also explore how Vexl is evolving into a local marketplace for everything from food to services to hardware, showing how private, person-to-person exchange can quietly rebuild resilient, grassroots economies.

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-- LINKS –

Lea’s Twitter: https://x.com/LeaPetras

Vexl’s Twitter: https://x.com/vexl

Vexl’s Website: https://vexl.it/ 

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-- CHAPTERS –

00:00 Coming Up…

01:23 Introduction to Lea

05:58 Leah's Journey: From Academia to Bitcoin

09:08 The Birth of Vexl

12:33 Ad Break: Trezor & Abundant Mines

15:28 The Problem Vexl is Solving - Purchasing Bitcoin As Intended

23:08 Vexl Locality & Reputation’s Model

31:56 Ensuring User Safety & Bad Actor

33:48 The 1984 Apple Campaign Hypocrisy on Privacy

37:08 Launching The Freedom Store

40:08 Privacy In Today’s Surveillance Reality

43:58 Privacy in Bitcoin

47:00 Balancing Trust & Usability in Privacy Tools

54:00 Sustaining Open Source Projects, via Grants

55:20 What Keeps Lea Motivated?