Peter Van Valkenburgh (born April 25th, 1985) is a Cryptolawyer and Director of Research at Coin Center and Board Member at the Zcash Foundation. He is based in Washington D.C. Van Valkenburgh is originally from Vienna, Virginia and graduated from Marshall High School. He was admitted to the American Academy of Dramatic Art where he has an AA in dramatic arts in 2005. Van Valkenburgh. He attended George Mason University and earned a BS in economics in 2011. Van Valkenburgh attained his JD specializing in Intellectual Property Law from NYU School of Law in 2014. In May 2013,he became a Google Policy Fellow for TechFreedom and drafted and edited policy and litigation briefs. He became the Director of Research at Coin Center in September 2014 and was responsible for providing policy reports and backgrounders for policymakers. During his tenured, Van Valkenburgh has testified before Congress, briefed legislators in the U.S. and European Union , and developed a network of thinkers, academics, and experts in the field of cryptocurrency . In addition, he is a Board Member at the Zcash Foundation.