Bitcoin and politics influence each other in several ways. Governments of several countries use Bitcoin in various capacities, and some politicians use Bitcoin in their electoral programs.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, in 2024 cryptocurrency has become a major political campaign topic for the first time, with cryptocurrency industry contributing nearly half of all corporate contributions made during the US presidential elections.

In June 2021, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador voted legislation to make bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador, alongside the US dollar. The law took effect on 7 September, making El Salvador the first country to do so. The implementation of the law has been met with protests and calls to make the currency optional, not compulsory. According to a survey by the Central American University, the majority of Salvadorans disagreed with using cryptocurrency as a legal tender, and a survey by the Center for Citizen Studies (CEC) showed that 91% of the country prefers the dollar over bitcoin. As of October 2021, the country's government was exploring mining bitcoin with geothermal power and issuing bonds tied to bitcoin. According to a survey done by the Central American University 100 days after the Bitcoin Law came into force: 34.8% of the population has no confidence in bitcoin, 35.3% has little confidence, 13.2% has some confidence, and 14.1% has a lot of confidence. 56.6% of respondents have downloaded the government bitcoin wallet; among them 62.9% has never used it or only once whereas 36.3% uses bitcoin at least once a month. In 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged El Salvador to reverse its decision after bitcoin lost half its value in two months. The IMF also warned that it would be difficult to get a loan from the institution. According to one report in 2022, 80% of businesses refused to accept bitcoin despite being legally required to.

In April 2022, the Central African Republic (CAR) adopted Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the CFA franc. After El Salvador, CAR was the second country to do so. In April 2023, CAR agreed to repeal the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.

Using Keynesianism as its guiding principle, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) strongly opposes the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, and has put firm anti-crypto political guidelines into place when negotiating with countries that might require loans from IMF. IMF publicly criticized the adoption of Bitcoin in the Central African Republic, and forced El Salvador to scale back the adoption in exchange for a $1.4 billion loan.

In 2023, IMF announced it was working on a platform for central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that if central banks did not agree on a common platform, cryptocurrency would fill the resulting vacuum.

Ukraine accepted donations in cryptocurrency, including bitcoin, to fund the resistance against the Russian invasion. According to officials, 40% of the Ukraine's military suppliers are willing to accept cryptocurrencies without converting them into euros or dollars. In March 2022, Ukraine has passed a law that creates a legal framework for the cryptocurrency industry in the country, including judicial protection of the right to own virtual assets. In the same month, a cryptocurrency exchange was integrated into the Ukrainian e-governance service Diia.

As of 2024, Bhutan, through the country's sovereign investment arm, is running a large-scale bitcoin mining operation, utilizing the country's abundant hydroelectric resources. This allowed Bhutan to accumulate $750 million in bitcoin holdings, representing 28% of the small country's GDP.