Seth Cantey to Deliver Lecture in Honor of His Appointment to the Lewis G. John Term Professorship in Politics Cantey’s talk, titled “Freedom Money: Bitcoin’s Promise and How it Could Fail,” will be held March 30 in Northen Auditorium.

By Brian Laubscher
March 6, 2026

Seth Cantey, associate professor of politics and head of the Middle East and South Asia Studies (MESA) program at Washington and Lee University, will present a public lecture to mark his appointment to the Lewis G. John Term Professorship in Politics.

Cantey’s talk, “Freedom Money: Bitcoin’s Promise and How it Could Fail,” will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, March 30, in Northen Auditorium in Leyburn Library. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be immediately followed by a reception in the lobby outside the auditorium.

During his lecture, Cantey will examine bitcoin as a serious monetary experiment with global political implications. Drawing on current scholarship related to monetary instability, financial censorship and more — including his own research — he will make the case for neutral, non-sovereign, internet-native money in the 21st century, arguing that bitcoin is uniquely positioned to fill that role.

The talk will also confront bitcoin’s uncertain future, asking such questions as “How seriously does quantum computing threaten the protocol’s cryptographic foundation?” and “Will its economic architecture continue to function as designed over the long term?” Ultimately, Cantey suggests that “bitcoin likely faces a binary outcome: either it scales globally, or it fails outright.”

Cantey has served as a member of the W&L faculty since 2014 and, in recent years, as head of the MESA program. He has also served on a variety of committees, including as chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee and as a member of the advisory board for the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics. Cantey teaches courses on global politics, Middle East politics, intelligence, terrorism and American foreign policy. He has authored several journal articles and book chapters and offered public commentary on those topics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish from Bucknell University, a master’s degree in Latin American studies from Georgetown University and a master’s degree and doctorate in political science from Duke University.

The Elmes, John and Winfrey Term Professorship, established in 2009 by an anonymous trustee and his wife, honors professors David G. Elmes, Lewis G. John and John C. Winfrey. The permanently endowed fund provides support for a faculty member in the College or the Williams School and recognizes a professor for a fixed term, normally three years. It is administered by the provost or their designee in consultation with the appropriate academic dean. The professorship is generally awarded to faculty in the politics, economics or psychology departments, with the official title rotating depending on the department of the faculty member: the Lewis G. John Term Professor of Politics, the John C. Winfrey Term Professor of Economics or the David G. Elmes Term Professor of Psychology.

A Class of 1958 graduate, John spent 43 years serving W&L in a variety of roles before retiring from the university in 2006. In addition to his role as professor of politics, he served as dean of students for more than 20 years and was director of financial aid.