By Trevor Kraus, Managing Editor, Students For Liberty

Štěpán Kovář is at home at liberty conferences. You can see it from across a hallway, across a room, across a courtyard; he walks through Liberty Land with a confidence that belies his 23 years — with a breeze in his hair, a smile on his face that convince you: He was born to be a libertarian; born to lead; born to make the world a freer place.

The only thing is, his parents didn’t know it. They are only slowly figuring it out, and so is the rest of Europe. His parents, and the political backdrop of Eastern Europe, are a big part of his story.

On the 17th of November, 1989, just days after the Berlin Wall fell, Štěpán’s mom was one of several students beaten at a protest in Prague. “They knew that communism was vulgar … but I think it was more because ‘We didn’t have food,’ not because they could consciously articulate the economics of market processes and all. But that’s one of my favorite topics to discuss with them, actually,” he said. “Communism — and what life was like back then. They didn’t even know it was bad until they got a permit to visit Germany once, and saw how much worse life was in Prague.”

The Bitcoin Breakthrough

Born in 2002 in Prague, Štěpán Kovář (pronounced Shtep-ahn Ko-vash) was shy as a kid. The only time he came out of that shell was as a singer. “I still sing in a choir for fun,” he said. “But I was a lazy student — I only focused on things I liked: badminton, technology, math … everything else fell away.”

It was that interest in tech that primed his ears and eyes, one morning in 2016, to perk up at the mention of a new payment technology. At a coffee shop in Prague, he said, the cashier asked if he would like to pay in cash, card, or this newfangled, obscure type of payment called Bitcoin.

“Once I learned a little about it, I immediately saw its breakthrough potential. Even to the point that maybe I was a bit annoying about it to my friends; I never stopped talking about it. My nickname became Bitcoin,” he said with a laugh.

That coffee purchase set Štěpán on a path that would earn him a stage to himself at the biggest Bitcoin event in Europe, and would take him to the math and physics faculty at Charles University, where he’s not only preparing to finish his degree this year (2025), but is also teaching computer science to high school students (and subtly working in mentions of Bitcoin’s libertarian bent). “Bitcoin is one of our few real shots at liberty,” he said, “and my students hear about that occasionally.”

The SFL Spark

However, between here and there came Students For Liberty, which supercharged Štěpán’s natural talents and his interest in liberty. It was another chance occurrence that, in retrospect, seems like destiny: A friend of his heard about SFL’s LibertyCon Europe in Madrid in March of 2020, and on a whim, they attended.

“When I see things that aren’t right,” he said, “I want to change things. And it seemed like that’s what LibertyCon was all about.”

At that event, as Covid precautions were sweeping across Europe, Štěpán met another Czech: Jan Mošovský, SFL’s European Programs Manager.

“Czech SFL’s operations were small at the time,” Mošovský said, “and I remember thinking it was a little random that he came to Madrid, and crazy that we met THERE, even though we were both from Prague. But I could immediately tell he had a fresh look on things, and that he was very energetic and interested in big ideas.”

Czech SFL’s operations are not small anymore. Thanks in large part to Štěpán’s efforts as an SFL volunteer, the Czech Republic has become a thriving outpost for the liberty movement in Europe. Just in the past year, they have hosted 52 public events — almost one per week! — in cities across the country, together attended by 3600 guests. 

“Students For Liberty was something I could put my own stamp on. It gave me the canvas to draw on, but with the outline already established for me to color in. Most organizations aren’t as chill as SFL,” he said.

“The thing is,” he continued, “before SFL, I didn’t understand why people don’t understand what makes societies prosperous. And I used to be a little annoying about it; maybe too harsh. But SFL taught me it’s normal to feel that way — at least among libertarians. And more importantly, Jan and others showed me how to talk respectfully about the ideas we value. That’s what I’d say: Before SFL, I knew the ideas but not how to reach people.”

Taking Bitcoin to the National Bank

Štěpán’s biggest and greatest outreach came on January 3, 2022. It was a minor but meaningful protest — planned to last for an hour, but thanks to faulty batteries, it lasted for only 10 minutes.

Still, that was more than enough to make the point: He projected the Bitcoin logo onto the Czech National Bank.

Take a second to let that sink in. The courage. The cheekiness. The dedication.

“I basically just Googled, ‘Is it illegal?’ and it wasn’t. So I rented a high-powered projector and did it. The police came and asked, ‘Do you have permission?’ and I answered honestly: ‘No, but why would I need it?’”

The police contacted the security guard inside the building, who shrugged and said he didn’t have a problem with it.

The protest went viral — at least within Bitcoin circles — but, as it would turn out, it was far from his boldest maneuver for the cause of liberty.

“Are you crazy?” The story of Ukrainian Renaissance

That’s because, less than two months later, Russia would invade Ukraine — a westward march that hit a little too close to home for Štěpán and the other Czechs. Once the initial shock of the invasion wore off, he started to ask himself: Could I host an event in a country at war?

“I knew that if we could pull it off, it would be uplifting to the people there, and in the rest of Eastern Europe,” he said. “And besides, I really like smaller events — they allow for deeper connections.”

Štěpán did not ask for a budget; the first edition of Ukrainian Renaissance was entirely student-run. And it was a hit. “Everyone was saying, ‘Are you crazy … planning an event in Ukraine?’ But something was telling me it was worth it,” he said.

That first edition took place in the summer of 2023 in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine. It was SFL’s event of the year for bringing together 135 attendees from as far as Australia and Brazil. More than 30 people attended from the Czech Republic alone, and the event grew so big that, in subsequent years, it was moved to a bigger city — Lviv — which has hosted the past two versions.

Štěpán was instrumental in the planning and organization.

“I’m no hero,” he said. “Anyone can apply to SFL and be passionate and do great things here. You just have to find your own ways to promote what you believe in. I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur, and Ukrainian Renaissance was a great outlet to learn those skills.”

In the near future, he wants to use those skills to teach and to develop apps — perhaps around machine learning and AI, and how they might help teachers.

But wherever life brings Štěpán, Mošovský says, his legacy will remain strong with Students For Liberty. “He took the Czech Republic’s SFL branch from almost nothing to one of the biggest organizations in Europe. And what’s more, I’ve never seen him have a conflict or lose his temper in the process of leading. His leadership style truly embodies the classical liberal value of bottom-up control.”