Overview
- An October 13, 2016 email shows Jeffrey Epstein telling contacts he had spoken with “some of the founders of bitcoin” while pitching a Sharia-compliant digital currency for the Middle East.
- The assertion of direct contact with Bitcoin’s creator(s) remains unverified, and ongoing reviews of the DOJ release have not produced corroborating evidence.
- Documents trace Epstein’s crypto outreach back to 2011, including a request to Jason Calacanis for introductions that pointed him to Gavin Andresen and Amir Taaki.
- Emails detail links to early industry figures and firms, including Austin Hill’s concerns about Ripple and Stellar, and Coinbase updates forwarded by Brock Pierce featuring Brian Armstrong’s 2016 note on the block-size debate.
- One email reported by Gizmodo indicates Blockchain Capital was paying Epstein and his accountant “a big number,” and a separate exchange with developer Jeremy Rubin shows Epstein objecting to profiting from token pumps on ethical grounds.