Author: Cookie, BlockBeats
On January 30th, the U.S. Department of Justice publicly released the “Epstein Files” for the first time, sparking widespread attention and discussion worldwide. As we consider whether Elon Musk “went to the island,” Bill Gates’ extramarital affairs, or Federal Reserve Chairman nominee Kevin Warsh appearing on Epstein’s party invitation list, these newly disclosed documents also delivered a series of shocking revelations about the cryptocurrency industry.
The history of the cryptocurrency industry may finally be revealing just the tip of the iceberg and rewriting itself from here.
Is Epstein a “Crypto OG”?
As early as 2011, Epstein had already taken an interest in Bitcoin. That year, Bitcoin’s total annual transaction volume had not exceeded $100 million, and its price once surged past $30 before dropping 90%.
The email below is dated June 12, 2011, just around Bitcoin’s price peak that year. Epstein stated in the email, “Bitcoin is a brilliant idea, but it also has some serious flaws.”
In 2013, Epstein’s email correspondence shows an increased frequency of mentions of cryptocurrencies.
First, there was an email from Boris Nikolic (who served as Bill Gates’ chief technology advisor and was listed in Epstein’s will) titled “Who still uses Bitcoin now?” They sarcastically discussed Ross Ulbricht, the Silk Road founder who was arrested that year, mocking that Ross’s use of a Gmail account with his real name was a foolish mistake.
Steven Sinofsky, a16z board member and former Microsoft Windows division president, told Epstein via email that his Bitcoin investments had increased by 50%, sharing an article by Timothy B. Lee titled “How Bitcoin Enchanted Washington.”
He also received news that the well-known Bitcoin website Satoshi Dice was sold for $11.4 million.
In 2014, Epstein engaged in an in-depth discussion with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel about the nature of Bitcoin.
There is no consensus on what Bitcoin truly is—whether it is a store of value, currency, or property… just like men dressing as women, property disguising itself as currency.
This conversation indicates that Epstein was already familiar with the ideological debates surrounding Bitcoin’s essence during the early stages of the crypto market, even drawing an analogy to gender identity.
Another email shows Epstein’s involvement in the seed funding round of Blockstream, a Bitcoin infrastructure company, which raised a total of $18 million. Epstein’s investment grew from $50,000 to $500,000.
Recently, Blockstream CEO Adam Back issued a statement denying any direct or indirect financial ties to Epstein or his estate. He explained that Epstein was a limited partner in a fund that held a minority stake in Blockstream, but the fund had since fully divested.
However, the names Adam Back and Austin Hill (co-founder of Blockstream) appeared in travel correspondence related to Saint Thomas Island (about 2 miles from “Epstein Island”):
Additionally, in 2014, Austin Hill emailed Epstein and Joi Ito (former director of MIT Media Lab, through whom Epstein invested in Blockstream via his fund), expressing concern that Ripple ($XRP) and Stellar (a project started by Ripple founder Jed McCaleb after leaving Ripple) caused harm because their investors were “supporting two horses in a race at the same time.”
Interpretations vary in the English-speaking community, but based on context, I personally lean toward the interpretation that Epstein may have also invested in Ripple/Stellar, which angered Blockstream, leading Austin Hill to say in the email, “I was asked by other co-founders to reduce or even cancel your share.”
While the growth of Ripple and Stellar was unaffected, we don’t know if, from then until now, more excellent crypto projects have been suppressed behind the scenes through such covert pressure.
In response, Ripple’s former CTO David Schwartz tweeted, “I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but if this is just the tip of the iceberg, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.”
Does this mean Epstein’s evil also extends into the crypto space? Schwartz also said that for most ultra-rich individuals, having a connection to Bitcoin might be quite common.
In fact, between 2014-2015, the collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation left Bitcoin Core developers without stable salaries. MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) began paying several Bitcoin Core developers, including Gavin Andresen, Wladimir van der Laan, and Cory Fields, prompting them to join MIT Media Lab.
At that time, the scandal had not yet been exposed, and the public was unaware of Epstein’s anonymous donation to MIT Media Lab. Joi Ito expressed gratitude to Epstein via email, explaining Bitcoin’s development process and saying that thanks to Epstein’s money, the lab could “act quickly and achieve great victories,” because “many organizations want to take advantage of the situation to control Bitcoin developers.”
Epstein’s reply was a simple compliment to Gavin Andresen: “Gavin is very smart.”
Did Epstein meet Satoshi Nakamoto?
In 2016, Epstein emailed Saudi Arabian Royal Court advisor Raafat AlSabbagh and Abu Dhabi’s cultural and tourism advisor Aziza Al Ahmadi with two “radical, creative” ideas for creating two new currencies—one based on “Islamic law,” similar to how all dollar bills have “In God We Trust,” and the Middle East could have its own “Islamic law.”
The other idea was to create a digital currency similar to Bitcoin that would comply with Islamic law. Behind this idea, Epstein casually mentioned:
“I have already communicated with some Bitcoin creators, and they are very excited.”
At the time, Epstein’s apparent purpose might have been to showcase his network to enhance his credibility, casually mentioning it. But this could potentially rewrite the entire history of Bitcoin and the crypto industry.
Does “some Bitcoin creators” imply that Satoshi Nakamoto is not an individual but a team? If so, many mysteries surrounding Satoshi could be reasonably explained.
There are even more disturbing questions. Who is this team? What motivated them to create Bitcoin? If Epstein really met them, how did he find out who they were initially, and how did he establish a relationship with them? If Epstein knew who the creator of Bitcoin was, would the U.S. government be unaware? Why has the U.S. government remained silent on this issue all along?
After the latest Epstein documents were disclosed, the probability on Polymarket that “Satoshi Nakamoto’s Bitcoin address will move in 2026” rose from about 6% to approximately 9.3%, currently holding at 8%.
If Epstein really met Satoshi Nakamoto, it seems Satoshi did not successfully evangelize Bitcoin to him. In an email exchange on August 31, 2017, Epstein responded “No” when asked if it was worth buying a Bitcoin. At that time, one Bitcoin was less than $5,000.
Whether Epstein ever met Satoshi remains unknown. But we do know he met the most prominent Bitcoin bull today—MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
Over the years, Saylor’s unwavering commitment to buying and holding Bitcoin has been extraordinary, but in 2010, he was not yet famous for this identity.
That year, Saylor spent $25,000 to attend Epstein’s PR agent Peggy Siegal’s party, where he initially displayed “autistic” traits. Peggy Siegal described Saylor as:
“This guy is a complete freak, uncharismatic, like a drug-overdosed zombie. At our party, smart directors sat next to him and his pretty idiot girl, and besides telling me he had a yacht and was going to Cannes, there was no other conversation. I took him around, but he was so weird I had to leave. No personality, no social skills—I didn’t even know how to deal with him.”
Being called a freak by a freak shows how bizarre Saylor truly is. Perhaps only a groundbreaking invention like Bitcoin could accommodate such a freak Saylor and help him build a great career.
Conclusion
Currently, about half of the Epstein files remain undisclosed. How many more shocking revelations related to the crypto industry might be hidden in these remaining documents?
Will time clear the fog?
