Jeffrey Epstein, the financier who died in 2019, is back in the news in connection with Bitcoin. New emails, published this weekend, reveal exchanges dating from 2011 to 2017 involving MIT, Blockstream, and influential figures in the Bitcoin community. These documents raise questions about the criminal’s real influence on the early days of the protocol.
From Adam Back to Michael Saylor, Epstein at the heart of the crypto industry
Jeffrey Epstein was an American financier accused of running a vast sex trafficking ring involving minors, with alleged links to several public and political figures, such as Bill Clinton, Donald Trump, and Woody Allen.
Arrested in 2019, he was found dead in prison, with the official version concluding that it was suicide. Subsequently, the “Epstein files” made headlines, bringing together thousands of court documents, photos, videos, emails, and messages extracted from his properties. Most are limited to everyday exchanges, but some reveal the topics that particularly interested him during his lifetime, including Bitcoin.
This weekend, new pieces of the case were published, revealing the chronology of events: Epstein had been interested in Bitcoin since 2011. At the time, he described the technology as a “brilliant idea,” while pointing out to an anonymous correspondent that it had serious flaws.
The connections extend to influential players in the ecosystem. In 2017, Austin Hill, co-founder of Blockstream, reportedly discussed with Epstein the creation of a “Sharia Coin,” a cryptocurrency compliant with Islamic finance, designed for Saudi Arabia.
In another message from 2016 referring to this new cryptocurrency, Epstein claims to have spoken with the founders of Bitcoin, without specifying exactly who they were.
I have spoken with some of the founders of Bitcoin, who are very enthusiastic.
Given that Satoshi disappeared in 2011, it is more likely that he confused the founders of Bitcoin with developers or members of the Bitcoin Foundation, an organization that funded the development of Bitcoin until 2015.
Three years earlier, in 2014, Blockstream reportedly met with Epstein and representatives from MIT Media Labs during their fundraising efforts. Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream and a historical figure cited in the Bitcoin white paper, responded by stating that Epstein’s investment had been rejected due to a possible conflict of interest.
Back’s defense does not convince the entire community, given that in 2014, Epstein had already served 13 months in prison after pleading guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution from a minor.
The exchanges also include Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and investor in Ethereum. In 2014, he asked Epstein whether it was necessary to exert “anti-BTC pressure.” Epstein replied that Bitcoin first needed to resolve its own contradictions, citing in particular the ambiguity between its anonymity and transparency.
Finally, Michael Saylor also appears in this correspondence, long before his media conversion to Bitcoin. In one message, press secretary Peggy Siegal describes him as “a shady guy” who “has no personality, kind of like a zombie on drugs.”
Did Epstein and MIT take control of Bitcoin Core in 2015?
In 2015, the bankruptcy of the Bitcoin Foundation left Bitcoin Core developers without a secure source of funding. Email exchanges between Joichi Ito, then director of the MIT Media Lab, and Epstein reveal discussions about attempts by certain organizations to “take control” of Bitcoin Core development by recruiting its main contributors: Gavin Andresen, Wladimir van der Laan, and Cory Fields. Ito was delighted that the three developers had joined the MIT Media Lab, an entity partially funded by Epstein.
However, this statement needs to be qualified. While Gavin Andresen did indeed head the MIT Media Labs’ Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), Wladimir van der Laan and Cory Fields were only external contributors with no direct connection.
It is precisely this ambiguity in Joichi Ito’s comments that is fueling speculation today. Some internet users argue that Bitcoin Core could have been “captured” by Epstein, or even indirectly by intelligence agencies such as the CIA and Mossad. These theories are based on real but often reinterpreted facts; the financial links between Epstein and MIT have been known for several months now. In addition, Gavin Andresen is also known to have met with the CIA in 2011 to present Bitcoin, with some even saying that it was this meeting that ultimately prompted Satoshi Nakamoto to disappear.
To date, there is no evidence of any direct influence by these organizations on the development of Bitcoin. It is important to remember that even if such influence had been exerted, the Bitcoin code is open source and auditable, so the community would most likely have detected it. Any malicious changes or questionable directions would have been spotted, debated, and rejected.
