Author: Cookie, Block Rhythm BlockBeats
Original Title: Claimed to Have Met Satoshi, Called Saylor a Freak: The Crypto Secrets in the Epstein Files
On January 30, the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed a large number of "Epstein Files" for the first time, immediately attracting widespread attention and discussion globally. While we were seeing whether Musk "went to the island," Bill Gates's extramarital affair, or the next Fed chairman nominee Kevin Warsh also appeared on Epstein's party invitation list, these newly disclosed files also dropped a series of bombshells about the cryptocurrency industry.
The history of the cryptocurrency industry may have finally revealed the tip of the iceberg and could be rewritten from now on.
Was Epstein a "Crypto OG"?
As early as 2011, Epstein had already taken notice of Bitcoin. That year, Bitcoin's total annual trading volume had not yet exceeded $100 million, and its price had surged past $30 only to plummet by 90%.
The email below is dated June 12, 2011, right around the peak of Bitcoin's price that year. Epstein stated in the email, "Bitcoin is a brilliant idea, but it has some serious drawbacks."
In 2013, the frequency of cryptocurrency mentions in Epstein's correspondence increased.
First, in an email exchange with Boris Nikolic (who once served as Bill Gates's chief technology advisor and was named in Epstein's will), the subject was "Who uses Bitcoin now?" They sarcastically discussed Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road who was arrested that year, saying that Ross's use of a Gmail account with his real name was a stupid mistake.
a16z board partner and former president of Microsoft's Windows division, Steven Sinofsky, emailed Epstein to say that his Bitcoin investment had increased by 50% and shared Timothy B. Lee's article "How Bitcoin Captivated Washington."
He also received news that the once-famous Bitcoin website Satoshi Dice had been 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 is—a store of value, a currency, or property... It's like a man dressing as a woman, like property masquerading as currency."
This exchange shows that Epstein was very familiar with the ideological debates surrounding Bitcoin's nature in the early stages of the cryptocurrency market. He even compared it to gender identity.
Another email revealed that Epstein participated in the seed round funding of Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream. The round totaled $18 million, and Epstein's investment increased from $50,000 to $500,000.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back recently issued a statement denying any direct or indirect financial connection between the company and Epstein or his estate. He explained that Epstein was a limited partner in a fund that once held a minority stake in Blockstream but had since fully divested.
However, the names of Adam Back and Austin Hill (Blockstream co-founder) appeared in travel arrangement emails for St. Thomas Island (about 2 miles from "Epstein Island"):
Additionally, in 2014, Austin Hill emailed Epstein and Joi Ito (former director of the MIT Media Lab; Epstein invested in Blockstream through his fund). He stated that Ripple ($XRP) and Stellar (a new project by Ripple founder Jed McCaleb after leaving Ripple) negatively impacted the ecosystem Blockstream was building and harmed Blockstream because their investors were "backing two horses in the same race."
There is some divergence in the English-speaking community regarding the interpretation of this. Based on the context, I personally tend to adopt the interpretation that Epstein may have also invested in Ripple/Stellar at the time, which displeased Blockstream. This led Austin Hill to state in the email, "I was asked by other co-founders to reduce or even cancel your allocation."
Although Ripple and Stellar's growth was not affected, we do not know if more, unknown, excellent cryptocurrency projects have been stifled in their infancy through such behind-the-scenes pressure, from then until now.
In response, former Ripple 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."
So, does this mean Epstein's evil also existed in the cryptocurrency field? David Schwartz also stated that for most ultra-wealthy individuals, having some connection to Bitcoin is probably very common.
Furthermore, in 2014-2015, the collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation left Bitcoin Core developers without stable salaries. The MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) began paying salaries to several Bitcoin Core developers. As a result, three Bitcoin Core developers—Gavin Andresen, Wladimir van der Laan, and Cory Fields—decided to join the MIT Media Lab.
At that time, the scandal had not yet broken, and the public was unaware of Epstein's anonymous donations to the MIT Media Lab. Joi Ito thanked Epstein via email, not only explaining Bitcoin's development operations to Epstein but also stating that thanks to this money, the lab was "able to move quickly and score a huge victory" because "many organizations wanted to take advantage of the situation to control Bitcoin's developers."
Epstein's reply was a simple compliment about Gavin Andresen: "Gavin is very smart."
Did Epstein Meet Satoshi?
In 2016, Epstein emailed Saudi Royal Court advisor Raafat AlSabbagh and current Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism advisor Aziza Al Ahmadi with two "radical ideas for creating two new currencies." One was a "Sharia" dollar. Just as all U.S. dollar bills have "In God We Trust," the Middle East could have its own "Sharia" dollar for internal use.
The other idea was to create a digital currency like Bitcoin to make money compliant with Sharia law. Then, after this idea, he casually and lightly dropped this piece of information:
"I have spoken with some of the Bitcoin creators, and they are very excited."
Epstein's purpose at the time might have been more about showing off his connections to enhance his reliable image, so he mentioned it offhand. But this could completely rewrite the history of Bitcoin and even the entire cryptocurrency industry. "Some Bitcoin creators"—does this mean Satoshi Nakamoto was not an individual but a team? If so, many mysteries surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto would have a reasonable explanation.
There are even more thought-provoking questions. Who was this team? What was their motivation for creating Bitcoin? If Epstein really met them, how did he initially find out who they were and establish a relationship with them? If even Epstein knew who created Bitcoin, wouldn't the U.S. government know? What motives does the U.S. government, which has remained silent on this issue, have?
After this latest batch of Epstein files was disclosed, the possibility of "Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin address taking action in 2026" on the prediction market Polymarket rose from about 6% to about 9.3% and is currently holding at 8%.
If Epstein did meet Satoshi Nakamoto, it seems Satoshi was not successful in evangelizing Bitcoin to him during their contact. In an email exchange on August 31, 2017, when asked "Is it worth buying a Bitcoin?" Epstein simply said "No." At that time, one Bitcoin was less than $5,000.
Whether Epstein actually met Satoshi Nakamoto is still unknown. However, we do know that he met the now most famous Bitcoin bull—MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
For years, Saylor's determination to only buy and never sell Bitcoin has been堪称变态 (abnormal/perverse, used here for emphasis on his extreme behavior). But in 2010, he was not yet famous for this identity.
That year, Comrade Saylor spent $25,000 to attend a party organized by Epstein's publicist Peggy Siegal and initially displayed his "autistic" traits at the event. This is how Peggy Siegal described Saylor:
"This guy is a total freak, completely charmless, like a zombie on a drug overdose. We had smart directors at our party, sitting right next to him and his pretty, idiotic chick, and besides 'I have a yacht' and 'I'm going to Cannes,' there was no conversation. I took him around, but he was so weird I just had to run away. He has no personality and no social skills. I don't even know how to get money from him."
Being called变态 (freak/weirdo) by a变态 (freak/weirdo, referring to Epstein's associates) shows just how变态 Saylor) Saylor really is. Perhaps only a creation as great as Bitcoin could accommodate a变态 like Saylor and allow him to build a great career.
Conclusion
About half of the Epstein files have not yet been disclosed. How many more bombshells related to the cryptocurrency industry are hidden in these remaining files?
Will time clear the fog?
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