Author: Cookie, BlockBeats

On January 30, the U.S. Department of Justice released a large amount of the "Epstein Papers" for the first time, immediately attracting widespread attention and discussion worldwide. While we see details such as whether Elon Musk "went to the island," Bill Gates' extramarital affair, and Kevin Warsh, the nominee for the next Federal Reserve Chairman, appearing on Epstein's party invitation list, these newly released documents also drop a bombshell on the cryptocurrency industry.

The history of the cryptocurrency industry may finally be revealing the tip of the iceberg, and could be rewritten from this point on.

Was Epstein a "Crypto OG"?

As early as 2011, Epstein had already taken notice of Bitcoin. That year, Bitcoin's total transaction volume for the entire year had not exceeded $100 million, and its price once broke through $30 before falling by 90%.

The following email, dated June 12, 2011, happened to be near the peak of Bitcoin's price that year. In the email, Epstein stated, "Bitcoin is a brilliant idea, but it also has some serious flaws."

In 2013, the frequency of cryptocurrency appeared in Epstein's emails increased.

The first email was from Boris Nikolic (who served as Bill Gates' chief technology advisor and was listed in Epstein's will), with the subject line "Who still uses Bitcoin these days?". They jokingly and sarcastically discussed Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, who was arrested years ago, saying that it was a stupid mistake for Ross to use a Gmail account with his real name.

Steven Sinofsky, a partner on the board of a16z and former president of Microsoft's Windows division, told Epstein in an email that his Bitcoin investment had increased by 50% and shared Timothy B. Lee's article "How Bitcoin is Fascinizing Washington".

He also received news that the once-famous Bitcoin website Satoshi Dice had been sold for $11.4 million.

In 2014, Epstein had an in-depth discussion with PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel about the nature of Bitcoin.

"There is no consensus on what Bitcoin really is. Is it a store of value, currency, or property... It's like a man disguising himself as a woman, or property masquerading as currency."

This conversation suggests that Epstein was already very familiar with the ideological debates surrounding the nature of Bitcoin in the early stages of the cryptocurrency market, and he even drew an analogy to gender identity.

Another email shows that Epstein participated in the seed round of funding for Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream, which raised a total of $18 million. Epstein's investment eventually increased from $50,000 to $500,000.

Blockstream CEO Adam Back recently issued a statement denying any direct or indirect financial ties between the company and Epstein or his estate. He explained that Epstein was a limited partner in a fund that held a minority stake in Blockstream but later withdrew all its investment.

However, the names of Adam Back and Austin Hill (co-founders of Blockstream) appeared in emails regarding travel arrangements on St. Thomas Island (about 2 miles from Epstein Island):

In addition, Austin Hill emailed Epstein and Joi Ito (former director of the MIT Media Lab, through whom Epstein invested in Blockstream in 2014) in which he stated that Ripple ($XRP) and Stellar (Ripple founder Jed McCaleb's new project after leaving Ripple) had a negative impact on the ecosystem Blockstream had built and had harmed Blockstream because their investors were "backing two horses in one race."

There are some disagreements about the interpretation here in the English-speaking world. Considering the context, I personally tend to adopt the interpretation that Epstein may have also invested in Ripple/Stellar at the time, which displeased Blockstream, to the point that Austin Hill stated in an email, "I have been asked by other co-founders to reduce or even cancel your share."

While Ripple and Stellar's growth has not been affected, we don't know if, from the past to the present, many more excellent cryptocurrency projects that we are unaware of have been nipped in the bud through this kind of behind-the-scenes 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 that Epstein's evil also exists in the cryptocurrency field? David Schwartz also stated that for most ultra-wealthy individuals, having connections with Bitcoin is probably quite common.

In fact, in 2014-2015, the collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation left Bitcoin Core developers without stable salaries. The Digital Currency Initiative (DCI) of the MIT Media Lab began paying salaries to several Bitcoin Core developers, and three Bitcoin Core developers, Gavin Andresen, Wladimir van der Laan, and Cory Fields, decided to join the MIT Media Lab as a result.

At the time, the scandal had not yet been exposed, and the public was unaware of Epstein's anonymous donation to the MIT Media Lab. Joi Ito expressed his gratitude to Epstein via email, explaining not only the development and operation of Bitcoin but also stating that the money enabled the lab to "act quickly and achieve great success," because "many organizations wanted to take advantage of the situation to control Bitcoin's developers."

Epstein's reply was a simple compliment to Gavin Andresen: "Gavin is very smart."

Did Epstein meet Satoshi Nakamoto?

In 2016, Epstein proposed two "radical" ideas to Raafat AlSabbagh, an advisor to the Saudi Royal Court, and Aziza Al Ahmadi, an advisor to the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Culture and Tourism, via email. One was a "Sharif" dollar, just like all US dollar bills have "In God We Trust," and the Middle East could also have its own "Sharif" dollar for internal use.

Another idea was to create a digital currency similar to Bitcoin, one that would comply with Sharia law. Then, following this idea, he casually dropped the bombshell:

"I have spoken with some Bitcoin creators, and they are very excited."

Epstein's intention at the time may have been more to flaunt his connections and enhance his image of credibility, so he casually mentioned it, but this could have completely rewritten the history of Bitcoin and even the cryptocurrency industry. Does "some of the Bitcoin founders" mean that Satoshi Nakamoto was not an individual, but a team? If so, then many mysteries surrounding Satoshi Nakamoto would have a plausible explanation.

There are even more chilling questions. Who is this team? What was their motive for creating Bitcoin? If Epstein did meet them, how did he initially learn who they were and how did he establish a relationship with them? If even Epstein knew who the creators of Bitcoin were, wouldn't the US government know? What are the motives behind the US government's continued silence on this issue?

Following the release of these latest Epstein documents, the probability of Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin address making an 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 indeed meet Satoshi Nakamoto, it seems that Nakamoto did not successfully preach Bitcoin to Epstein during their contact. In an email exchange dated August 31, 2017, when Epstein was asked if it was worthwhile to buy a Bitcoin, he simply replied "No." At that time, a Bitcoin was worth less than $5,000.

Whether Epstein actually met Satoshi Nakamoto is currently unknown. However, we do know that he met one of the most well-known Bitcoin bulls today—Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy.

For years, Saylor's unwavering commitment to buying Bitcoin without ever selling it was nothing short of extraordinary, 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, where she initially displayed "autistic" traits. Peggy Siegal described Saylor as follows:

"This guy is a complete freak, utterly uncharismatic, like a drug-addicted zombie. We had some brilliant directors at our party, sitting right next to him and his pretty, clueless chick, and the only thing he said was, 'I have a yacht and I'm going to Cannes.' I tried to show him around, but he was so weird I just had to run away. He has no personality, no social skills, and I have no idea how to get money out of him."

To be called a pervert by his own perverted subordinates shows just how perverted Saylor really is. Perhaps only a great invention like Bitcoin could accommodate the perverted Saylor and allow him to build such a great enterprise.

Conclusion

About half of the Epstein papers remain unreleased. How many more bombshells related to the cryptocurrency industry are hidden in these remaining documents?

Will time clear away the fog?

Adam Back predicts Bitcoin will reach $1 million in 5 years

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