Newly released US justice department files show Jeffrey Epstein invested millions in early cryptocurrency companies, including Coinbase and Blockstream, years after his 2008 conviction.
Documents indicate Epstein’s money also flowed through academic channels, helping fund MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative, described at the time as a key hub for bitcoin’s early development.
Despite calls in online crypto circles for accountability, industry insiders largely downplay the revelations, and few expect significant consequences for major crypto firms.
Millions of newly released files related to Jeffrey Epstein have cast an unsettling light on the formative years of the cryptocurrency industry, revealing that the convicted sex offender had financial ties to some of its most influential institutions and companies long after his 2008 conviction.
Documents made public last week by the US Department of Justice show that Epstein was not a peripheral observer but a quiet financial backer during crypto’s infancy. He invested millions in companies that would go on to shape the industry, including Coinbase, now a publicly listed giant and Blockstream, a key developer of bitcoin-focused technology, the Guardian reported. The disclosures complicate crypto’s origin story, long framed as a decentralised rebellion against traditional power structures.
Despite the scale of the revelations, the industry response has been muted. While online crypto forums have seen calls for a reckoning over Epstein’s involvement, many insiders downplay the significance, portraying him as either a cautious investor who exited early or, paradoxically, as someone hostile to bitcoin’s long-term success. Few expect lasting consequences for the sector.
The most prominent beneficiary of Epstein’s money was Coinbase. The Guardian's report showed that in 2014, he invested $3 million in the company at a time when cryptocurrency exchanges were still operating on the margins of finance. That stake was arranged by Brock Pierce, a crypto evangelist and co-founder of Tether, whose stablecoin has become a cornerstone of digital trading. Internal communications show that Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam was aware of Epstein’s involvement and open to meeting him during the fundraising process. By 2018, Epstein had sold half his Coinbase stake to Pierce’s investment firm, Blockchain Capital, for $15 million.
Epstein’s role in bitcoin’s development also ran through academia. For two decades, he was a donor to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, contributing directly and indirectly millions of dollars. Emails reveal that funds linked to Epstein were used to support the launch of MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative, a research programme dedicated to open-source crypto technologies. In correspondence, the Media Lab’s then-director, Joichi Ito, described the initiative as a central hub for bitcoin’s early development.
Ito also helped channel Epstein’s money into Blockstream in 2014 through an investment fund they jointly controlled. The company’s founders were invited to meet Epstein in the Caribbean, near his private island. While Blockstream has since said the fund later divested due to conflicts of interest and insists it has no remaining financial ties to Epstein or his estate, private emails suggest ongoing cordial communication between Epstein and at least one of its co-founders for several years afterward.
Taken together, the documents reveal how Epstein’s wealth and connections seeped into yet another powerful sphere, raising uncomfortable questions about who financed the early infrastructure of cryptocurrency, and how little scrutiny accompanied that support at the time. wo decades may prove harder to ignore than its defenders expect.
