The Weird Epstein-Bitcoin Rabbit Hole
By 2011, Epstein was already showing interest in Bitcoin
Exchanging emails where he tried to understand its use cases, questioning who was actually using it and whether it had any real potential beyond niche applications like Silk Road.
At that stage, Bitcoin was still far from mainstream, but it had already started attracting a very specific type of attention from people operating at the edges of finance and technology.
2011 E-mail Epstein to Amir Taaki (screenshot) https://x.com/StarPlatinum_/article/2037215235954925840/media/2037214685531918336
The real interest happens in 2014
In December of that year, Epstein invested approximately $3 million into Coinbase during its Series C round, at a time when the company was valued at around $400 million.
This was not a random retail investment; access to that round was limited, and entry was facilitated through connections, most notably Brock Pierce, a well-known figure in early crypto who was involved in ventures like Blockchain Capital and later Tether.
Emails from that period show Epstein directly asking whether the round was closing and whether he should participate, indicating that he was actively positioning himself in one of the most important companies in the industry at a very early stage.
Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam was aware of his involvement, and internal communications suggest there was at least some level of openness to meeting him, which reinforces the idea that this was treated as a normal investment opportunity within those circles.
E-mail 2016 screenshot: https://x.com/StarPlatinum_/article/2037215235954925840/media/2037214805879345152
By 2018
Epstein had already sold part of that position, reportedly generating around $15 million from a partial exit
Around the same period, he also invested approximately $500,000 into Blockstream, another key company in the Bitcoin ecosystem focused on infrastructure and protocol development.
This investment was structured through a joint vehicle with Joi Ito, then director of the MIT Media Lab, which is where the story becomes more complex and arguably more important.
The MIT Media Lab, through its Digital Currency Initiative (DCI), played a central role in funding Bitcoin development after the collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation.
The DCI effectively became one of the main financial supports for core developers, including individuals working directly on maintaining and improving the Bitcoin protocol.
Screenshot: https://x.com/StarPlatinum_/article/2037215235954925840/media/2037214911843930113
Read further on https://x.com/StarPlatinum_/status/2037215235954925840