The last dump of Epstein files from the US Department of Justice has a variety of interesting emails and other documents related to Jeffrey Epstein’s early interests and involvement in Bitcoin and the crypto industry. Previous reports has linked Epstein to funding the development of Bitcoin Core through Joi Ito at MIT, but new documents indicate that Epstein may have been involved to some extent and even invested (directly or indirectly) in the early stages of a few different key crypto startups, from crypto exchange giant Coinbase to Bitcoin tech company Blockstream. They also reveal that Epstein had doubts about profiting from crypto token pumps.
Some of the oldest emails from the Bitcoin-related Epstein Files involve All-In Podcast co-host and angel investor Jason Calacaniswhom Epstein contacted in an effort to connect with anyone working on the two-year-old decentralized finance network in 2011. Calacanis highlighted two Bitcoin Core contributors, Gavin Andresen and Amir Taaki, who had recently appeared on Calacanis’ show This week in startups
.@Jason has said more than 10 times that he only knew Epstein in the 90s. He actually helped Epstein throughout the 2000s and 2010s, even after his conviction for child sex trafficking.
Man Starts Virtual Reality Company, Donates to Trump: ‘He’s an Idiot, No Moral Compass!’ »
Man rapes children: “Hey buddy! » pic.twitter.com/RTgG56dw0l
– Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) January 31, 2026
Palmer Luckey, founder and CEO of Anduril highlighted this interaction happily, because Luckey has a long-standing beef with Calacanis. THE All inclusive also co-host published his own statement about X in an attempt to distance himself from Epstein.
In the email, Calacanis warned Epstein that Andresen and Taaki were not business people, saying, “so you know, these are people who are not trying to start a business. they are open source crazy people who are radical. their motivation is more in line with Wikileaks or Wikipedia.”
According to an X post from Taaki“He wanted to invest in my company. I was for it but my CEO consulted him and said absolutely no. I dodged a bullet lol, I wish I could read that email.”
There are also a number of emails involving Epstein and Blockstream co-founder and former CEO Austin Hill. At one point, Hill sent by email Ito, Epstein and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman appear upset about investments made by some Blockstream investors in some of its perceived competitors, namely Ripple and Stellar.
“Ripple and Jed’s new star are bad for the ecosystem we are building and it hurts our business to have investors backing two horses in the same race,” Hill wrote.
Epstein also received regular Coinbase investor update emails from Blockchain Capital co-founder Brock Pierce, who was also a co-founder of Tether, the stablecoin giant. The details are unclear, but there appears to have been a business deal between Epstein and Blockchain Capital, an email shows. complaints the investment firm paid Epstein and Richard Kahn, who was his longtime accountant, “a large sum.”
Interesting email from Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong to investors found in Epstein files. This dates back to February 2016, during the debate over Bitcoin block size.
Armstrong explains how Coinbase works in the background to ensure the network is not held back by “the first… pic.twitter.com/3MuxKyVhSz
– Kyle Torpey (@kyletorpey) February 1, 2026
A notable update from Coinbase investors that Pierce relayed to Epstein will be most relevant to those interested in the history of The Bitcoin block size war. In the email, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says the crypto exchange is working behind the scenes to ensure that the Bitcoin protocol is not “held back by any early idealists.”
About a year later, Coinbase would be a signatory to what is known as the New York Accord, which was a plan for changes to the Bitcoin network signed by many of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, wallet providers, and miners. The project would ultimately be abandoned before completion, at least in part because of perception that the changes would effectively implement a corporate takeover of the decentralized Bitcoin protocol.
one of the most deplorable and sadistic humans of the modern era has somehow set the limit on pumping crypto tokens lol https://t.co/QLRAd6PtN6
– Wart (@gwartygwart) February 1, 2026
In another email exchange With Bitcoin developer Jeremy Rubin appearing humorous in hindsight, Epstein would claim he had ethics-related concerns about profiting from pumping crypto tokens. “I’m more than happy to fund things, but since I’m very high profile, it can’t be questionable ethics,” Epstein told Rubin, indicating he was perhaps more worried about possible bad publicity. “Their objective is to pump the currency, it’s dangerous. »
While the full list of crypto investments made by Epstein is still being clarified, these documents have sparked plenty of intrigue in terms of the disgraced financier’s interactions with some of the crypto industry’s most prominent names from its early days of development.
Of course, just like Republicans and Democrats, all cryptocurrencies interpreted the documents to fit their own narratives, ignoring the reality that all kinds of people from diverse backgrounds were willing to look the other way when it came to getting something from Epstein, whether it was money, advice, or connections.
