The DOJ dropped the largest batch of the Epstein Files yet this week, and they revealed just how many things the notorious pedophile had his tentacles in – and that includes Bitcoin.

Social media was awash with references to prominent Bitcoiners who were either mentioned in Epstein’s emails, took funding from the sex-offender financier, and/or had direct contact with him over the internet or in person.

To get it out of the way: none of these emails necessarily prove any illegal acts by the people mentioned in this article, nor do they implicate them in any nefarious behavior. Further, Epstein’s ties to Bitcoin do not mean that he – or the Deep State! – created or co-opted Bitcoin. Jeffrey Epstein may be a nonce, but that doesn’t mean he has anything to do with Bitcoin’s nonces. 

That said, the emails do show that Epstein invested in early stage Bitcoin companies, and he was in contact with some of the more impactful personas of Bitcoin’s early days.

Why is anyone’s guess, but it probably has a lot to do with Epstein’s attempts to exert influence over anyone and anything of consequence when he was running around unchecked, which includes bleeding edge, far-out new technology.

And with that out of the way, let’s dive into our findings.

Brock Pierce? The former child actor, Mighty Ducks star, and EOS cofounder?

Yes, that Brock Pierce.

The serial crypto entrepreneur and generally-creepy-dude first made contact with Jeffrey Epstein in 2010 by way of Al Seckel, the late illusionist and paramour of Isabel Maxwell, who is the sister of Jeffrey Epstein’s lover-in-chief, Ghislaine Maxwell.

In 2010, Seckel organized the so-called Mindshift Conference on Epstein's Little Saint James island. The conference was one piece of a public relations push to repair Jeffrey Epstein’s reputation following his 2008 conviction in Florida for sexually trafficking a child and soliciting prostitution. 

It was a total dud, so much so that Epstein penned a fake email to Seckel, pretending to relay message from an Epstein Foundation member. But Epstein got his first Bitcoin connection out of it: Brock Pierce, who spoke at the event.

Pierce and Epstein maintained a relationship up until Epstein’s death in 2019. During this time, Pierce enjoyed assignations with some of Epstein’s “girls,” took legal advice from Epstein on how to resolve 5 years of tax evasion, introduced Epstein to Steve Bannon, and served as Epstein’s point of contact for personalities in the Bitcoin space, including the Winklevosses.

(If you want a more thorough rundown of the more salacious and dastardly side of Pierce and Epstein’s relationship, I recommend this article on Protos, which covers some of the above in depth; for our purposes, we’ll be more focused on the nexus of Pierce and Epstein's business relationship and their investments in Bitcoin companies).

A few more bits of interesting trivia unearthed by the Epstein files before we get to the meat of it: Pierce tried to purchase Mt. Gox in May 2013, nine months before it collapsed; and in 2014, Pierce also wanted to tap Larry Summers to “get involved” with USDT issuer Tether – which Brock cofounded in 2014 – perhaps to give legitimacy to the project.

But most notably, Epstein used Brock Pierce’s Blockchain Capital as a surrogate to invest in Coinbase.

Epstein made this Coinbase investment via Blockchain Capital in December 2014. In November 2014, Pierce notified Epstein that Blockchain Capital was planning to invest in Coinbase’s next round, but that he would “need [Epstein’s] permission to let the founder know who [Epstein is]” but that Epstein’s identity “would not be disclosed beyond that.”

Epstein responded,” yes ok,” committing $3 million to the round via Blockchain Capital’s Crypto Currency Partners II, LLC (not to be confused with Crypto Currency Partners II, LP, Blockchain Capital’s public facing fund that invested $200,000 into Coinbase during the same round, per a 2015 investor deck). 

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