Jeffrey Epstein's Bizarre Bitcoin Connections

The United States Department of Justice published a fresh round of Epstein Files on Friday, detailing the convicted predator's enigmatic ties to one key individual from within the crypto industry.

What's the Scoop?

• Crypto Connections: Epstein's close association with the crypto industry ( Bitcoin in particular) was first revealed in prior Epstein Files releases, which shone a light on Epstein's ties to early Bitcoin development activity.
• Mighty Error: The newly released Epstein Files contain over 1.8k references to "Brock Pierce." Formerly a child actor in Disney's The Mighty Ducks, Pierce currently chairs the Bitcoin Foundation and previously co-founded crypto VC Blockchain Capital, stablecoin issuer Tether, and infamous crypto projects EOS and OMNI. Among the released documents are numerous instances of pre-IPO Coinbase investor updates relayed to Epstein by Pierce and multiple examples of correspondence to arrange both in-person and remote meetings. Their relationship was established sometime in 2011, well before any of Pierce's cryptocurrency endeavors began.
• Coinbase Investor: In December 2014, Esptein invested $3M into crypto exchange Coinbase through Brock Pierce’s Blockchain Capital, the latest document dump suggests. The purchase allegedly secured Epstein a face-to-face meeting with Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam. Epstein appears to have later sold 50% of the stake back to Blockchain Capital for around $11M.