Newly released Department of Justice documents have unveiled Jeffrey Epstein's involvement in early cryptocurrency discussions, including a 2016 email where he claimed to have spoken directly with "some of the founders of Bitcoin." The email, part of a massive three-million-file dump related to Epstein's business dealings, was sent on October 13, 2016, to Raafat Alsabbagh and Aziza Alahmadi.
In the message, Epstein outlined plans to create two separate currencies for Muslim populations in the Middle East. The first was a physical fiat currency called "the Sharia," with bills stamped with "In God We Trust." The second was a digital Sharia-compliant currency built on Bitcoin's blockchain technology. Epstein wrote that he had "spoken to some of the founders of Bitcoin who are very excited" about his proposal, using the plural "founders"—a detail that fuels longstanding theories that Bitcoin was created by more than one person.
The DOJ files also show Epstein received Bitcoin analysis as early as April 2013, when Boris Nikolic forwarded him an analysis by Tren Griffin that was also sent to Bill Gates and Michael Larson. The analysis described Bitcoin's function as a payment system popular among libertarian venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.
Separately, a July 31, 2014 email from Austin Hill to Epstein, with the subject line "Stellar isn't so Stellar," sparked controversy. Hill urged Epstein to divest from both Ripple and Stellar, warning that supporting both competing projects could create conflicts. The email was copied to prominent figures including Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn co-founder) and Joichi Ito (then director of MIT Media Lab).
In response to the released documents, Ripple's Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz (known as JoelKatz) publicly denied any connection between Epstein and Ripple or Stellar. On social media platform X, Schwartz stated, "Epstein was not linked to Ripple or Stellar" and emphasized there is "no record of anyone in the businesses having ever encountered Epstein." He acknowledged Hill's email reflected wider industry opinions at the time but maintained the company had no meetings or connections with Epstein.
Schwartz noted that these discussions occurred before the emergence of ICOs and securities controversies, when the cryptocurrency industry was in its formative stages. The released correspondence reveals Epstein maintained connections across technology and finance circles during cryptocurrency's early development, though many claims—including his contact with Bitcoin's creators—remain unverified.
