2016 DOJ email shows Jeffrey Epstein claimed talks with Bitcoin's founders and pushed Sharia currency plan
In an email dated October 13, 2016, later released within the U.S. Department of Justice's 3 million-file document dump, Jeffrey Epstein claimed he had spoken with "some of the founders of Bitcoin" while pitching Saudi contacts on a dual Sharia-based currency system. The proposal combined a physical fiat "Sharia" currency with a digital version linked to the Bitcoin network, and additional emails from 2013 and 2014 placed Epstein inside early crypto debates involving major investors as well as tensions around Ripple and Stellar.