In brief
- Jeffrey Epstein invested $3 million in Coinbase in 2014, according to emails released Friday by the DOJ.
- Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam was aware the investment was being made on Epstein’s behalf, emails show.
- The deal was arranged by Tether co-founder Brock Pierce and Blockchain Capital at a $400 million valuation.
Jeffrey Epstein made a multimillion-dollar investment into crypto exchange Coinbase in 2014, and the company’s leadership appears to have been aware of the convicted sex offender’s involvement in the deal, newly surfaced emails indicate.
Epstein made a $3 million investment in the crypto exchange in December 2014, according to a new trove of emails released Friday by the U.S. Justice Department. The investment was arranged for Epstein by Tether co-founder Brock Pierce and Pierce’s venture firm, Blockchain Capital.
The emails indicate Fred Ehrsam, Coinbase’s co-founder, was personally aware the investment was being made on Epstein’s behalf. In a correspondence dated December 3, 2014, Ehrsam asked to meet with Epstein in New York to discuss the arrangement.
“I have a gap between noon and 3pm today, but again, not crucial for me, but would be nice to meet him if convenient,” Ehrsam wrote. “Is it important for him?”
Later that day, Blockchain Capital co-founder Brad Stephens emailed Ehrsam that they were good to move ahead with the investment. Coinbase’s wire transfer details were then immediately sent to Stephens, and forwarded to Epstein’s executive assistant, Darren Indyke.
The investment was made at a $400 million company valuation, the emails say. Today, Coinbase is worth some $51 billion.
Epstein’s apparent early investment in Coinbase also came more than six years after Epstein was convicted, in 2008, by a Florida state court for procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute. From 2008 on, Epstein was a registered sex offender.
Ehrsam and Coinbase did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s requests for comment on this story. Brad Stephens, Brock Pierce, and Blockchain Capital also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
When initially considering whether to invest in Coinbase in 2014, Epstein appears to have relied on the expertise of Pierce, and also on the advice of LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.
Pierce called the fundraising round Epstein ultimately participated in “the most platinum-plated deal in the space.”
When Epstein reached out to Hoffman asking “how hard” he should play in the Coinbase funding round, Hoffman replied that he didn’t know much about the company’s internals.
“I probably wouldn’t play,” Hoffman wrote to Epstein. “But I may not be up-to-date on interesting internal news.”
Additional emails released Friday revealed Epstein also invested in another early crypto giant, Blockstream. Blockstream co-founder Adam Back, an early Bitcoin contributor, acknowledged the 2014 investment in an X post on Sunday.
In 2018, Epstein sold half of his Coinbase equity back to Blockchain Capital, per further emails.
By that time, Coinbase’s valuation had climbed into the billions. Epstein cashed out half of his initial $3 million investment for nearly $15 million, and appears to have retained the other half of his equity. Less than two years later, the financier was found dead in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
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