"The convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein built his finance career through connections with the world's most powerful people, from Apollo's Leon Black to former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak. But newly released documents from the Department of Justice reveal that before his 2019 suicide in federal prison, Epstein also cultivated ties to the still-emerging crypto industry with early investments in the U.S crypto exchange Coinbase, as well as the Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream."
"In the early 2010s, Brock Pierce, a former child star who acted in the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks, began advising Epstein on a series of crypto investments through his role as managing partner at a nascent venture capital company called Crypto Currency Partners. The investment firm would later rebrand as Blockchain Capital and become one of the most prominent investors in the crypto industry."
"The new trove of documents released by the Justice Department reveal how, in 2014, Pierce approached Epstein about investing in Coinbase. The financier was intrigued. "[C]oinbase is closing a c round. this week? should i play? how hard?" he wrote in an email to Reid Hoffman, cofounder of LinkedIn and a well-known Silicon Valley investor. Epstein eventually decided to back the nascent crypto exchange. "[T]ake $3 million," he"
Jeffrey Epstein cultivated ties to the emerging cryptocurrency industry and made early investments in Coinbase and Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream. Brock Pierce advised Epstein on crypto investments while managing Crypto Currency Partners, which later rebranded as Blockchain Capital. Pierce, an early booster who cofounded Tether, approached Epstein in 2014 about investing in Coinbase and encouraged participation in its Series C. Epstein agreed and committed $3 million. Epstein maintained financial connections across tech and finance despite a 2008 conviction for solicitation of prostitution with a minor. Coinbase declined comment, and Blockstream did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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