75% of Bitcoin’s source code allegedly came from Jeffrey Epstein’s investments, newly released FBI Epstein Files reveal

A post circulating on X following a new release of FBI Epstein files dated February 1, 2026, makes an extraordinary claim: that a large share of Bitcoin’s core development traces back to financial backing tied to Jeffrey Epstein.

FBI Epstein Files Allege That 75% of Bitcoin’s Code Can Be Traced to Jeffrey Epstein–Linked Investments.

The post points to an internal email dated April 25, 2015, attached to a message titled “Digital Currency Initiative.” In that message, then–MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito described a scramble to secure control over key Bitcoin developers after the collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation. Ito wrote:

“Many organizations scrambled to step into the vacuum created by the foundation and ‘take control’ of the developers. We moved quickly talking to all of the various stakeholders and the three developers decided to join the Media Lab. This is a big win for us.”

75% of bitcoins code comes directly from Jeoffrey Epsteins investments.

-We’ve basically funded an elite global pedophile ring since 2015.

I feel sick. https://t.co/240YUQDPVi

— Crypto Bitlord (@crypto_bitlord7) February 2, 2026

The author of the post argues that timing matters. At the time that the email circulated, Bitcoin’s codebase reportedly had roughly 12,000 commits. Today, public repositories list 47,583 commits. Based on that comparison, the post claims that roughly 74.79 percent of Bitcoin’s total core development occurred after Epstein-backed funding entered the picture through the Bitcoin Foundation and related initiatives.

“At the time this letter was written, there were around 12,000 commits to Bitcoin’s code. Today there are 47,583 commits to Bitcoin’s code. That means that 74.79% of the Bitcoin core development and code was committed after Jeffery Epstein took over the defacto senior management role as benefactor. He may not have been ‘Satoshi’, but he was absolutely running the executive direction of Bitcoin on behalf of Mossad,” Patrick L Riley, who identified himself as whisteblower, said in a post on X.

However, the post stops short of calling Epstein Bitcoin’s creator, yet it goes much further in tone and implication. It asserts that Epstein exercised effective executive influence over Bitcoin’s direction and alleges coordination tied to Israeli intelligence. No evidence is presented in the post to substantiate that assertion, and no such claim appears in the FBI documents themselves.

Leaked Emails Suggest Epstein Allegedly Met “Satoshi” at a Climate Summit in 2014

Meanwhile, in a separate set of FBI Epstein materials released Monday, newly unsealed court filings introduce another striking allegation. According to the filings, leaked emails suggest that Epstein allegedly met “Satoshi” at a climate summit in 2014 and later helped fund early Bitcoin Core development. The documents do not identify the individual referenced as “Satoshi,” nor do they establish whether the claim refers to Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator or someone using the name in another context. The filings themselves stop short of confirming the substance of the alleged meeting.

From there, the argument turns speculative. The post asks whether hidden backdoors could exist inside Bitcoin’s code, then answers its own question with certainty. It cites two real historical vulnerabilities as context. In August 2010, a bug later cataloged as CVE-2010-5139 allowed the creation of 184 billion bitcoin, forcing an emergency rollback of the blockchain. In September 2018, another flaw, CVE-2018-17144, surfaced after a Bitcoin Cash developer disclosed it rather than exploit it.

Those incidents are well-documented in Bitcoin’s history. The leap from past bugs to intentional control or covert access remains an allegation raised by the post, not a conclusion drawn by investigators.

The post closes by linking Bitcoin to broader financial manipulation narratives and notes that Epstein reportedly invested about $850,000 in the Bitcoin Foundation at a time when Bitcoin traded near $225. That investment figure has circulated for years, though its significance remains debated.

What the newly released FBI files show clearly is limited. They confirm Epstein’s financial involvement in academic and nonprofit initiatives connected to digital currency research. Claims about operational control, intelligence ties, or systemic backdoors extend well beyond what the documents themselves establish.

For now, the post reflects how unresolved questions around Bitcoin’s early governance, funding influence, and developer control still fuel suspicion more than a decade after the network’s launch.

Extracted Text (from FBI-released screenshot).

From: jeffrey E. (jeevacation@gmail.com)
Sent: 4/25/2015 5:06:32 PM
To: Joichi Ito
Subject: Re: Digital Currency Initiative

gavin is clever

On Sat, Apr 25, 2015 at 10:57 AM, Joichi Ito wrote:

FYI
Used gift funds to underwrite this which allowed us to move quickly and win this round. Thanks.

— Joi

Begin forwarded message:
From: Joi Ito
Subject: Digital Currency Initiative
Date: April 25, 2015 at 10:25:09 AM EDT
To:

As Bitcoin and Digital Currencies have started to become an important trend, the Media Lab has launched an initiative in the space.

I wrote a blog post on why I think Blockchain/Bitcoin are like the Internet:
http://joi.ito.com/weblog/2015/01/23/why-bitcoin-is-.html

The way that Bitcoin is organized currently is that there are five core developers and around a hundred contributors to the core code. The five core developers are like Linus Torvalds of Linux. They decide what changes are made to the core code. One of the five is the lead developer, Vladimir, and one is the Chief Scientist, Gavin.

Gavin, Vladimir and Cory (an important contributing developer) were being paid out of a non-profit organization called the Bitcoin Foundation. A few weeks ago, it blew up when one of the board members declared the foundation “bankrupt.”
(https://bitcoinfoundation.org/forum/index.php?/topic/1284-the-truth-about-the-bitcoin-foundation/)

Many organizations scrambled to step into the vacuum created by the foundation and “take control” of the developers.

We moved quickly talking to all of the various stakeholders and the three developers decided to join the Media Lab. This is a big win for us.

According to the WSJ Blog:
http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/04/24/bitb-eat-tackling-bitcoin-price-swings-with-eye-on-emerging

Extracted Text (FBI-released screenshot referencing “Satoshi”)

From: Kathy Ruemmler [redacted]
Sent: 9/19/2014 11:54:57 AM
To: jeffrey E. (jeevacation@gmail.com)
Subject: Re:
Importance: High

Doesn’t look like you are prioritizing your schedule very effectively…..how are you going to manage all of that? this is unga week so the boss will be in town too…..I’ll be here all week — you may get sick of me…..just sat down on the train so can’t talk freely.

On Sep 19, 2014 7:48 AM, “jeffrey E.” jeevacation@gmail.com wrote:

“girls?”… careful i will renew an old habit, . this week, thiel, summers, bill burns, gordon brown, jagland, (council of europe and nobel chairman), mongolia pres, hardeep purce (india), boris (gates), jabor (qatar), sultan (dubai), kosslyn (harvard), satoshi (bitcoin), [redacted] welcome guest at any….. also if you think there are interesting people in town, everyone here for climate summit, clinton, security council, holy shit im on [redacted] for next 30 minutes

On Fri, Sep 19, 2014 at 7:15 AM, Kathy Ruemmler [redacted] wrote:

Most girls do not have to worry about this crap.

On Sep 19, 2014 at 7:09 AM, “jeffrey E.” jeevacation@gmail.com wrote:

understood. it comes down to high risk / reward / low risk / reward. professional, emotional, and financial