Epstein’s Files Reveal Crypto Talks with SEC Gary Gensler
Epstein's files show he met with Gary Gensler to discuss digital currencies, providing new insight into the financier's efforts to engage with former crypto leaders and policy figures.
Emails from May 2018 show Epstein speaking to former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, “Gary Gensler. [is] Coming early… wants to talk digital currencies. Summers replied that he knew Gensler from government service and described him as “very smart.”
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The exchange's Epstein Gensler is expected to be involved in discussions involving cryptocurrency.
The Epstein files reveal many crypto stories
Separately, internal messages show Epstein referring to crypto-related meetings with the leadership of the MIT Media Lab.
One message asked if others would be “interested in Gary Gensler,” indicating Gensler's involvement in crypto-oriented academic or policy circles at the time.
In another message, Epstein wrote that he would be on crypto with Gary Gensler tomorrow, though the files do not themselves confirm that a live meeting took place.
At the time, Gensler was a professor at MIT, where he taught blockchain and digital currencies.
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It later became the SEC from 2021 to 2025, which oversaw the most aggressive regulatory crackdown on crypto in US history.
Gensler's references appear alongside extensive evidence of Epstein's deep involvement in early cryptocurrency development and investment.
DOJ documents show that Epstein gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to the MIT Media Lab. This includes funding the Digital Currency Initiative, which will support Bitcoin Core developers after the collapse of the Bitcoin Foundation.
Developers funded by the movement include key keepers of Bitcoin's open source protocol.
Additionally, financial records confirm that Epstein invested $3 million in crypto exchange Coinbase in 2014.
He also invested in Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream and corresponded with early Bitcoin developers, researchers and venture capitalists.
In addition, the emails It shows Epstein proposing a Sharia-compliant digital currency modeled on Bitcoin in 2016.
However, the files show no financial relationship between Epstein and Gensler. They also confirmed whether the two men were in direct contact or collaborated on any crypto-related projects.
Still, the documents show Epstein's continued efforts to engage with people influential in crypto, academia, and financial policy.
