In November of 2017, convicted child sex offender and late financier Jeffrey Epstein informed an individual who had previously declined a marriage offer from Bitcoin entrepreneur and Tether co-founder Brock Pierce via email that it was “time to grow up.”
“Plans?? Brock? Travel?” Epstein asked the person, who he had once described as Pierce’s “little” girlfriend—and his own assistant—in an email to Joi Ito, the former director of MIT Media Lab.
In response, the person told Epstein that she was doing her best. The job market was tough, but she still viewed employment as a form of independence. At the time, she said she was looking forward to the opportunity of spending Christmas with her mom.
“Brock and I are on good terms and I adore him, but he is married for now and living a lifestyle I don’t think I could keep up with in a healthy way,” she added, ending the message: “I love you.”
The Justice Department’s release on Friday of more than 3 million pages of documents on Epstein has provided a fresh glimpse at how far the financier’s reach extended in crypto. That includes his investments in longtime Bitcoiner Adam Back’s Blockstream and Coinbase, as Decrypt reported earlier this week. The Coinbase opportunity was initially presented by Pierce, though Blockchain Capital told Decrypt that Epstein ultimately invested independently of Pierce’s firm.
The latest batch of documents show how Epstein and Pierce grew increasingly close as the onetime child actor emerged as a crypto mainstay. They appeared to use each other’s connections to develop business partners like Andrew Farkas and politicos like Steve Bannon. Their relationship blossomed entirely after Epstein was convicted in 2008 of sex crimes involving minors.
Pierce and Epstein discussed women in a transactional manner across several emails, as well as their shared interest in crypto. In 2012, for example, Pierce was instructed by Epstein to “take photos” while traveling in Moscow, Kiev, and Odessa to find the financier “a present.” That year, Pierce also thanked Epstein for “a great time with the girls.” Still, their connection over Pierce’s “little” girlfriend appears distinct, dating back as early as 2011 in the documents.
Decrypt has reached out to Pierce for comment.
An email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Brock Pierce. Image: DOJ
Decrypt was able to piece together elements of a romantic relationship that Epstein shaped from both sides, partly because the individual’s name is redacted in some places but not others. That suggests she may be among the victims compromised by improper redactions. As the government works to fix that, Decrypt will refer to her as “Alice.”
Crypto media outlet Protos first detailed aspects of Pierce’s relationship with Epstein and Alice.
“He is frightened”
Al Seckel, a collector of optical illusions, was partly responsible for bringing Pierce into Epstein’s orbit in early 2011. He organized a conference called “Mindshift” to rehabilitate Epstein’s image following his 2008 conviction, and Pierce was among those who attended in the Virgin Islands.
Following the invite-only event on Saint Thomas, Epstein’s former executive assistant Lesley Groff identified Pierce as one of the “scientists” that the financier “liked.” She passed along Pierce’s contact information to Epstein via email.
Not long after, Pierce told Epstein in an email that he was visiting Beijing, but he was eager to talk “whenever is convenient for you.” After some back and forth, they agreed on a meeting in New York in March.
Based on a last-minute scheduling issue, it is unclear whether Pierce attended the meeting after being provided with an address for Epstein’s now-infamous Manhattan mansion. But in September, Groff later told Epstein that Pierce was confirmed for breakfast at “the house.”
Alice appeared to enter Pierce’s life around that time. In December, she wrote in an email that “Brock is on our flight :),” and someone told her, “Work it [Alice]! Work it!”
Decrypt could not determine how old Alice was when she said she was on a plane with Pierce, but it is known that Epstein’s Boeing 727-100 was central to the logistical operations of the convicted sex offender who allegedly trafficked underage girls.
The following day, Sarah Kellen, an interior designer associated with Epstein, sent Pierce an email inviting him to the financier’s “island,” along with a professor from Harvard. It is unclear whether that island was Little Saint James in the Virgin Islands, where the financier allegedly abused women and girls and hosted the world’s elite. Pierce wrote that he’d be ready to be picked up at “the dock” before having breakfast with Epstein once more.
In the following years, Pierce would let Epstein know on numerous occasions that he’d be in New York and was interested in meeting up. Pierce also invited Epstein to stay with him at a Masonic Temple in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the Bitcoin entrepreneur relocated in 2017.
Pierce and Epstein appeared close: Pierce wished Epstein a happy birthday. They also exchanged kind words on New Year’s. That doesn’t match up with Pierce’s portrayal of his relationship with Epstein immediately after the financier’s death.
In 2019, a spokesperson for Pierce told The Hollywood Reporter that “the few communications that Mr. Pierce had with Epstein related to cryptocurrency,” and they conversed “at industry events, where many other prominent people were present.”
An email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Brock Pierce. Image: DOJ
In 2014, Epstein reminded Pierce via email that it was Alice’s birthday. After Pierce thanked Epstein for the reminder, the financier told him, “You remembered on your own.”
Months later, Pierce told Epstein in another message that he would “figure something out” regarding Alice. Epstein described the matter as important.
Later that year, Epstein asked Alice about a visa, and she told him that Pierce had offered to marry her. Although Alice said that tying the knot with Pierce could help her issues, she ultimately declined Pierce’s offer, fearing it would weigh on their mutual love.
“He is frightened, stressed out and strained by it. It’s obvious in his voice,” she recalled to Epstein in an email. “He says he doesn’t want me disappearing for months on end, and asked me where we are going in January.”
“How did I get so lucky to have you,” Epstein responded.
“Your boy Brock”
Over the years, Epstein and Pierce talked a lot about cryptocurrency. When “Bitcoin broke $500!” Pierce emphatically let Epstein know. Another time, Pierce looped Epstein in on his efforts to acquire defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox before its implosion.
On another occasion, Pierce offered to help Epstein with Bitcoin billionaires Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, after the financier said he didn’t know them. Epstein wanted to send someone “to them to get a download of what they were doing in the space.”
At times, the relationship worked both ways: Epstein organized an introduction in 2014 between Pierce and Andrew Farkas, the prominent real estate investor behind Island Capital Group.
Later that year, Epstein probed Farkas’ thoughts on proposed Bitcoin regulation. The financier noted, “If I could short Bitcoin I would.”
“You can definitely find someone to take the long side of that,” Farkas responded, hinting at the closeness between Epstein and Pierce. “Not me, but I’ll bet your boy Brock would do it.”
In an article published by USA Today on Wednesday, Farkas said in a statement: “I regret my association with Mr. Epstein and condemn his crimes.”
An email exchange between Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew Farkas. Image: DOJ
In 2016, Pierce told Epstein that he had “worked” with an individual named Steve for 14 years. It is unclear whether Pierce was referring to Steve Bannon, but the former White House chief strategist later discussed crypto with Epstein over email, as Decrypt reported in November.
Pierce’s contact with Epstein via email continued into the spring of 2019, months before the financier’s second arrest and death while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges, which was ruled a suicide. But over time, mentions of Alice became increasingly sporadic.
In early 2018, Pierce told Epstein via email that he wanted to get married again and was “going to attempt to thread that needle over the next few days,” although he’d have two wives. At the time, his marriage with crypto entrepreneur Crystal Rose was less than a year old.
By the end of the year, Pierce’s priorities appeared to lay elsewhere. He invited Epstein on a boat in Antigua, which was expected to be “full of amazing Ukraine’s finest.”
Although Alice told Epstein in 2017 that Pierce didn’t align with her desired lifestyle, she appeared to celebrate with the Bitcoin entrepreneur that year. In October, Pierce told Epstein via email that he was “having an epic halloweeen [sic] with [Alice] with friends celebrating weird.”
Alice addressed Epstein in the email as well, referring to him as “Sweetness.” She ended her message: “We love you very very much!! For always and forever.”