Remember how a year ago the scandal with Epstein's declassified files broke out? I was following that story at the time, and honestly, it turned out to be much more interesting than it seemed at first glance. The US Department of Justice released documents publicly that linked this person to the cryptocurrency industry. Naturally, the internet exploded with speculation.

The most intriguing part of Epstein's files is his investments in Blockstream. This is not just a random company, but one of the key infrastructural organizations for the development of Bitcoin. Through his investment fund, he invested half a million dollars in initial funding. Sounds serious, but there's an important nuance here.

After I examined the documents, it became clear that Epstein was more of a curious observer than someone making decisions. Yes, he had meetings with Adam Beck and Austin Hill, yes, he discussed competitors like Ripple and Stellar as potential threats to the ecosystem. But these were just investment discussions.

What truly surprised me was his correspondence with Peter Thiel in 2014 about the nature of Bitcoin. At that time, the whole world still didn't understand whether it was money, property, or something else. And he was already discussing the philosophical foundations of this asset. Later, in 2016, he even tried to suggest to Saudi authorities to create a "Sharia currency" backed by Bitcoin. Ambitious, but it didn't work out.

Epstein's files also revealed other well-known names. Michael Saylor, the current CEO of MicroStrategy, donated $25,000 to some event in 2010. Kevin Warsh, who was later nominated by Trump to head the Federal Reserve, was also listed among the guests.

But the most important thing is that all these high-profile revelations should be viewed with a cold head. People immediately started guessing: could he have created Bitcoin? Could he be Satoshi Nakamoto? No. Absolutely not. There is no evidence in the documents linking him to the creation of the protocol. Moreover, in 2017, when Bitcoin's price started soaring, he explicitly said "no" to those asking whether to buy it.

The most interesting part of this story is what was not found in Epstein's files. Not a single crypto wallet associated with his activities. Not a single transaction indicating the use of cryptocurrencies in his schemes. It turns out he was just an investor who wanted to understand the future of money, surrounding himself with the smartest people in the industry.

The open question that still concerns the crypto community is: will his wallets ever be found? Or will new evidence of cryptocurrency use emerge? For now, Epstein's files keep this secret.