The post 2014 Email Reveals Blockstream CEO Pressured Epstein to Divest from Ripple and Stellar appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

TLDR: Austin Hill told Epstein that Ripple and Stellar were “bad for the ecosystem” Blockstream was building.  Blockstream co-founders demanded Epstein reduce his allocation due to competing protocol investments.  Joi Ito and Reid Hoffman were copied on the 2014 email discussing strategic investor alignment issues.  Gary Gensler taught crypto at MIT while Ito facilitated Epstein donations to the same institution.   Newly surfaced correspondence from 2014 shows Jeffrey Epstein held an investment allocation in Blockstream, a Bitcoin infrastructure company. The email from CEO Austin Hill to Epstein reveals strategic pressure to divest from competing protocols Ripple and Stellar. The communication, which included MIT Media Lab Director Joi Ito and investor Reid Hoffman, demonstrates active enforcement of ecosystem loyalty among early cryptocurrency investors. Strategic Investor Conflicts in Early Blockchain Development Austin Hill’s July 31, 2014 email to Epstein outlined a direct request from Blockstream’s co-founders. According to the original message, Hill stated he had “been asked by the other cofounders to reduce or take your allocation away.” The CEO explained that Ripple and Jed McCaleb’s new Stellar “are bad for the ecosystem we are building.” Hill further noted that having investors “backing two horses in the same race” would damage the company’s strategic positioning. The Anti-Ripple, Anti-Stellar Hit Team Blockstream, Hill, Epstein, Ito, MIT, Hoffman, Gensler, SEC & DOJ 1. Jeffrey Epstein held (or was expected to hold) an investment allocation in @Blockstream, where Austin Hill served as Founder/CEO at the time.2. Hill was acting on behalf… pic.twitter.com/zSAgHwGQ0R — Rob Cunningham | KUWL.show (@KuwlShow) February 1, 2026 The correspondence treated Epstein as a strategic investor whose portfolio choices affected Blockstream’s governance and capital strategy. These were not incidental social exchanges but direct operational communications about investment policy. The email exchange occurred during a critical period for blockchain technology development when competing…

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Filed under: News - @ February 1, 2026 11:09 pm