Did Jeffrey Epstein invent Bitcoin? Here's the truth of the viral email claiming Epstein is Satoshi Nakamoto

A viral email claims Jeffrey Epstein invented Bitcoin, claiming the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Here's the truth.

Published on: Feb 06, 2026 4:34 AM IST

By Shirin Gupta

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A wave of viral social media posts claimed that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein invented Bitcoin. The speculation was triggered by doctored emails circulating online, purporting to show Epstein claiming authorship of Bitcoin under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

A viral email claims Jeffrey Epstein invented Bitcoin, claiming the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The email is reported to be doctored. (AP File)

However, France24's Truth or Fake segment says that these claims are baseless and the email was not released in the recent tranche of the Epstein Files.

The name Satoshi Nakamoto is used by the person who created Bitcoin, whose identity is a mystery.

"Little digital gold mine"

The narrative stems from an email that was allegedly sent by Epstein to his right-hand woman, Ghislaine Maxwell, on October 31, 2008.

This email, circulating on platforms like X and Reddit, claimed that Epstein was behind the pseudonym Satoshi and described Bitcoin as a “little digital gold mine ready for the world.”

The email read, “Ghislaine, the 'Satoshi' pseudonym is working perfectly. Our little digital gold mine is ready for the world. Funding secured.”

Why is the email fake?

On closer scrutiny, the document was proven fake by France24, spotting formatting errors such as two “To:” lines.

France24 also said that there have been 24 results for the word "Satoshi" in the U.S. Department of Justice’s official archive of the Epstein Files, none of which match the email document circulating online.

The phrase “little digital gold mine” also does not bear any result when searched in the DOJ archive of the Epstein Files.

Moreover, the email ID in the email (jepstein@financial.net) is different from the one Epstein Files regularly indicates (jeevacation@gmail.com).

The France24 fact-check specifically labeled these doctored messages as false and stated that Epstein was not in fact the creator of Bitcoin and was certainly not Satoshi Nakamoto.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shirin Gupta
Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More

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