Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr has called on Blockstream chief executive Adam Back to resign after newly released US Justice Department files linked figures in the crypto industry to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The documents reference Bitcoin, Blockstream and other major crypto companies, reviving scrutiny of early industry ties after Back confirmed Epstein was briefly an indirect investor in Blockstream.
“These recent revelations about Adam and Epstein Island help shed light on some of Adam’s hostility toward me and his recent pro-spam gaslighting, but I never knew how bad and how deep the corruption went,”
Dashjr said in a post on X.
The comments reignite long-running tensions between Dashjr and Back, who have clashed for years over Bitcoin governance, scaling and Blockstream’s influence on the network’s technical direction.
The newly released files include emails from 2014 showing Epstein corresponding with Blockstream co-founder Austin Hill about meetings and a potential visit to his private Caribbean island, Little Saint James.
Back said Epstein’s involvement came indirectly through a fund linked to former MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito, adding that Blockstream has “no direct nor indirect financial connection with Jeffrey Epstein, or his estate.”
The documents also detail Epstein’s investments and interactions with other crypto figures and firms, including a $3 million stake in Coinbase and extensive references to Tether co-founder Brock Pierce, while no evidence of wrongdoing has been alleged against those named.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $73,155.40.