Jeffrey Tucker & Aaron Day: Bitcoin Hijacked? Epstein Files, Surveillance, and the End of Freedom Money
In this episode of The Brownstone Show, Jeffrey Tucker sits down with Brownstone Fellow and researcher Aaron Day to unpack one of the biggest stories in cryptocurrency history.
Fresh off major revelations from the Epstein files, they reveal shocking connections between Jeffrey Epstein, early Bitcoin development, MIT's Digital Currency Initiative, and the deliberate "hijacking" of Bitcoin. Its original vision as peer-to-peer digital cash (as outlined in Satoshi's white paper) flipped to a surveillable "digital gold" asset controlled by institutions and governments.
Jeffrey Tucker shares his personal journey: from early Bitcoin evangelist in 2013 (when BTC was just $12–$14) to disillusionment after the blocksize wars, SegWit controversies, and the censorship that sidelined scalable use as everyday money.
Aaron Day dives deeper into:
How Bitcoin went from instant, near-free transactions in the early days to slow, $50+ fees by 2017.
The vicious suppression of "big blockers" like Roger Ver (author of Hijacking Bitcoin, foreword by Tucker).
Epstein's documented ties to Bitcoin/Tether figures and funding streams that influenced Bitcoin Core.
Why Bitcoin is now more traceable than traditional banking (immutable ledger forever!)
Ongoing prosecutions of privacy pioneers (Tornado Cash, Samourai Wallet devs) even under "pro-crypto" administrations.
The crumbling "digital gold" narrative: miner revenue issues, calls to increase the 21M supply cap, ETF risks, and why privacy coins like Monero & Zano are outperforming.
This isn't just crypto history—it's a warning about surveillance, state control, and the weaponization of what was meant to be freedom money. If you're curious about the future of money in a CBDC world, this conversation will change how you see the entire space.
📕 Recommended reading: Hijacking Bitcoin: The Hidden History of BTC by Roger Ver (foreword by Jeffrey Tucker) → https://www.amazon.com/Hijacking-Bitcoin-Hidden-History-BTC/dp/B0CXWBCWDR
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