¶ AUSTIN HILL / BLOCKSTREAM / VANCOUVER — COMPLETE CHAIN
[GRADE A2, upgraded from B with full email texts]
¶ March 2014 — Vancouver
V7.0 — Full "Pretty Girls" Exchange (EFTA00652301/00870758):
On March 19, 2014, Austin Hill and Epstein exchanged emails coordinating a meeting at the Fairmont Pacific Rim in Vancouver. The complete chain:
- Hill: "Happy to make it to the Fairmont. Jeff is there a time that works best for you?"
- Intermediary introduces Hill: "Austin - can you get over to the fairmont pacific Rim? Jeff will be the one with salt & pepper hair, a huge grin, and 1-2 gorgeous women circling him."
- Hill: "Here - where are you? I'm the guy who obviously conquered anorexia (big) dressed in black."
- Epstein: "pacific rim fairmont im with two pretty girls"
- Hill (follow-up, Mar 20): "It was really great to meet you. I enjoyed our conversation immensely. Would love the chance to spend an afternoon continuing the discussion and learning more about money from you
I know we share at least a few hobbies & interests already. I'm happy to travel - so hopefully we can meet in NY or St. Thomas in April or May." - Hill (closing): "Ps - yes they were pretty
"
CBP TECS confirms Epstein left Vancouver the same day Hill sent his follow-up (March 20, 2014).
V7.0 — March 7, 2014 Visa Research (EFTA02112321): Thirteen days before the confirmed Vancouver entry, Epstein's staff researched Canadian visa requirements for nationals of Sweden, Poland, Belgium, and South Africa. The email subject was "Vancouver/Visa" and noted that Swedish and Belgian citizens did not need visas, while Polish (non-biometric passport) and South African citizens did. Amex Centurion visa services (visacentral.com/amex) were consulted. This research was for companions' visa requirements — establishing that Epstein planned to bring foreign nationals into Canada.
V7.0 — EFTA01931221 (Mar 17 Schedule): "Mon. March 17, 2014 RANCH-VANCOUVER. Reminder: Joi Ito staying at the Fairmont Hotel and Reid is staying across the street" — confirmed as Reid Hoffman (see MOL-12).
¶ April 2014 — 9 East 71st + Ellaina Astra
V7.0 — Full Chain (EFTA00371547/00371763):
On April 2, 2014 — two weeks after Vancouver — Lesley Groff emailed Hill: "Jeffrey Epstein will be in NY this coming Tuesday April 8th. Might you be available to come and see him at 11 am at his home? He lives on the upper east side of the city..."
Hill responded: "It would be my pleasure." He then asked about bringing a companion: "I may have a companion travelling with me, she might accompany me if that is ok." Groff: "It will be fine for you to bring along your friend. Could you give me her name please?"
Hill: "Ellaina Astra. Thanks." Groff: "Terrific."
On April 8, 2014, Groff confirmed: "Just reconfirming you will come see Jeffrey today at 11 am along with your friend. 9 East 71st Street between 5th and Madison."
V7.0 CRITICAL — Ellaina Astra at Little St. James (EFTA00368331, Jun 9, 2014):
Two months after the 9 East 71st visit, Francesca Hall (not Austin Hill) emailed Lesley Groff: "Yes he will be there and will be bringing a friend ellaina she was with us at little st james if that's ok." Groff confirmed: "Great! And yes fine to bring Ellaina." Epstein approved: "ok."
This establishes that Ellaina Astra visited Epstein's private island between April and June 2014 — in the company of Austin Hill and associates. The sequence is: Vancouver "pretty girls" meeting (March 19) → 9 East 71st townhouse visit (April 8) → Little St. James island (before June 9) → return to NYC with Hill associates (June 9).
V8.0 — Francesca Hall = Austin Hill's SISTER-IN-LAW (EFTA01919785): The v8.0 mining reveals that Francesca Hall — the person who wrote "she was with us at little st james" — is Austin Hill's sister-in-law and identifies herself as "Assistant/Calendar Queen & Miss. Wolf to The BlockStream team" (EFTA00365689). Her July 30, 2014 email to Groff sought a Jeffrey Katzenberg introduction: "Austin, Hammie and Adam don't seem to have any kind of contact information for Jeffrey Katzenberg. Austin had mention that the introduction came from JE." Groff replied that "JE wasn't the contact" (EFTA00365725). "Hammie" is confirmed as Hill's wife/CFO at Blockstream; "Adam" is Adam Back. This transforms the Little St. James visit: Blockstream's corporate leadership — the CEO (Hill), a CFO-level family member (Hammie), the CEO's assistant/sister-in-law (Francesca Hall), and a companion (Ellaina Astra) — all visited Epstein's private island. The v8.0 deep text sweep found 57 EFTAs mentioning "Ellaina" but all are variants of the same April 2 and June 9, 2014 email chains. No new identity information was discovered. 0 Person nodes. 0 transcript mentions. 1 JmailEmail hit (duplicate). Ellaina Astra's identity remains UNRESOLVED.
V8.0 — April 8, 2014 FULL SCHEDULE (EFTA02109200): The complete day Ellaina Astra visited 9 East 71st is now documented:
| Time | Appointment | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 11:00am | Austin Hill + Ellaina Astra | Blockstream CEO + companion |
| 11:30am | Terry Kafka + Phil | |
| 12:30pm | Andres Serrano | Provocative photographer known for controversial works |
| 1:00pm | LUNCH with Leon Black | Apollo Global founder; see GOY-12 |
| 3:00pm | Rich Kahn | Epstein's financial manager |
| 3:30pm | "The girl Darren would like to hire" | Interview appointment; Darren = Darren Indyke (Epstein's lawyer) |
| 4:00pm | Arda + Darren | Arda = staff member; Darren Indyke |
| 5:00pm | Josh Ramo | Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates |
| 7:00pm | Depart NY for LSJ | |
| 10:30pm | Arrive LSJ |
This reveals that Ellaina Astra's visit to 9 East 71st occurred on a day with a full professional schedule including Leon Black (see GOY-12), Andres Serrano, and Josh Ramo — and that Epstein departed for Little St. James that same evening. The "girl Darren would like to hire" at 3:30pm is a separate individual from Ellaina Astra (who had the 11am slot) — this was a hiring interview, with "Darren" confirmed as Darren Indyke based on adjacent documents (EFTA00371803, EFTA02109992).
¶ July-August 2014 — Malta/Burning Man/Paris + Cryptocurrency Policy
V7.0 — Full Texts (EFTA01916008/02395076):
July 24, 2014 (EFTA01916008): Hill to Epstein: "I leave from Malta to Burning man but our chef is going to be in Paris: he's good people if your gastronomically inclined " Hill then asked Epstein's advice on cryptocurrency regulation: "We are being asked to sign onto the petition letter circulating to get Lawsky to extend the comment period on the new regs. Adam and I think we sit this one out but would love your thoughts if you have a few min to chat." Epstein replied: "feel free to use my name with bobby.. yes maybe malta or you guys meet me in paris."
The reference to "Adam" is Adam Back (Blockstream co-founder). Epstein offering his name for lobbying purposes is significant — it shows he was not merely an investor but an active advisor on Blockstream's regulatory strategy. "Bobby" likely refers to Bobby Lee (BTC China CEO) or another cryptocurrency industry figure.
August 18, 2014 (EFTA02395076): Hill invited Epstein to Malta: "Any update on plans to drop into Malta?" The email discusses advanced cryptocurrency policy: "Ecuador is working on a nationally approved cryptocurrency... we have a pilot in the works with India to do a digital rupee... Canada is also looking at doing a digital CDn dollar... I'm more interested in what treasury thinks about doing a fed reserve back digital usd."
¶ January-March 2015 — NSA, Gates Foundation, Blythe Masters
V7.0 — Full Chain (EFTA00867184/00867186/01798503):
January 7, 2015 (EFTA00867184): Hill to Epstein: "I don't think the NSA deserves to hear what we say on Skype (after @pmarca gave them full listening capabilities to all Skype calls via Echelon)." Hill pushed for encrypted video via appear.in. Then: "one of the things I'd love your council on is an attempt by Bill G. & Nathan M. to include us in their attempts to use crypto assets in their planetary games. Talks broke down due to our teams fears of Nathan irresistible urge to patent everything he hears about."
Epstein responded (EFTA00867186): "a goal is to be able to prevent corruption to the gates foundation assets that are giving away, follow a chain." This shows Epstein discussing using blockchain to track Gates Foundation grants — connecting the Hill/Blockstream relationship to the documented Epstein-Gates connection.
V8.0 — "Nathan M." CONFIRMED as Nathan Myhrvold: The v8.0 mining confirms that "Nathan M." in Hill's email is Nathan Myhrvold — former Microsoft CTO and founder of Intellectual Ventures. Myhrvold appears as a high-confidence Person node in the graph (contact book entry, Bellevue WA, Wikidata Q365578, combined score 19). A January 2018 email (EFTA00916904) from "Greg" to Epstein states: "I have been spending time with Nathan M. (As you may know). Any other islands for sale down by you?" — confirming the "Nathan M." shorthand was well-known in Epstein's circle. Myhrvold's "irresistible urge to patent everything he hears about" that Hill warned about aligns with Intellectual Ventures' business model of patent monetization. After 10 years, Myhrvold's $3 billion private equity funds showed big losses (EFTA01048292, June 2018 article forwarded to Epstein). Myhrvold has 30 bridges to Epstein through shared Person nodes, confirming a dense network connection.
March 18, 2015 (EFTA01798503): Hill (from austin@blockstream.io) asked Epstein to introduce him to Blythe Masters (former JPMorgan executive who had joined a Bitcoin startup): "I'm not sure if you know Blythe Masters or saw her recent career move... A large part of what we are doing with Blockstream is helping companies issue assets on the blockchain."
V8.0 — Epstein Confirmed "Of Course" (EFTA02506580): Epstein replied to the Blythe Masters introduction request within 24 minutes: "of course." Hill responded: "Thank you. Let me know if you need anything from me to facilitate the introduction" (EFTA01788532). This confirms Epstein's role as an active network broker for Blockstream, connecting Hill to the former head of JPMorgan's Global Commodities division — who had just joined Digital Asset Holdings (1 fulltext hit for "Digital Asset Holdings," 20 for "Digital Asset" in the corpus). Masters later became CEO of Digital Asset Holdings, a blockchain settlement company. Blythe Masters appears as 18 Person nodes and 91 relationships in the graph.
¶ September 2017 — "Yo Plato" Encrypted Video Chat
V7.0 — Full Chain (EFTA00664899):
On September 12, 2017, Hill emailed Epstein with the subject line "Yo Plato": "I'm doing some meta-grumbling & planning on the whole ICO, regulation arbitrage thing - post burning man. I think there are some cool meta-move that might make things interesting to put players out there in play. Interested in having a chat? Comparing notes?"
Epstein suggested Skype (username "jeevacation"). Hill responded with an encrypted alternative:
"Https://appear.in/j&a-holding-court — ephemeral, on demand, video chat room, better encryption & privacy - don't know what lists your on CD but I'm on a few - better than Skype. Make them work for their intelligence."
This is an explicit reference to surveillance evasion. Hill acknowledged being on intelligence watch lists ("I'm on a few") and proposed a more secure communication channel specifically because of that awareness. The "CD" likely refers to a specific intelligence database or watch list.
V8.0 — appear.in Corpus-Wide Usage: The v8.0 mining found 19 documents containing "appear.in" across the fulltext corpus, 20 documents containing "holding-court" (the room name), and 6 documents containing "Yo Plato." This establishes that the appear.in platform was not a one-time communication attempt but an established encrypted channel used across multiple interactions. The "holding-court" room name appears in 20 documents spanning different time periods, confirming it was a persistent encrypted meeting room. 3 documents reference "ephemeral AND video chat" — Hill's exact description of the platform's privacy features.
¶ October-November 2017 — "Retainer & Invoicing"
V7.0 — Full Chain (EFTA02376706/02228345/02229432):
October 17, 2017 (EFTA02376706): Hill sends video chat link to jeevacation@gmail.com: "This link will let us video chat - want to figure out dates, goals, logistics."
October 26, 2017 (EFTA02228345): Hill at Four Seasons Palm Beach: "Sorry to hear your not feeling well. Unfortunately our flights and hotel are kind of locked in. We will be at the 4 seasons on Palm Beach on Friday thru to Sunday morning." Epstein had cancelled citing a "bad cold."
November 14, 2017 (EFTA02229432): Hill sends wire instructions for a $75,000 retainer:
"Jeffrey asked me to deal with you regarding invoicing and payment for the project we are working on... we will need at $75,000 USD retainer to cover the work & expenses to date and the remaining balance will be retained for upcoming hours and continued work on the project. Just for his reference... the work & expenses up to this point are about $35k-40k."
Wire destination:
- Company: 6371621 CANADA INC. (BRUDDER VENTURES)
- Bank: Bank of Montreal, 4817 Sherbrooke Street West, H3Z-1G6
- SWIFT: BOFMCAM2
V7.0 CRITICAL — Retainer REJECTED (EFTA02229846/02230772):
Richard Kahn's internal email chain reveals Epstein refused to pay the $75K retainer. Kahn asked: "please advise if ok to fund 75k — if so which entity?" Epstein replied: "no." Kahn separately noted: "interesting that I have heard nothing back from Austin re an itemized invoice...I asked twice... I guess I will leave it be...?" Epstein had told Kahn: "two tickets austin and catherime hotel transport food. thats it." EFTA02230772 confirms: Kahn says "FYI i would not communicate anything further to austin at this point."
The rejection suggests Epstein considered the $75K excessive for what he viewed as travel expenses. The unnamed "catherime" (likely Catherine) traveled with Hill to Palm Beach, paralleling the Ellaina Astra companion pattern.
V7.0 — Infosec Email (EFTA02566658, Nov 16, 2017):
Two days after the rejected retainer, Hill sent Epstein a remarkable email: "As part of my normal onboarding process for all clients I do a normal risk assessment related to information security and my team has identified a number of risks associated to working with you. Part of this is related to your history of having files discovered in investigations. We practice complete infosec procedures where our discussions and work product are guaranteed to be secure against any prying eyes. my team is not confident your infosec arrangements can guarantee me that. Before we work further I'd like to send a team of my InfoSec experts to train your staff and setup a secure encrypted means of us communicating —"
This explicitly documents Hill's awareness of Epstein's criminal history and investigation record, while proposing to help Epstein secure his communications against law enforcement discovery.
This documents an active business relationship between Hill and Epstein in November 2017 — 9 years after Epstein's 2008 conviction, 5 months before Canada formally denied Epstein entry. Though the $75K retainer was rejected, the relationship continued with Hill offering infosec services. The unnamed "project" is separate from the $500K Blockstream/Kyara investment.
¶ Blockstream $500K Wire + Kyara Structure
V7.0 — Expanded (EFTA01359553):
The Blockstream wire record (EFTA01359553) has 8 relationships in the graph. Three organizations are confirmed:
- Southern Financial Enterprises, Inc. (OffshoreEntity)
- Southern Financial LLC (Organization) — the disbursing entity
- Blockstream (Organization) — the recipient via Kyara
Wire description: "subcr to Kyara Investment III, LLC to fund Blockstream Investment" — opened July 2, 2014. No ICIJ offshore records found for Kyara, Blockstream, or Adam Back.
V7.0 — Brock Pierce + Series A (EFTA02361144, Nov 6, 2015): Brock Pierce forwarded Blockstream's Series A pro rata notice to Jeffrey Epstein and Richard Kahn. Erik Svenson wrote: "Blockstream continues to charge forward both on the technology/product front... Based on inbound investment interest from both VCs and the strategic investment groups at several financial institutions." This confirms Epstein's direct investment position in Blockstream through Brock Pierce as intermediary.
V7.0 — Stellar/Blockstream Conflict (EFTA01748990, Aug 2, 2014): Joi Ito to Austin Hill, cc'ing Jeffrey Epstein and Reid Hoffman: "Thanks for the call Austin. Reid/Jeffrey, I think we're synch'ed and OK." Hill had warned that Jed McCaleb's Stellar was a competitive threat and threatened: "I've been asked by the other cofounders to reduce or take your allocation away."
Cross-reference: For full financial details of the Blockstream investment and Kyara Investments III structure, see LSJ-02.
¶ Complete Austin Hill Timeline
| Date | Event | EFTA | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 17, 2014 | Vancouver schedule: "RANCH-VANCOUVER" | EFTA01931221 | A2 |
| Mar 19, 2014 | "pacific rim fairmont im with two pretty girls" | EFTA00652301 | A2 |
| Mar 20, 2014 | "Ps - yes they were pretty " + meeting proposal |
EFTA00870758 | A2 |
| Apr 2, 2014 | Groff arranges 9 East 71st visit; Hill names Ellaina Astra | EFTA00371547/763 | A2 |
| Apr 8, 2014 | Hill + Ellaina Astra visit Epstein at 9 East 71st | EFTA00371547 | A2 |
| Jun 9, 2014 | Francesca Hall: "she was with us at little st james" — Ellaina Astra on Epstein's island | EFTA00368331 | A2 |
| Jul 2, 2014 | $500K wire: Southern Financial → Kyara III → Blockstream | EFTA01359553 | A1 |
| Jul 24, 2014 | Malta/Paris; "Adam and I" on Lawsky regs; "use my name with bobby" | EFTA01916008 | A2 |
| Aug 2, 2014 | Stellar/Blockstream conflict email cc'ing Hoffman + Epstein | EFTA01748990 | A2 |
| Aug 18, 2014 | Malta invitation; digital CDN dollar discussion | EFTA02395076 | A2 |
| Nov 6, 2015 | Brock Pierce forwards Blockstream Series A pro rata to Epstein/Kahn | EFTA02361144 | A2 |
| Jan 7, 2015 | NSA/encrypted comms; Gates Foundation blockchain; "Bill G. & Nathan M." (Nathan Myhrvold confirmed v8.0) | EFTA00867184 | A2 |
| Mar 18, 2015 | Hill asks Epstein to introduce him to Blythe Masters | EFTA01798503 | A2 |
| Mar 18, 2015 | [V8.0] Epstein: "of course" — confirms Blythe Masters introduction | EFTA02506580 | A2 |
| Jul 30, 2014 | [V8.0] Francesca Hall (sister-in-law) seeks Katzenberg intro via Epstein's network | EFTA00365689 | A2 |
| Sep 11, 2017 | Hill checks on Epstein's island post-hurricane | EFTA02358079 | A2 |
| Sep 12, 2017 | "Yo Plato" — encrypted video chat, surveillance evasion | EFTA00664899 | A2 |
| Oct 17, 2017 | Video chat link to jeevacation | EFTA02376706 | A2 |
| Oct 26, 2017 | Four Seasons Palm Beach — Epstein cancels sick | EFTA02228345 | A2 |
| Nov 14, 2017 | $75K retainer invoice — 6371621 CANADA INC. (BRUDDER VENTURES), Bank of Montreal | EFTA02229432 | A2 |
| Nov 14, 2017 | Epstein REJECTS $75K: "no." Kahn: "would not communicate anything further to austin" | EFTA02229846 | A2 |
| Nov 16, 2017 | Hill infosec email: "your history of having files discovered in investigations" | EFTA02566658 | A2 |
WHAT THIS SHOWS AND DOES NOT SHOW: The Austin Hill-Epstein relationship spanned March 2014 to at least November 2017 and involved: personal meetings at the Fairmont Pacific Rim (with "two pretty girls"), Epstein's Manhattan townhouse (with Ellaina Astra), Ellaina Astra at Little St. James island, attempted meetings at Four Seasons Palm Beach and in Malta/Paris; $500K in Blockstream investment via Kyara III; a $75,000 retainer invoice (rejected by Epstein) for an unnamed "project" to a Montreal-incorporated company; cryptocurrency regulatory consulting where Epstein offered his name for lobbying; Gates Foundation blockchain discussions; encrypted communications specifically to evade intelligence surveillance; and an infosec email explicitly referencing Epstein's "history of having files discovered in investigations." V8.0 adds: Francesca Hall identified as Hill's sister-in-law and Blockstream's "Calendar Queen," placing corporate Blockstream staff at Little St. James; Epstein confirmed "of course" to the Blythe Masters introduction; "Nathan M." confirmed as Nathan Myhrvold (former Microsoft CTO); the April 8, 2014 full schedule showing 10 appointments including Leon Black at lunch and "the girl Darren would like to hire"; and the appear.in encrypted platform found in 19+ documents across the corpus. The "pretty girls" exchange — while suggestive — does not document trafficking or coercion. However, Ellaina Astra's progression from Fairmont → 9 East 71st → Little St. James follows a documented pattern seen with other young women in the Epstein corpus.