Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver, known to many in the crypto industry as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has reportedly reached a deal with the US Department of Justice that could allow him to avoid prison time.
According to a Thursday New York Times report, Ver’s lawyers reached a tentative agreement with US authorities that would require the Bitcoin (BTC) advocate to pay $48 million in taxes he owed from his crypto holdings. The Justice Department charged Ver with mail fraud and tax evasion in April 2024, seeking to extradite him from Spain to stand trial.
The New York Times reported that Ver has ties with figures connected to the administration of US President Donald Trump, including hiring lawyers who previously worked for the president. He also reportedly paid $600,000 to political consultant Roger Stone, a Trump adviser, to lobby for changes to US tax laws.
The reported deal followed a series of regulatory and legal actions under the Trump administration softening on legal cases involving digital assets. At the time of publication, the tentative agreement did not appear on the public docket for Ver’s case in the US District Court for the Central District of California.
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The initial indictment alleges that Ver falsely reported on tax forms related to his crypto holdings. He and two of his companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar, allegedly held about 131,000 BTC in 2014. The DOJ said he attempted to evade paying taxes on his assets by renouncing his US citizenship and later becoming a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Even though Ver was not then a US citizen, he was still legally required to report to the IRS and pay tax on certain distributions,” said the Justice Department in April 2024.
Spanish authorities arrested Ver after his US indictment in 2024, but he posted bail in a matter of days. Since that time, Ver’s lawyers have been challenging Spanish authorities attempting to extradite him to the US and fighting the charges in federal court.
Seeking a presidential pardon
After Trump won reelection in 2024, many crypto users speculated that the president might issue a pardon for Ver.
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road and one of the first individuals to receive a pardon from Trump, called for leniency in Ver’s case. “No one should spend the rest of their life in prison over taxes,” said Ulbricht in February. “Let him pay the tax (if any) and be done with it.”
As of Thursday, Ver’s X profile linked users to a petition for Trump to pardon him. His website also had an open letter asking the US government to end the prosecution, claiming it was a “retaliatory action” for his advocacy of Bitcoin.
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