Details About Roger Ver’s Case: The Bitcoin Investor Spoke Out
Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor and author of Bitcoin Hijacking, known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” is facing 109 years in prison. He’s charged with $50 million in tax evasion and fraud but claims the prosecution is politically motivated.
On this page
- Charges Against Roger Ver
- Is Roger Ver a Victim of Political Prosecution
- The #FreeRoger Movement
- Not Everyone Is Convinced by Roger’s Story, Though
- Polymarket Users Bet on Whether Trump Will Pardon Roger Ver
- FAQ
- Who Is Roger Ver?
- Why Did Roger Ver Get Arrested?
- Is Roger Ver’s Prosecution Politically Motivated?
- What Did Roger Ver Reveal During Tucker Carlson’s Interview?
Currently out on bail in Spain, Ver is awaiting possible extradition to the US to face trial scheduled for February 3, 2025. In a December 10, 2024, interview with Tucker Carlson, Ver spoke out about the details of his arrest.
He argues the government is targeting him not for alleged tax evasion but as an attempt to silence his advocacy for crypto.
Charges Against Roger Ver
A little background: On April 30, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced tax fraud charges against Roger Ver. According to the allegations, the Bitcoin investor evaded nearly $50 million in taxes by purchasing coins since 2011, trading them on exchanges, and concealing the true number of coins owned by him and his companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar.
In 2014, Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship and became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis. The DoJ alleges that by November 2017, he sold tens of thousands of bitcoins on crypto exchanges for around $240 million in cash.
Even though Ver was not then a U.S. citizen, he was still legally required to report to the IRS and pay tax on certain distributions such as dividends from MemoryDealers and Agilestar, which were U.S. corporations.
The day after the DoJ's claims, on May 1, Ver was arrested in Barcelona, Spain. On May 17, he was released after posting €150,000 ($163,000) in bail, with the condition to remain in Spain.
Ver denies the charges, and his legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, citing government overreach.
Is Roger Ver a Victim of Political Prosecution
Talking about the potential of lifetime imprisonment in an interview with Tucker Carlson, Ver revealed that there may be hidden reasons behind his arrest.
“I don’t think they’re really angry about taxes at all,” Ver said. “I think they’re just angry about my lack of obedience and my refusal to kiss their ring.”
As a reason for the government’s allegations, Ver mentioned being an early investor and advocate of Bitcoin, encouraging people to replace fiat with BTC since 2011. According to him, the government didn’t like this because Bitcoin threatens their control over the money supply.
Ver said he understood it might be dangerous to go against the government and promote Bitcoin, so he decided to change his citizenship. He added that he does his best to obey laws and assures that his tax attorneys do everything perfectly.
Roger Ver believes his arrest is connected to his book Hijacking Bitcoin, released in early April. In the book, he expressed the opinion that BTC no longer works as pure peer-to-peer electronic money and that U.S. agencies worked secretly to stifle the potential of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
According to Ver, these words and his support of the crypto industry made the government so upset that they decided to put him in jail for the rest of his life.
The #FreeRoger Movement
Roger Ver’s supporters, who believe the prosecution is unjust, can sign the open letter to free him at freerogernow.com. As of December 20, 2024, the letter has gained 17,617 signatures, surpassing the targeted 20,000.
Among the crypto community members supporting Roger is Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson, who said in an X broadcast that he believes the government is targeting Ver for more taxes than “the already enormous amount of taxes that he’s already paid.”
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1LyGBgQpAejJN
Not Everyone Is Convinced by Roger’s Story, Though
Some crypto community members argue that Ver’s case is connected to his Bitcoin advocacy. They also point out that Ver is more of a supporter of Bitcoin Cash, a fork of Bitcoin launched in 2017.
Related: Blockchain hard fork: why split the network into two chains?
At the time, debates arose over Bitcoin’s scaling issues and how to address them. Ver and other developers supported a proposal to increase Bitcoin’s block size, which led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash. They argue that the original vision for Bitcoin was to serve as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, emphasizing low transaction fees and scalability for everyday transactions. However, this view is controversial, as many within the broader cryptocurrency community consider Bitcoin (BTC) to be the true version of Bitcoin, due to its larger network effect, security, and widespread adoption.
Referring to the allegations against Ver, Jameson Lopp, the co-founder of self-custody Bitcoin solution Casa, wrote:
Amusing to see Roger Ver still playing the victim card 7 years after failing to convince the world that Bitcoin Cash was the real Bitcoin.
Polymarket Users Bet on Whether Trump Will Pardon Roger Ver
The potential harsh sentence against Ver has sparked discussions, including speculation about the possibility that former President Donald Trump might intervene and lift the charges against him.In a Polymarket poll, “Who will Trump pardon in the first 100 days?” 35% of users voted for Roger Ver.
Who will Trump pardon in the first 100 days? Source: polymarket.com
Related: Polymarket: The Cryptocurrency Prediction Platform
That said, these are just speculations. Meanwhile, a Spanish judge is yet to decide whether Ver will be extradited to the U.S., and it’s hard to predict how the trial will unfold.
FAQ
- Who Is Roger Ver?
Roger Ver is an early investor in Bitcoin and a prominent advocate for cryptocurrencies. He is often referred to as “Bitcoin Jesus” for his efforts in promoting Bitcoin. Ver later became a key figure in the creation and support of Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
- Why Did Roger Ver Get Arrested?
Roger Ver was arrested in 2024, facing charges of tax evasion and fraud, amounting to $50 million. He is accused of being involved in financial misconduct, but Ver argues that the charges are politically motivated due to his outspoken advocacy for cryptocurrency.
- Is Roger Ver’s Prosecution Politically Motivated?
Ver believes his prosecution is politically motivated, claiming the charges are not about tax evasion but an attempt to silence him for revealing the truth about Bitcoin and how U.S. agencies tried to gain control over it in his book Hijacking Bitcoin. However, not everyone is convinced that his arrest is connected to the book's publication.
- What Did Roger Ver Reveal During Tucker Carlson’s Interview?
In his interview with Tucker Carlson, Roger Ver discussed the details of his arrest and his belief that the government is targeting him because of his crypto advocacy. He also maintained that the prosecution is a politically driven attack on his support for decentralized digital currencies.
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