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The Roger Ver indictment has officially come to an end after years of legal back and forth between the early Bitcoin investor and U.S. authorities. Roger Ver, famously dubbed “Bitcoin Jesus” for his early evangelism of cryptocurrency, reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) agreeing to pay nearly $50 million in back taxes, penalties and interest to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to the DOJ, the Roger Ver indictment was resolved through a deferred prosecution agreement under which Ver admitted he willfully failed to report his Bitcoin holdings when he renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2014. Prosecutors claimed this omission caused a $16.9 million loss to the government.
With the settlement finalized, the DOJ has dropped the criminal charges tied to the Roger Ver indictment.
“Mr. Ver is accepting responsibility for his actions and has agreed to pay a substantial penalty,” Said Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli in a statement released on Tuesday.
Ver, who became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014 was arrested in Spain last year and later extradited to the United States. His case was handled by the IRS Criminal Investigation Cyber Crimes Unit, which specializes in tax evasion involving digital assets. The Roger Ver indictment had been closely watched across the crypto world due to Ver’s long standing reputation as one of Bitcoin’s earliest and most influential promoters.
Reports earlier this month indicated that Ver and the DOJ were close to finalizing a resolution to the $48 million tax evasion case. The conclusion of the Roger Ver indictment coincided with heightened political speculation surrounding potential pardons from Donald Trump. On prediction platform Polymarket odds of a Trump pardon for Ver surged to 50% before falling back to around 13% after the DOJ’s settlement announcement.
Throughout the Roger Ver indictment Ver appeared to leverage political connections to influence his legal outcome. He reportedly paid $600,000 to Trump ally Roger Stone to lobby against certain tax provisions linked to his case. Lobbying records also show Ver retained attorneys Christopher Kise and Brian Ballard, both with strong ties to Trump’s political network.
Prosecutors said the Roger Ver indictment stemmed from his deliberate concealment of Bitcoin assets when he renounced his citizenship. Under U.S. tax law, citizens who expatriate must pay an “exit tax” on all global assets including cryptocurrency. Authorities alleged that by hiding his crypto wealth Ver deprived the U.S. of millions in taxes owed at the time.
In a related development, the White House is reportedly considering a presidential pardon for Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. According to reports from the New York Post and Fox Business journalist Charles Gasparino, Trump is “leaning toward a pardon,” even as advisors express concern over potential backlash.
Zhao who pleaded guilty in November 2023 to failing to implement sufficient anti-money laundering controls at Binance stepped down as CEO following his plea.
The potential pardon has drawn strong criticism from lawmakers such as Senator Elizabeth Warren who sent a letter to the White House Counsel’s Office warning that granting clemency in the Zhao or Roger Ver indictment cases could undermine public trust in the justice system.
As the Roger Ver indictment officially closes, it highlights a growing intersection between cryptocurrency, regulation and political influence in the United States where blockchain pioneers increasingly find themselves at the center of both financial innovation and federal scrutiny.
