The U.S. Department of Justice has recently indicted Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin adopter, on charges of tax evasion. Authorities in Spain have taken Ver into custody following the indictment’s exposure. Known colloquially as “Bitcoin Jesus,” Ver began his involvement with Bitcoin in 2011, investing his own funds as well as those from his two companies.
Ver expatriated and renounced his U.S. citizenship in February 2014, opting for citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis. Despite this, he still had obligations under U.S. law to report capital gains from his Bitcoin holdings and to disclose the fair market value of his assets. His personal Bitcoin ownership amounted to about 131,000 units, with an additional 73,000 held through his companies, MemoryDealers.com Inc. and Agilestar.com Inc., both of which are U.S.-based and thus subject to U.S. laws.
In 2017, Ver reportedly sold several thousand Bitcoin, generating around $240 million. However, according to DOJ prosecutors, he failed to pay the required capital gains or exit taxes. This evasion occurred despite the fact that he was no longer a U.S. citizen but was still subject to certain U.S. tax obligations.
Legal Challenges and Allegations
The indictment details that Ver was required to report distributions such as company dividends from MemoryDealers and Agilestar. Instead, he allegedly concealed these accounts from the IRS and obscured the proceeds from his 2017 Bitcoin sales. The estimated tax liability from these actions exceeds $48 million.
The U.S. government now intends to extradite Ver from Europe to face prosecution stateside. His role as a significant advocate for Bitcoin in its formative years and his later position as CEO of Bitcoin.com, a pioneering platform for storing and trading Bitcoin, highlight his influence in the cryptocurrency sphere. The unfolding legal case against Ver underscores the ongoing issues of tax compliance within the cryptocurrency industry.