Early Bitcoin investor and advocate Roger Ver is near settling tax fraud fees with the U.S. Division of Justice, the New York Instances reported Thursday.
Typically referred to as “Bitcoin Jesus” as a result of his early evangelization for the crypto, Ver was indicted final April and arrested in Spain on allegations he did not file tax returns on capital positive factors he made after promoting “tens of 1000’s” of bitcoins and giving up U.S. citizenship, the DOJ charged on the time. Ver fought his extradition to the U.S., submitting a lawsuit earlier this summer time.
In response to the Instances, the proposed settlement is topic to alter however would see Ver paying about $48 million for the taxes he allegedly owes. It has not but been filed to or authorised by the federal choose overseeing the case.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Division of Justice’s Los Angeles workplace, which filed the indictment, referred CoinDesk to the DOJ’s important workplaces in Washington, D.C. A spokesperson for the D.C. workplace didn’t instantly return a request for remark. Ver didn’t return a request for remark.
Ver advised the Instances he couldn’t remark.
The court docket docket exhibits there’s a listening to scheduled for Dec. 15, 2025.
Ver tapped Roger Stone, an affiliate of U.S. President Donald Trump, to foyer for his help in resolving the case, in accordance with a lobbying registration Stone filed earlier this yr.
Trump has pardoned quite a lot of different crypto figures since retaking workplace as president earlier this yr, together with Ross Ulbricht, Arthur Hayes and different founders of Bitmex — in addition to Bitmex itself, after the corporate beforehand pled responsible to violating the Financial institution Secrecy Act.
Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founding father of Binance, has utilized for a presidential pardon as properly, after serving 4 months in jail after his responsible plea tied to Binance’s anti-money laundering compliance.
