‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver Agrees to Pay $48 Million to End US Tax Fraud Case: NYT

The crypto entrepreneur Roger Ver, originally known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” has reached a tentative agreement with the Justice Department that could result in his criminal case being dropped, according to a report.

A Thursday report by The New York Times cited two people familiar with the matter, who said that the 46-year-old Ver had agreed to pay $48 million to end a tax fraud case.

When reached by Decrypt following the report, Ver refused to comment. His legal team did not immediately respond to emails.

Spanish police last year arrested Ver in Spain after U.S. authorities ordered his arrest, alleging that he sold Bitcoin in 2017 but had not informed the IRS about the gains he had made.

The DOJ’s indictment alleged that Ver and his companies hid from the authorities that they owned 131,000 Bitcoin back in 2014. 

When Ver then sold the Bitcoin in 2017, he allegedly did not inform the IRS about the gains he had made, despite the fact that the Bitcoin was held by U.S. corporations he was in charge of: MemoryDealers and Agilestar.

Ver and his allies last year launched a campaign to try and get President Donald Trump’s attention to throw out the case. Since the president took office, a number of lawsuits have been scrapped against digital asset companies, and crypto bigwigs have been pardoned.

The U.S. Justice Department did not immediately respond to Decrypt‘s questions. 

Ver earned the name “Bitcoin Jesus” because he used to give away the cryptocurrency for free when it was worth next to nothing, and heavily invested in the industry’s earliest companies.

But Ver switched to promoting Bitcoin spinoff Bitcoin Cash, which is now the 23rd-biggest digital asset with a market cap dramatically lower than the actual Bitcoin (BTC).

Ver has since claimed Bitcoin Cash is the “real” Bitcoin, and has clashed with traditional Bitcoin maximalists with his aggressive marketing on the way.

Ver, who served prison time in 2002 for selling explosives on eBay, renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2014 and became a citizen of tax haven St. Kitts and Nevis.

Editor’s note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.