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President Donald Trump

Early Bitcoin adopter Roger Ver has launched a social media campaign pleading with US President Donald Trump to pardon his tax evasion and mail fraud charges, claiming he is the victim of “lawfare” — just like recently pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and Trump himself.
Currently awaiting extradition to the US, Ver <a href="https://x.com/rogerkver/status/1883521344341750175" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">says</a> he faces “109 years” behind bars for crimes he says he didn’t commit. In his view, US authorities unjustly pursued him.
However, crypto proponents appear divided over whether Ver deserves a pardon. Some argue he did commit these crimes and that <a href="https://x.com/rogerkver/status/1883521344341750175" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">his character</a> is what makes him worthy of the sheer size of the punishment.
“No one deserves to spend life in prison for tax evasion,” one X user <a href="https://x.com/DeathCabToQE/status/1881455449092050998" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">wrote</a>. “But Roger has definitely earned it.”
Tesla founder Elon Musk feels that Ver’s denouncement of his US citizenship makes him unworthy of a pardon. “Roger Ver gave up his US citizenship. No pardon for Ver,” he <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1883408063694254415" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">posted</a> on Jan. 26. In the moments that followed, the Bitcoin Cash (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-cash-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">BCH</a>) founder’s odds of a pardon plummeted on prediction market <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/trump-pardons" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Polymarket</a>.
Since then, Ver has released several <a href="https://x.com/rogerkver/status/1883872905433579941" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">videos</a> maintaining his innocence and calling upon Trump to pardon him, creating a fierce divide between his supporters and those who feel that Ver’s claims are all for show.<iframe width="100%" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YzTnKTTyTko?start=" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen loading="lazy" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-forms"></iframe>
<h2 id="roger-ver-and-the-case-for-lawfare">Roger Ver and the case for lawfare&nbsp;</h2>
Ver’s Jan. 26 video features dramatized scenes of police sirens, American flags and Ver pining for America from a Spanish apartment. The so-called “Bitcoin Jesus” says he was “born an American. I am an American. And I will die as an American.”
But he isn’t an American, at least not on paper.
Ver renounced his US citizenship in 2014 for a St. Kitts and Nevis passport, citing ideological concerns with the American government.
High-net-worth individuals who give up their US citizenship are subject to a so-called “exit tax” on the value of their assets and businesses. Ver, with his substantial Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">BTC</a>) holdings and businesses, met this threshold.
According to the US Treasury Department, which <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/early-bitcoin-investor-charged-tax-fraud" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">filed</a> a complaint against him in 2024, Ver allegedly undervalued his assets so as to incur a lesser tax penalty. In doing so, he has been accused of attempting to commit tax and mail fraud. The Treasury also claims that firms he owned and operated within the United States, even after leaving, did not pay proper tax.
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 <img alt="Roger Ver, Donald Trump, Features" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-01/0194ade4-1345-7504-95b9-540c0de04a25" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://x.com/rogerkver/status/1883521344341750175" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Roger Ver</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
In a second <a href="https://x.com/rogerkver/status/1883872905433579941" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">video</a>, which he released on Jan. 27, Ver claims that the case is not a matter of tax fraud but of political and ideological persecution perpetrated by agents of the US government.
He contends that “lawfare” is to blame for the current charges against him and his past stint in federal prison, and that it’s even the true reason behind his expatriation a decade ago.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/roger-ver-tax-fraud-charges" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">US Justice Dept charges Roger Ver with tax fraud</a>
Ver asserts that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) developed a personal vendetta against him after he criticized the ATF and FBI for the bloody Waco siege against the Branch Davidians in 1993. Per Ver, this led the ATF to pursue a 10-month federal prison term for his <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150213142114/http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/press-releases/2002/verPlea.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">selling</a> fireworks without a license.
Fear over further persecution from government officials — i.e., lawfare — led Ver to renounce his citizenship and seek to move abroad.
Ver spent the following years as an outspoken crypto advocate. Bitcoin’s ability to facilitate transactions with no central intermediary, and Ver’s eagerness to evangelize it far and wide, once again grabbed the attention of the government, who wished to suppress these findings, he claims.
He said:
<blockquote>
 “I knew it when I began promoting Bitcoin that this is something so powerful to the existing power structures that they’ll do whatever they can to stop it or shut it down. I couldn’t be quiet any longer. I had to speak out.”
</blockquote>
Ver’s Bitcoin advocacy, he contends, once again made him a target, this time under the guise of the tax and mail fraud charges against him.
The timing and nature of Ver’s plea coincide with President Trump commuting Ulbricht’s sentence. In numerous replies to his videos on X, Ver’s supporters drew comparisons between him and Ulbricht, saying that if Trump is serious about doing justice to victims of government overreach, he will pardon Ver.
But while the “Free Ross” and “Free Roger” campaigns may look similar at first glance, there are important differences.
<h2 id="ver-does-not-an-ulbricht-make">Ver does not an Ulbricht make</h2>
By the time Trump pardoned him, Ulbricht had already spent a decade of a life sentence in prison. The stakes were high.
Ver, by contrast, has not yet been extradited to the United States and hasn’t seen his first day in court. The 109-year figure claimed by Ver’s PR team — if it is to be believed — appears to be the maximum sentence he could face if found guilty on all counts. Sentencing wouldn’t occur until the conclusion of the trial, and only if Ver is convicted.
Ulbricht also had support from outside the relatively small crypto community. His case was part of the US’ wildly unpopular drug policy. Decriminalization efforts are becoming more common, and public support for strict prohibitions in the United States — the world’s most <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/drug-use-by-country" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">drug-using</a> nation — is <a href="https://www.aclu.org/documents/poll-results-american-attitudes-toward-war-drugs" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">eroding</a>.&nbsp;
<figure>
 <img alt="Roger Ver, Donald Trump, Features" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-01/0194ade6-4909-7fd3-bf01-0f3629436267" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://x.com/FreeRogerVer/status/1870471560450003043" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Free Roger Ver</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/roger-ver-files-dismiss-us-tax-charges-unconstitutional" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">Roger Ver moves to dismiss US tax evasion charges as ‘unconstitutional’</a>
Further comparisons to Ulbricht ring hollow when one considers that Ulbricht has made public statements of remorse regarding his time running Silk Road. Ver, conversely, seems intent on denying any wrongdoing, going so far as to blame the entire US government for his problems.
The lawfare argument also falls flat if one considers that Ver could likely avoid going to prison by simply cutting a check.
According to Bitcoin advocate and Casa wallet founder Jameson Lopp, Ver likely <a href="https://x.com/lopp/status/1883857620932403549" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">had</a> ample opportunity to settle with the IRS, which “prefers to profit rather than put people in prison.” He noted that MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor recently <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/microstrategy-michael-saylor-40m-tax-settlement" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">settled with the IRS for $40 million</a> just so he could “move on with his life.”
Ver could be refusing to pay simply out of principle. He previously <a href="https://x.com/rogerkver/status/1122158924000444416" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">said</a> people should “never willingly cooperate with a government investigation.”
Lopp <a href="https://x.com/lopp/status/1883857620932403549" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">suggested</a> that maybe Ver just doesn’t have the cash:
<blockquote>
 “Why would someone who by all accounts ought to be a billionaire refuse to pay such a relatively small amount in order to stay out of prison? Perhaps it's because he is unable to do so.”
</blockquote>
<h2 id="what-are-ver-s-chances-of-getting-a-pardon">What are Ver’s chances of getting a pardon?</h2>
The merits or shortcomings of Ver’s argument aside, even some of his critics don’t want to see him put away in prison for the rest of his life.
Bitcoin developer James O’Beirne <a href="https://x.com/jamesob/status/1868403110701351076" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">wrote</a>, “I remember thinking he was goofy during the blocksize wars, but people talk about him as though he did something egregious. If so, what?”
<blockquote>
 “Does bitcoin not owe him a lot?”
</blockquote>
The X page for BitMEX Research <a href="https://x.com/BitMEXResearch/status/1868609689476309245" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">noted</a> that he has made several contributions to the crypto space, albeit after offering a list of his supposed past transgressions.
Lopp, who called Ver’s story a “political persecution ploy,” <a href="https://x.com/lopp/status/1883865775351738791" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">said</a> he hopes Ver beats the case, “But I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Indeed, betting markets like Polymarket don’t seem convinced Ver will get a pardon. At publishing time, the market <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/trump-pardons" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null">puts</a> him at just a 14% chance of getting a pardon in Trump’s first 100 days.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/roger-vers-next-life-cryonics-meets-crypto/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Roger Ver’s next life: Cryonics meets crypto</a>

Roger Ver’s Trump pardon plea: ‘Lawfare’ victim or tax evader?

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