Bitcoin

A California federal court is closer to dismissing the criminal indictment against Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver, known to many as “Bitcoin Jesus.”
In a Tuesday filing in the US District Court for the Central District of California, the US government filed a proposed order for Judge Michael Fitzgerald to dismiss Ver’s indictment without prejudice.
The government said it reached an agreement with Ver to pay $49.9 million and “all tax, penalties, and interest” on tax liabilities with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for his Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) holdings.
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The proposed dismissal came after the US government <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/roger-ver-tentative-agreement-us-doj-tax-charges-report" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">filed a deferred prosecution agreement</a> in September, laying out conditions for Ver to have his case dismissed. Ver admitted that he had been required to file a statement and pay taxes on certain crypto assets before renouncing his US citizenship in 2014.
The initial indictment, filed in April 2024, alleged that Ver falsely reported on tax forms related to about 131,000 BTC he controlled, worth $74 million in 2014. The US Justice Department said Ver attempted to evade paying taxes on his assets by renouncing his US citizenship and later becoming a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-treasury-relief-guidance-camt-senate-crypto-taxes-hearing" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">US Senate to hold hearing on crypto taxes as IRS offers relief on corporate tax</a>
“[A]s defendant admitted, when he filed his returns in May 2016, they did ‘not report ownership of all these bitcoins and did not report capital gains from the constructive sale of all of these bitcoins,’ causing a loss to the United States of $16,864,105,” said the Tuesday motion to dismiss.
<h2 id="some-crypto-users-are-still-betting-on-a-presidential-pardon">Some crypto users are still betting on a presidential pardon</h2>
Though the proposed motion to dismiss had yet to be approved by a federal judge at the time of this writing, the fact that it was unopposed by Ver’s lawyers and based on an agreement with prosecutors suggested that the criminal case is nearing an end.
Despite the Tuesday court development, bets on Ver receiving a pardon from US President Donald Trump <a href="https://polymarket.com/event/who-will-trump-pardon-in-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">remained</a> on prediction platforms Polymarket and Kalshi at the time of publication, offering 17% and 19% chances, respectively. Polymarket’s terms stated that the bet would only be resolved if Ver received “a presidential pardon, commutation, or reprieve from Donald Trump” by Dec. 31.
Ver <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/roger-ver-trump-pardon-lawfare" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">issued a public plea</a> to Trump in January amid his criminal case, claiming he was the victim of “lawfare.”
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/devil-takes-bitcoin-book-review-jake-adelstein/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Review: The Devil Takes Bitcoin, a wild history of Mt. Gox and Silk Road</a>

US moves to drop Bitcoin advocate Roger Ver’s tax case with $50M deal

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