Under Trump, ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ May Be Redeemed

Ever since the crypto industry helped bankroll his presidential campaign last year, Trump and the HODLers have been on pretty good terms. The Trump family is busy launching its own crypto ventures while, in the White House, PayPal mafia alumni David Sacks has become the government’s first “crypto czar.” Under Trump, the crypto industry has also been enjoying an easing of regulatory and legal scrutiny. In some cases, investigations that were begun under Biden are fizzling out under the Donald. The New York Times now claims that Roger Ver, the former CEO of Bitcoin.com, who was accused of tax evasion last year, may have reached a settlement with the government that avoids prosecution.

Ver, who is also known by the moniker “Bitcoin Jesus” due to the religious fervor with which he has preached the good word of crypto, ran afoul of federal prosecutors last year over claims that he had failed to pay $48 million in taxes related to his crypto assets. The government said the unpaid taxes were part of an expatriation process that Ver had begun in 2014 when he renounced his citizenship and decided to live abroad (if you expatriate from the U.S., you may be required to pay taxes on certain assets). The government subsequently charged Ver with fraud and tax evasion, and he was arrested in Spain last February.

Now, however, it appears that Ver may have reached a payout plan that avoids prosecution. The Times reports:

Under the terms of the deferred-prosecution agreement, Mr. Ver would pay about that much [$48 million] to the government, said the people, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal. Under the deal, which has not been filed with the court and could still change, the charges would eventually be dropped if Mr. Ver complied with the terms of the agreement.

That’s really good news for Ver because, earlier this year, it was reported that Ver was facing a possible 109-year prison sentence over the case. Now, according to the Times report, that could all go away if the crypto mogul pays back the money he’s accused of withholding. Gizmodo reached out to the Trump administration and the Justice Department for confirmation of the details. An attorney who lists Ver as a client on his website was also reached for comment.

It’s unclear whether Ver’s personal appeal to Trump may have had anything to do with this supposed development. Indeed, in January, Ver posted a video online in which he asked Trump to save him from his legal predicament. “Mr. President, I am an American, and I need your help,” Ver posted on X. “Only you, with your commitment to justice, can save me,” he said, claiming that he had become a “victim of lawfare”—a claim that the president, himself, had made about his own legal issues.