Another alleged cryptocurrency criminal is set to end a legal battle with the US government. Roger Ver, an early crypto evangelist nicknamed “Bitcoin Jesus,” entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department on Tuesday, according to a court filing. In exchange for $49.9 million from Ver, prosecutors decided not to pursue federal charges against the top crypto investor for tax evasion.
Ver was a prominent figure in the early days of cryptography and earned the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus” for his habit of giving Bitcoin to random people he met. In 2011, he began investing in cryptocurrency, according to the original indictment, and by March 2014, he controlled more than 130,664 Bitcoins, worth more than $14.75 billion at current prices. The same year, he renounced his American citizenship after becoming a citizen of the Caribbean nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Although he had to pay an exit tax on all his holdings by renouncing his citizenship, Ver never paid taxes on his Bitcoin, he admitted in the deferred prosecution agreement. The capital gains tax he owed on his cryptocurrency hoard was nearly $17 million, prosecutors said. The nearly $50 million settlement he reached with the DOJ includes not only his tax liability, but also a civil penalty and unpaid interest.
Neither Ver’s lawyers nor DOJ spokespeople immediately responded to a request for comment. THE New York Times first reported on Ver’s settlement last week before prosecutors submitted Tuesday’s court filing.
“This resolution sends a clear message that whether you deal in dollars or digital assets, you must file accurate tax returns and pay what you owe,” Associate Deputy Attorney General Ketan Bhirud said in a statement.
Crypto crime
Ver’s deal with the DOJ is the latest sign of President Donald Trump’s retreat from crypto crime during his second term.
Shortly after taking office in January, the president pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, an online black market for drugs and other illicit substances. Ulbricht was a cause celebre among libertarians for his creation of an online marketplace where anyone could buy anything. He was also a legendary figure in crypto, as Silk Road, which required users to pay in Bitcoin, helped propel cryptocurrency into the mainstream.
After pardoning Ulbricht, the Trump administration further signaled its lax stance on cryptocurrency enforcement by disbanding the DOJ’s Cryptography Unit, or NCET, the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, in April.
Now Changpeng Zhao, founder of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, is reportedly lobbying the Trump administration for a pardon of his own. In 2023, the crypto mogul reached a settlement with the DOJ and pleaded guilty to failing to maintain a proper anti-money laundering system. He served four months in prison but still has a criminal record in the United States.
Updated, October 14, 2025: This article has been updated to include a comment from the DOJ.
