he bought bitcoin at $1 and nearly spent the rest of his life behind bars because of it.
79 years in prison. $48 million in taxes. he begged trump for a pardon and elon musk shut it down in public.
his name is roger ver, but crypto knows him as "bitcoin jesus"
in 2011, he started buying bitcoin at $1 a coin and became one of its earliest backers
by 2013, he was pushing bitcoin so hard that cnbc started calling him "bitcoin jesus"
in march 2014, he gave up his us citizenship after getting a passport from saint kitts and nevis
at that point, he and his companies were holding 131,000 btc worth $114 million
here's the catch. wealthy americans who renounce their citizenship can owe an exit tax on gains they haven't even cashed out
us prosecutors say ver hid his bitcoin from his own tax advisers to avoid paying millions
in november 2017, companies linked to him sold tens of thousands of btc for $240 million
on april 23, 2024, he was arrested in barcelona on an eight count us indictment
he walked out on €150,000 bail and spent the next months fighting extradition from spain
in january 2025, he went straight to donald trump for a presidential pardon
he sat down with tucker carlson and paid roger stone $600,000 to lobby for him
elon musk wasn't having it:
"roger ver gave up his us citizenship. no pardon for ver."
then on october 14, 2025, ver struck a deal with the doj and paid $49.9 million in taxes
spain closed the extradition case, gave him back his passport and refunded his €150,000 bail
and he never got the pardon.