‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver’s legal team moves to dismiss indictment

Popular Bitcoin influencer Roger Ver, known as “Bitcoin Jesus” for his 700,000 X followers, was arrested in February while attending a crypto conference in Barcelona. 's digital asset industry has been abuzz with social media posts and comments from leading voices in the industry criticizing Bitcoin. This serves as another example of the Biden administration's “war on cryptocurrencies.”

Ver's arrest comes after the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California accused him of failing to pay nearly $50 million in taxes and understating the value of roughly $240 million worth of Bitcoin he sold in 2017. This was done after eight criminal charges against him were dismissed. When he renounced his citizenship and left the United States for the Caribbean island of St. Kitts in 2014, his Bitcoin holdings were completely reduced. Nevis.

Lawyers for Ver. 45, an early adopter and promoter of Bitcoin who has publicly criticized the U.S. government's approach to cryptocurrency regulation, say the Justice Department's indictment is purely political and clear that He said this is another example of Biden administration officials using enforcement to regulate the sector without providing detailed information. rules of the road.

Now Ver and his lawyers are fighting back. His legal team, comprised of attorneys from Steptoe LLP and Kimura, London & White, dismissed the charges Tuesday, citing unconstitutional government overreach and misleading evidence. filed a complaint. Officials from his legal team are hopeful that the crypto-friendly Trump administration will drop the case as part of the president-elect's promise to end regulatory attacks on the industry.

SEC Chief Supports President Trump's Plan to End Cryptocurrency Crackdown

Officials from Mr. Ver's legal team are hopeful that the crypto-friendly Trump administration will drop the lawsuit as part of the president-elect's pledge to end regulatory attacks on the industry. (James Devaney/GC Image | istock)

“I always knew that once I left the country, I would become a political target for the IRS and law enforcement,” Barr said in an exclusive statement to FOX Business. “That's why I made sure to hire the most reputable lawyers and accountants and gave them clear instructions to submit everything perfectly so that when the inevitable audit comes, there won't be any problems.” Probably not. But, of course, the IRS found a way to accomplish that anyway.” ”

Mr. Barr is an American entrepreneur who ran for California State Assembly as a liberal in 2000. His nickname, “Bitcoin Jesus” dates back to 2011 and is the result of his early investment and promotion of the world's largest digital asset, which now trades at nearly $100,000 per token and is the result of a worldwide He was giving away Bitcoin for free when it was being traded everywhere. From $0.31 to $31 per coin.

He is also an early investor in several crypto startups, including Ripple Labs, Blockchain.com, Bitcoin.com (which he founded and served as CEO), and provided seeds to start BitPay and Kraken. provided money. He immigrated to Japan in 2006, renounced his US citizenship in late 2014, and eventually became a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He was arrested by Spanish police on the orders of US authorities earlier this year while traveling to Barcelona to attend an international conference. The crypto conference focused on privacy blockchain, a specialized blockchain network designed to enhance user privacy. Around that time, he was also promoting the release of his new book, Hijacking Bitcoin: The Hidden History of BTC, which discusses how government control and regulation has tainted the cryptocurrency landscape. He is currently on bail in Spain, awaiting possible extradition to the United States for a February 3, 2025 court date.

Roger Ver holds his passport as he poses for a photo in Tokyo's Shibuya district on June 4, 2014. (Tomohiro Osumi/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Barr's lawyers and many others in the broader cryptocurrency industry have said that Barr's public criticism of the U.S. government may have been part of the reason for the charges. Barr told FOX Business that by disclosing his communications with lawyers and the basis of the lawsuit involving taxes on his tax returns, he was not trying to ignore the law in hopes of receiving an eventual pardon. He said he wanted to show it to the Trump administration. When he takes office in January, he will be the next president who is friendly to cryptocurrencies.

Trump administrator focuses on CFTC to lead digital asset regulation

In an email exchange included in the April 2013 filing, Barr said: “I want to pay my departure tax as cleanly as possible so there is no room for problems with the IRS in the future.” told the lawyer.

January 3, 2024, International Revenue Agency Headquarters Building, Washington, DC (J. David Eyck/Getty Images/Getty Images)

The government alleges in its complaint that in 2014, Ver “intentionally reduced the fair market value” of two businesses, Memory Dealers US and Agile Star, a tech company that was one of the first companies to accept Bitcoin as a payment method. It alleges that there was “under-reporting.” You will have to pay a higher so-called “exit tax.” Such taxes require individuals to pay a surcharge on unrealized capital gains or income earned while they are still citizens. The indictment also alleges that Barr intentionally failed to report the capital gains he made when he closed these businesses and sold the Bitcoin in 2017.

In a motion to dismiss, Mr. Ver's current defense team alleges that Justice Department officials improperly disclosed privileged attorney-client communications that led to Mr. Ver's arrest while selectively withholding critical information. It alleges that the government violated Mr. Va's fundamental rights to fairness and due process because he may have obtained the information. A grand jury might have acquitted him if given the full context. Additionally, they argue that the exit tax requirement ignores core constitutional protections for American citizens who wish to move abroad. These arguments, combined with the argument that the tax laws surrounding digital assets were (and remain) opaque, despite Mr. Ver's attempts to comply, justify the dismissal of the charges.

Representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Office in central California had no immediate comment.

Mr. Ver relied on the professional advice of a law firm (referred to in the application as Law Firm 1), which at the time was operating within the limited and opaque guidance available to the nascent digital asset industry. He claims he was addicted. In fact, the IRS did not provide updated guidance on taxing virtual assets until after Mr. Barr left the United States in 2014, suggesting that virtual assets should be treated as property rather than currency and therefore subject to capital gains tax. was not issued.

In their motion to dismiss, Mr. Ver's lawyers argue that his hiring an attorney will help him prove that he tried in good faith to comply with the law.

According to communications provided in the new complaint, the market at the time was so small (Bitcoin was trading between $450 and $600 per coin) that Ver's lawyers wanted to sell large amounts of assets at once. It has been shown that he thought the price of Bitcoin may have fallen due to the sale. Emails between Mr. Vah and his attorney included in the new filing say conflicts have arisen that make it difficult to determine a realistic value. To address this, Mr. Ver's advisors decided to conduct a third-party analysis of his holdings in order to take into account the low trading volume and establish a more reasonable valuation than the daily price of Bitcoin at the time. I suggested that they be evaluated by someone else.

CLICK HERE TO GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO

Mr. Barr was advised by his lawyer that his U.S. tax liability for assets before moving abroad ended when he left the country in 2014 and paid exit tax, so if he sold his Bitcoin assets in 2017, he would not be subject to capital gains tax. He said he was advised that there was no obligation to pay.

The motion to dismiss, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, comes as the incoming administration has signaled it will be far more crypto-friendly than the outgoing administration, but lawyers say He says he's fairly optimistic about the prospects of Barr's case. eligible for dismissal.

“The Trump administration will inherit the severe economic, political, and regulatory costs of the Biden administration’s crypto wars. “There will be revocations, pardons and dismissals.” Civil rights attorney Robert Burns has represented Wesley Snipes, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Ralph Nader, and is currently defending Ver. “Few actions send a more powerful message in this regard than forgiving Bitcoin Jesus.”

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, the nation's highest criminal court, said last month that under the new administration, there will be fewer crypto cases other than fraud and manipulation, and more emphasis will be placed on other priorities. Immigration law enforcement, etc. Trump appointed former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton. During his tenure, he oversaw more than 50 enforcement actions against the crypto industry and went on to become an advisor to various crypto-related entities, including custodian platform Fireblocks and investment firm One River.