Author | TaxDAO

With the rapid rise of the cryptocurrency market, regulatory risks represented by tax compliance have become increasingly prominent. In April 2024, Roger Ver, known as the "Bitcoin Jesus," was accused by the IRS of tax evasion amounting to $48 million and was arrested in Spain. For months, the progress of this case has kept the nerves of cryptocurrency industry practitioners on edge, further raising awareness of tax compliance within the crypto industry.

As Bitcoin surpassed $100,000, the "Bitcoin Jesus" case also saw new developments last week. Roger Ver's legal team filed a motion on December 4, 2024, requesting the court to dismiss the IRS's tax evasion charges against him. He is currently awaiting a decision on extradition to the U.S. from Spain. TaxDAO will review the "Bitcoin Jesus" case in this article and provide compliance advice regarding the associated tax risks.

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1. The Background of the Bitcoin Jesus Case

1.1 Who is Bitcoin Jesus?

Roger Ver was born in 1979 in Silicon Valley, USA, and is a well-known libertarian and anarchist. In 1999, while still in college, he founded Memory Dealers, a company primarily engaged in reselling computer parts. He later dropped out to run the company full-time and, with his keen business acumen, earned his first million dollars by the age of 24.

In 2011, Roger Ver began investing in Bitcoin and announced that his company, Memory Dealers, would accept Bitcoin payments, becoming the first company in the world to support Bitcoin payments. Since then, Roger Ver has continued to buy and receive large amounts of Bitcoin through his personal identity and his companies, becoming the CEO of Bitcoin.com and a founder of the Bitcoin Foundation. He actively promoted the application and value of Bitcoin, driving its early adoption and accumulating significant influence in the cryptocurrency space, earning him the title "Bitcoin Jesus" from the media and the crypto community.

1.2 Why Did the IRS Sue Bitcoin Jesus?

In 2014, Roger Ver obtained citizenship from Saint Kitts and Nevis and soon after renounced his U.S. citizenship. According to U.S. tax law, individuals who renounce their citizenship must fully report capital gains on their global assets, including their Bitcoin holdings and fair market value. The IRS believes that Roger Ver concealed and underreported the value of his personal assets before renouncing his citizenship and that after renouncing, he obtained and sold approximately 70,000 Bitcoins from a U.S.-based company he controlled, generating nearly $240 million in income, thereby evading at least $48 million in taxes owed.

In this regard, the IRS has made two main allegations: First, Roger Ver did not comply with exit tax regulations. When renouncing his U.S. citizenship, Roger Ver underreported the actual number of Bitcoins held by him and his controlled companies, concealing relevant transaction details and evading this tax obligation. Second, Roger Ver violated his tax obligations as a non-U.S. tax resident. After renouncing his U.S. citizenship, Roger Ver obtained and sold Bitcoin from his U.S.-based company in 2017, generating substantial income. Although Roger Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship, because his company is based in the U.S., he failed to report such income after transferring the Bitcoins held by the U.S. company to his name, thereby evading tax obligations.

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