Roger Ver, a prominent cryptocurrency investor, has reached a tentative agreement with the Justice Department to table a criminal tax fraud case that federal prosecutors brought against him last year, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Mr. Ver, 46, known as “Bitcoin Jesus” in crypto circles for his early evangelism, was charged by federal prosecutors in 2024 with fraud and tax evasion for failing to pay $48 million in taxes that he owed on his digital currency holdings. Under the terms of the deferred-prosecution agreement, Mr. Ver would pay about that much 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.
The case is poised to become the latest example of how the Trump administration has systematically dismantled a yearslong government crackdown on the crypto industry, a sector rife with fraud, scams and theft.
Like other beneficiaries of the rollback, Mr. Ver sought to curry favor with President Trump by linking his case to the president’s grievances about the weaponization of the justice system.
This year, Mr. Ver paid $600,000 to Roger Stone, a longtime associate of Mr. Trump, to try to abolish the tax provisions at the heart of the case. And the crypto investor hired David Schoen, a lawyer who represented Mr. Trump during his second impeachment trial. Lobbying filings show that Mr. Ver also hired Christopher M. Kise, a lawyer who defended Mr. Trump against various criminal and civil charges, as well as the lobbying firm run by Brian Ballard, a major Trump fund-raiser.
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The post Crypto Investor Known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Reaches Deal With Prosecutors appeared first on New York Times.
