Trump pardons Bitmex founder, “Bitcoin yes” Roger Ver next?

Vitalik Buterin, Ross Ulbricht, and Tucker Carlson are among those urging President Donald Trump to forgive Bitcoin Yes, aka Roger Ver.

Known as Bitcoin Yes for his early defense of Bitcoin, Ver faces up to 109 years in prison on tax charges, including allegations that he avoided $48 million in tax. Despite waiving US citizenship in 2014 to avoid prosecution, Ver’s legal issues resurfaced when he was arrested in Spain in 2024. Will there be amnesty along the way, or will the legal issues of the Ver continue?

Take a closer look.

Cryptography

After Trump accepted cryptocurrency, many crypto leaders came together to support him by donating funds to his inauguration and hobnobbing with glass.

Trump was also celebrated by industry brass.

In return, Trump signed an order to stockpile the tokens and acted quickly in the industry’s favor. Under Trump-appointed SEC Chairman Mark Uyeda, investigations from several cryptocurrency companies, including Immutable, have been rejected.

In a notable move on Thursday, March 27th, Trump allowed Bitmex co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Dero, and Samuel Reid, who pleaded guilty to federal charges related to money laundering and regulatory violations. The trio was found guilty of failing to implement anti-money laundering measures on Bitmex, which prosecutors labeled as a “money laundering platform.” Reed also violated the bank’s secret law and paid a $10 million fine. But under Trump, it seems that everything is allowed.

This sparked speculation about whether Ver, a prominent figure in the crypto world, could receive the same courtesy.

Silicon Valley, a libertarian streak, was deeply involved in the early days of cryptocurrency, investing in companies like Kraken, Ripple, BlockChain.com. In 2017, Ver hyped Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which is more suitable for daily payments.

ver’s past

By the age of 20, Ver began to participate in the Libertarian Party discussions.

In these discussions, he made critical statements about alcohol, cigarettes and firearms agents, calling them “killers,” and referenced his involvement in the scandalous Waco siege, in which dozens of children were killed in a standoff between FBI and ATF agents and branch David’s cult followers. Ver did not know that there was an ATF agent during these discussions.

In the 2000s, Ver became involved in e-commerce. In addition to the high-tech company, Ver was selling firecrackers on eBay. After selling unlicensed firecrackers in 2001, he was charged and spent 10 months in prison. The fact that he was fined or locked up in prison for the need to obtain a license led him to think that the case was politically motivated and that his criticism of the ATF was the real reason behind his prosecution. Without fear of further persecution, Ver left the United States after his prison probation was over.

By 2011, Ver had learned about Bitcoin and became one of the first investors. He also defended Bitcoin long before it became mainstream, with millions of investments and national leaders talking about its importance for their country’s future.

The key point of Ver’s advocacy against Bitcoin was the financial freedom of individuals, and the suspension of government and banks would interfere with people’s lives.

Legal battle

Since February 2014, Ver has been a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He claims he had to waive his US citizenship after a long-term targeting from the US government.

In April 2024, he was charged and arrested in Spain on charges of US tax evasion and mail fraud. Ver has been accused of dodging $48 million in taxes after earning up to $5 billion through cryptocurrency.

read more: “Bitcoin yes” Roger Ver has been arrested for $50 million tax fraud

According to prosecutors, Ver failed to pay “exit tax” to 131,000 BTC owned by the two companies when he left the US and provided false information to a law firm filing VER’s tax returns. He reportedly sold Bitcoin in 2017 without notifying a financial attorney.

Ver makes it clear that the three mail fraud (in combination, punished 19 years behind the bar) is based on three letters on a tax return sent to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Ver denies committing crimes such as tax evasion and mail fraud. He has tried his best to comply with the new Bitcoin taxation rules and claims his prosecution is politically motivated.

In December, he denied all charges and began a legal battle with the prosecutors. He filed a motion to dismiss the charges, but the government refused in January.

Ver’s legal team challenged the exit tax, “an unconstitutional burden on the fundamental rights of expatriates.” For people like Ver, who have substantial amounts of low-liquid assets, exit taxes can be prohibitive. The government suggests that Ver is a fugitive. He disagrees with this position as he has not been hiding and did not commit any crimes judged while living in the United States.

On March 1, Ethereum’s Buterin published an X post, claiming that there is no exit tax in most other countries, calling it “by tax” and “Extreme.”

Additionally, Buterin said the IRS got some of the information by threatening Ver’s lawyers. Ethereum founder added:

“We should deal with true honest mistakes by giving actors the opportunity to pay off taxes when necessary, rather than litigation.”

Is Bitcoin Jesus allowed?

Trump has promised that he would forgive Ross Ulbricht if he was elected. Ulbricht, the man behind the Silk Road Marketplace, which was charged for money laundering and drug trafficking, is a key figure in Bitcoin history as he encouraged the adoption of Bitcoin. After taking office, Trump actually praised Ulbricht with great praise.

Soon, various code advocates began urging Trump to forgive Roger Ver. On January 21, 2025, following Ross Ulbricht’s pardon, the X-Influencer using Monica’s Rossmas published a short post asking for the pardon of Ver, which Elon Musk responded. This reply asked the community to pardon Bitcoin yes.

On March 17th, Trump’s ex-wife, Marla Maples, took X to share an inspiring video in which people who met Ver tell the story of his generosity.

But if Potus paid attention to this post, it’s not clear.

Ver’s hopes for pardon were seriously damaged on January 26th, when Elon Musk suddenly said that Ver would not be allowed because he gave up on US citizenship.

The statement attracted a lot of criticism because Musk is not an elected official and cannot decide who will relent and who will not. However, he was Trump’s advisor and a major donor to his “Maga” campaign.

More than that, POTUS is not prohibited from pardoning for non-US citizens. Finally, many commented that Ver must waive his citizenship under pressure from the ATF and US prison terms.

Hours after Musk’s tweet, Ver took X and posted a video of him asking Trump for pardoning, briefly explaining why he was indicted.

In the video, Ver stated that he is an American and that waiving his citizenship was one of the “most difficult and sad decisions ever made (he)”.

After Ulbricht, Hayes, Delo and Reed received presidential pardons, others, including Angela McArdle, who is now chairman of the National Libertarian Party, also sought to release Ver.

“Roger Ver, let’s pray next!” she declared Friday.

It remains to be seen whether Musk made skeptical comments about Ver’s potential for tolerance on Trump’s behalf, or whether it was his view on the situation.

During the final check on Saturday, Trump has not commented on Ver’s situation.

read more: Trump forgives Bitmex co-founder convicted of financial crimes: report