‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Roger Ver released on bail in Spain

Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Roger Ver, known as “Bitcoin Jesus”, has been released on bail in Spain after posting a €150,000 bail.

According to a Bloomberg report, the condition of Ver's release from prison on May 17 is that he surrender his passport and stay in Spain pending a decision on his extradition to the United States. Veer has to report to the court every two days.

Ver was arrested by Spanish authorities after the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an indictment alleging that he evaded nearly $50 million in taxes in addition to filing fraudulent tax returns and mail fraud.

In the lawsuit, the DOJ alleged that Ver failed to report capital gains or pay taxes on his 131,000 BTC holdings after he renounced his US citizenship and acquired citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis.

Ver is accused of providing false or misleading information to a law firm and assessor who prepared tax returns related to his emigration, understating the value of two of his companies that held holdings of 73,000 BTC, and failing to report his personal holdings.

In the year In November 2017, Ver sold “tens of thousands” of Bitcoin in cash for about $240 million — sales he was legally required to report to the IRS, along with Bitcoin receipts from the two firms.

“In total, Ver is alleged to have caused losses to the IRS of at least $48 million,” the suit reads.

Who is Roger Ver?

An outspoken libertarian, Vere was an early adopter and evangelist of Bitcoin, earning the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus” for giving the cryptocurrency away for free.

Then he turned his attention to the top Bitcoin cashA hard fork of the original cryptocurrency, which he described as “a true representation of Satoshi's vision.”

Ver has had run-ins with the law before; In the year In 2002, he was sentenced to 10 months in prison for selling explosives on eBay.

In the year In a 2019 speech, he argued that “lawmakers are the ones who move society forward,” adding, “If it weren't for lawbreakers, we'd still have slavery, we'd still have people sitting.” People who have the courage to break the law in the back of the bus have the ability to make the world a better place.