A major development has emerged in the long-running legal battle involving Roger Ver, widely known in the crypto community as “Bitcoin Jesus.” Less than a week after reports of an agreement between Ver and US authorities, a California federal court appears close to ending his 2024 criminal tax case.
In a Tuesday filing at the US District Court for the Central District of California, federal prosecutors submitted a proposed order requesting Judge Michael Fitzgerald to dismiss the indictment against Ver without prejudice. The filing follows months of negotiations between Ver and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) over tax-related charges tied to his cryptocurrency holdings.
Settlement details and IRS agreement
According to the filing, Ver reached a comprehensive settlement with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), agreeing to pay $49.9 million to cover all taxes, penalties, and interest connected to his Bitcoin (BTC) assets.
This agreement builds upon a deferred prosecution arrangement submitted in September 2024, under which Ver acknowledged that he had failed to properly declare and pay taxes on specific crypto assets before renouncing his US citizenship in 2014.
By fulfilling the financial terms of the settlement, Ver effectively met the conditions necessary for the DOJ to move toward case dismissal, signaling the likely conclusion of one of the most prominent crypto-related tax disputes in recent years.
A step toward closure for “Bitcoin Jesus”
Ver, one of the earliest and most vocal advocates of Bitcoin adoption, earned his “Bitcoin Jesus” moniker for evangelizing the cryptocurrency during its infancy. His legal troubles began after US authorities alleged that he had underreported his crypto gains before becoming a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis.
While the dismissal is “without prejudice,” meaning the government could technically reopen the case, legal experts view the filing as a formal step toward closure. The decision also highlights how early crypto investors’ tax compliance obligations are being enforced retroactively as governments refine regulatory oversight.
With this settlement, Ver appears ready to turn the page on his decade-long legal dispute, marking a potential end to one of the most closely watched cases in the intersection of cryptocurrency and taxation law.