Bitcoin pioneer and author of Bitcoin Hijack Roger Ver has been in legal limbo for nearly eight months awaiting an extradition ruling in Spain as the US government accuses him of tax fraud. Influential voices in the crypto community have added their weight to the open letter seeking Vera’s release and an end to the “laws” and unfair persecution of economic innovators.
Early Bitcoin adopter and angel investor Roger Ver, known to many as “Bitcoin Jesus”, has been in a state-imposed purgatory since the US Department of Justice arrested him in Barcelona in April.
Wehr, who prefers to be called simply “Roger” and prefers being compared to Bitcoin’s Johnny Appleseed than Jesus, claims he is being unfairly targeted by the US government for his political views and said he is trying his best to tried to comply with IRS Requirements after renouncing US citizenship in 2014.
The US Department of Justice says Wehr owed $48 million in taxes due to “false tax returns” that “substantially understated” [Ver’s] two companies and their 73,000 bitcoins, and did not disclose that Ver personally owned any bitcoins.” The IRS also claims that Ver owed taxes on BTC sales, even after he was no longer a citizen of the country.
However, thousands of important people in cryptocurrency—and everyday advocates for peace and economic freedom—who wholeheartedly disagree.
‘Free Roger Now’ open letter gains momentum: 2,744 signatures
Recently, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson and renowned biologist and author Bret Weinstein joined the Free Roger Now open letter, or simply “FREEROGER.” “He was a tireless advocate in the early days of Bitcoin,” Hoskinson noted in a Nov. 20 video post on X, continuing, “And he was a true libertarian at heart.”
Hoskinson lamented that “the US government decided 10 years later [Ver rescinded his citizenship] essentially asking him to pay more taxes than the already enormous amount of taxes he has already paid.”
Some cryptographers have also questioned the timing of Ver’s arrest, which came just after the release of his book, Bitcoin Hijack: The Hidden History of BTC, which talks about organized collaboration and sabotage of BTC as a peer-to-peer electronic cash. , making it virtually unusable and a speculative asset with low throughput and astronomical fees, contrary to the clearly stated plans of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.
The book examines Bitcoin Cash as the current, albeit lesser known, true Bitcoin.
Biologist and celebrity guest of Joe Rogan Bret Weinstein tweeted on X: “Roger Ver (aka “Bitcoin Jesus”) faces extradition to the US and up to 109 years in prison if convicted. His crime? He didn’t commit onebut this does not matter in the era of American legislation.”
Ver’s prosecution echoes that of another early Bitcoin pioneer, Ross Ulbricht, who has been serving a double life sentence since 2015 plus 40 years after his 2013 arrest for selling cannabis and other substances online to consenting adults.
FREEROGER’s open letter has 2,744 signatures at the time of writing, with the site noting: “We, the undersigned, call on the US government to end its unjust persecution of Roger Ver, a cryptocurrency pioneer and advocate for economic freedom.”
Appeals to politicians are gaining momentum
As the hype around Trump, BTC and Blackrock gathers momentum, and crypto enthusiasts and long-time OGs fight for the original vision of peer-to-peer economic freedom, luminaries are nevertheless making massive calls to political figures (the most immoral people in the world) . Planet) to release our best and most needed people from their cages: peace-loving cryptocurrency users, advocates and innovators.
This author has no hopes in politics, but has great respect for Wehr, Ulbricht and the voluntarist principles of peace and freedom from global war and the extortion machine, and signed the letter, hoping against hope. Those wishing to support Wehr and Ulbricht can do so here and here respectively.
In the words of Roger Ver: “And when I realized that Bitcoin had the potential… to undermine the ability of every government on the entire planet to wage war, I knew that I needed to get involved and start promoting Bitcoin on a full-time basis.” Of course, this true potential lies in direct peer-to-peer action.
