Roger Ver Takes Legal Action in ECHR to Challenge US Extradition Over Tax Allegations

Roger Ver, the founder of Bitcoin.com, has filed a lawsuit against Spain in the European Court of Human Rights. He aims to contest the decision for his extradition to the United States, where he faces possible imprisonment of up to 109 years for tax fraud, according to a report by Bloomberg Law.

In 2024, Spanish authorities arrested Ver, who is often referred to as «Bitcoin Jesus,» at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice. He was later released on bail set at $163,000, but was prohibited from leaving the country, had his passport confiscated, and was required to report to the court every two days. U.S. prosecutors are pushing for Ver’s extradition.

Ver renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2014 and obtained a passport from the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Prosecutors allege that he intentionally undervalued his bitcoin holdings in his tax declaration to evade a $48 million exit tax. In 2017, he is also accused of misappropriating 70,000 BTC (approximately $240 million) from the corporate accounts of his companies, MemoryDealers and Agilestar.

On December 3, 2024, Ver filed a motion to dismiss all eight counts against him. He contended that the exit tax contradicts the U.S. Constitution. He described the prosecutors’ arguments as «vague» and accused U.S. authorities of pursuing a politically motivated case against him.

In his latest lawsuit, Ver claimed that the Spanish authorities violated his rights. He alleged that law enforcement unlawfully interrogated his lawyers and disregarded all evidence of his innocence.

In January, Ver sent a petition for clemency to Donald Trump. Previously, the U.S. president followed through on his campaign promise and granted clemency to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the darknet marketplace Silk Road.

Later, Trump’s ex-wife, Marla Maples, spoke out in favor of ending the prosecution of Ver. She retweeted a video created by a public support group for the entrepreneur, Freerogernow, titled «Who is Roger Ver?» and encouraged others to share it as «additional information in support of halting the prosecution.»

However, Trump’s former ally and Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned that they could not assist «Bitcoin Jesus» because he voluntarily renounced his American citizenship.

In March, Vitalik Buterin expressed his support for Ver. The Ethereum co-founder remarked that the case against the founder of Bitcoin.com is politically motivated.

Additionally, it is noteworthy that Jameson Lopp, the CTO of Casa, suggested that Ver might be rejecting a pretrial settlement either on principle or due to a lack of funds.