Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, joined the call to unlock early crypto investors and entrepreneur Roger Ver.
Buterin characterized the case as “absurd” and “political motivating” by calling for the prosecution against Ver. Butarin continued:
“The US tax and related exit tax systems are extreme. The former is rare in other countries of the world. The latter is only in the high end of the country where the UK claims capital gains only if it returns within five years.”
“If the IRS blackmails Roger's lawyers and gets privileged information, that's a malicious move,” the co-founder of Ethereum added.
Ver's case includes the end of income tax and the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) amid calls from US lawmakers and residents for comprehensive tax reform.
sauce: Vitalik Buterin
Related: Ross Ulbricht seeks to release “Bitcoin yes” Roger Ver next
Roger Ver
The US Department of Justice announced the tax evasion charge against VER on April 30, 2024, and the entrepreneur was subsequently arrested in Spain, where he was jailed for several weeks.
Ver posted a $163,000 bail on May 17, 2024, remaining in Spain, waived his passport and left the prison on the condition that he would check in to court officials every two days.
In a legal filing starting December 3, 2024, the lawyers of the fighting entrepreneurs moved to dismiss the charges, claiming that the case was unconstitutional.
The lawyers characterized the exit tax laws for US citizens with investmentable assets of more than $2 million as ambiguous. He added that the exit tax violates allocation clauses and due process clauses of the US Constitution.
Crypto Investors called on the DOJ to target the VER after VER left, claiming the incident was part of the Biden administration's broader anti-crypto stance.
Roger Verle argues that the US government has indicted him maliciously for defending the code, not for tax-related issues.
magazine: Roger Ver's Next Life: Cryonics Meets Crypto
