The market is reeling today on the heels of "Bitcoin Jesus"
And also let's not forget how CZ just got 4 months.
I especially like the New York Post article that pronounces him guilty immediately.
Love that for us.
Roger Ver, crypto investor dubbed ‘Bitcoin Jesus,’ cheated US out of $48M
Roger Ver, a millionaire bitcoin investor from California who renounced his US citizenship in 2014 and became a national of St. Kitts and Nevis, was arrested in Spain over the weekend, according to DOJ officials.
2014!
These people really have no shame.
Statute of Limitations?
Exactly how long does one have to look over their shoulder?
As such, a taxpayer that commits a criminal offense such as tax evasion has to be prosecuted within 6 years. On the other hand, there is no statute of limitations for a taxpayer that has committed a civil offense such as tax fraud.
So while it looks like this is very likely going to be a civil case it's still a bit silly... especially considering he hasn't even been an American citizen for a literal decade and they got Spain to arrest him by proxy. Pretty shady stuff.
“Mr. Ver relied on leading tax professionals to help him report his Bitcoin and he always intended to fully comply with his US tax obligations,” Skarlatos said.
Prosecutors said Ver hired a law firm to help him prepare his expatriation-related tax returns and an appraisal to value his companies, but provided them false or misleading information about how much of the cryptocurrency they in fact owned.
What a coincidence we are dealing with this right now!
Ver was also legally required to pay an “exit tax” on the capital gains.
So basically when you abandon your American citizenship to avoid taxes this exit-tax shebang is something else. Basically the exit-tax FORCE-SELLS your entire net-worth and you're supposed to pay taxes on it like everything was sold even though it was not. It's the one place where the law seems to enforce unrealized tax law.
Specifically, when someone gives up their citizenship, their property is treated as having been sold for its fair market value the day before they renounced their citizenship in a “constructive sale.”
Under federal tax law, any gain arising from that “constructive sale” must be accounted for in that tax year.
"Constructive" as in "made up"
I love how legal terms strive to make themselves sound good and fair.
"Constructive" as in building a better future.
"Constructive" as in helpful feedback.
Nah.
"Constructive" as in "we made up an unfair rule in a country that waged their war of independence over 1% worth of taxes". [go figure]
CNBC version has a much less offensive tone... shocking I know.
The Justice Department unveiled criminal tax fraud charges this week against a prolific bitcoin investor named Roger Ver. He came to be known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” for getting in early on the digital currency and making a fortune.
But they all love to use the whole "Bitcoin Jesus" thing as a tagline.
Not great optics for either party.
Ver was arrested in Spain over the weekend. The United States is seeking his extradition to face trial on eight counts related to tax evasion, mail fraud and filing false tax returns.
"Mail fraud"... sure.
Yeah because it's so easy to file one's taxes perfectly to the letter.
The tax code makes it so easy and simple!
It's laws like this that make everyone guilty of everything all the time.
And the courts just get to decide when and where they prosecute with impunity.
So what?
If he had hand delivered his own taxes to the IRS this charge couldn't exist?
Make it make sense.
Seriously.
If convicted, Ver’s felony charges could see him return to federal prison, where he spent 10 months in 2002 after pleading guilty to selling explosives called “Pest Control Report 2000” on eBay.
lol?
Okay wasn't expecting that one.
And I guess jail is still on the table because who cares about details like 10 years passing.
So what's the moral of this story?
Ah, nothing to see here. Just the big bad government doing what government does best at a very suspicious time in this story. Why is it that all of these attacks seem to all get lined up one on top of the other like this? When it rains it pours.
Basically it seems like giving up citizenship could have been a pretty big mistake. If he had kept his citizenship and just... you know... held the Bitcoin... he'd owe nothing. Now that we can collateralize our assets against debt without incurring a tax event it seems like a no-brainer, but perhaps hindsight is always 20/20. It's hard to imagine what it was like in 2014 only to realize 10 years later the DOJ would fire their hail Mary while acting all high and mighty on a tall horse. Typical.
Conclusion
Could Roger Ver win this case? Sure. I don't expect him to, but also there will be a lot of good points to be made about why gunning for jail-time is a bit absurd (Mail fraud? Really?). Maybe we should all be sending in our tax documents using a private company instead of the postal service if this is how the game is played.
Do I like Roger Ver? Not particularly. I don't agree with a lot of the points he's made over the years. I'm still unbiased enough to see that this is bad for everyone. Luckily sentiment across the cryptoverse seems to mirror this assessment. Nobody is cheering this one on, especially not right after Samurai wallet was blatantly attacked on top of all the other FUD that I've been discussing.
Crypto is very much under attack, but it's also under attack in a "I want to control you" way instead of the standard "I want to destroy you" playbook. All of this drama reminds me of all the intellectual property lawsuits that flew around during the golden age of torrents. These direct assaults aren't very effective. There is no head to cut off. The key is "regulation" but that's the one thing they are refusing to do. All we can hope for is more embarrassing losses in court for these vipers. We certainly have the money to stand up at this point.