Roger Ver, an aboriginal bitcoin (BTC) capitalist who was erstwhile known arsenic “Bitcoin Jesus” for his enactment of the cryptocurrency, was indicted for alleged taxation fraud last twelvemonth and could beryllium sentenced to beingness successful prison.
Now, galore manufacture veterans are coming to his support, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, who called the imaginable condemnation “absurd.”
“Going to situation for the remainder of your beingness implicit non-violent taxation offenses is absurd,” Buterin said connected a social media post. “The lawsuit against Roger seems precise politically motivated; similar with Ross Ulbricht, determination person been plentifulness of radical and corporations who person been accused of acold worse and yet faced sentences acold milder than what Roger is facing.”
His words travel aft Silk Road laminitis Ross Ulbricht, who was sentenced to beingness successful situation for creating the darknet marketplace and later pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump, showed enactment for Ver, saying nary 1 should “spend the remainder of their beingness successful situation implicit taxes.”
Similarly, Kraken laminitis Jesse Powell has argued successful Ver’s defense. “The world is, they conscionable don't similar him and they privation to get him, and they volition usage immoderate excuse they tin to get him oregon marque his beingness hellhole for arsenic agelong arsenic they can.”
Ver and his ineligible team are challenging the case, arguing that the charges brought against him are politically motivated.