Jan3 boss Samson Mow has taken to X to comment on the arrest of Roger Ver – Bitcoin’s “original gangster” who switched to supporting BTC hardfork Bitcoin Cash in 2017.
Roger Ver arrested in Spain
An early BTC supporter known as “Bitcoin Jesus,” Roger Ver, has been arrested in Spain on charges of avoiding major tax payments to the U.S. IRS.
Ver was taken into custody over the charge of causing a loss to the Internal Revenue Service of $48 million, minimum. In 2017, Ver sold a whopping $240 million worth of Bitcoin from his companies and paid no tax on those BTC sales.
Samson Mow, who has been a major opponent of Ver on the issue of Bitcoin, has been criticizing him heavily recently. It happened when Ver released a new book called “Hijacking Bitcoin: The Hidden History of BTC” which he co-authored with Steve Patterson.
Mow is not gloating over Ver’s arrest
When Ver announced the launch of the book earlier this year, Blockstream CEO Adam Back, an early Bitcoiner, who corresponded with Satoshi Nakamoto before he left the public space, invited Roger Ver to come back to Bitcoin with the halving approaching and spot ETFs launched already.
Back then, Mow tweeted that he would prefer it if Roger Ver did not resume his Bitcoin support and give up Bitcoin Cash.
However, upon hearing the news that Ver had been arrested, Mow published a tweet, saying that he does not like Roger Ver; however, neither does he celebrate the situation the former “Bitcoin Jesus” has got himself into: “I have no love for Roger Ver, but I won’t celebrate his misfortune.”
I have no love for Roger Ver, but I won’t celebrate his misfortune.
— Samson Mow (@Excellion) April 30, 2024
Ver is now awaiting extradition to the U.S.
Roger Ver in similar situation as John McAfee
Curiously, Roger Ver now seems to be in the same situation as late crypto baron John McAfee. The antivirus pioneer was arrested in Spain in 2020 over massive tax evasion on his crypto profits. He was going to face extradition to the U.S., where he would have spent the rest of his life in prison.
McAfee committed suicide in Spanish prison in June 2021. Many found the suicide story unlikely, and it has raised a lot of controversy, especially for McAfee’s spouse.
