If renouncing your US citizenship and moving to the Caribbean doesn’t get the tax man off your back, you can always try cutting a six-figure cheque to a top Trump ally to go to bat for you.

That’s the move Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor, is making as he fights extradition to the US after being charged with criminal tax evasion and fraud.

According to recently filed congressional disclosures, Ver paid $600,000 to Roger Stone — Donald Trump’s longtime political confidant and self-described “dirty trickster” — to lobby for crypto tax reform and drum up support for his case.

Exit tax

At the centre of these charges is an “exit tax,” which requires American citizens to settle their obligations to Uncle Sam before renouncing citizenship.

The feds have accused Ver, who became a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2014, of concealing over $48 million in gains from Bitcoin sales while preparing to expatriate.

He was arrested in Spain last year, and US prosecutors are seeking to bring him back for trial.

Ver has framed the charges as political.

In a January video appeal to Trump, he claimed he was being persecuted for his role in promoting “cryptocurrency and voluntaryist ideals”.

“I always did everything possible to comply fully with tax laws,” Ver tweeted last month. “The fact they indicted me anyway proves beyond doubt this is a political persecution.”

Stone, who was himself pardoned by Trump in 2021, has denied lobbying the president directly, but acknowledged pushing lawmakers to abolish the exit tax.

His website even published an essay titled ‘Why Roger Ver deserves a presidential pardon’.

The lobbying effort comes as Trump grants clemency to other major crypto figures, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and the BitMEX co-founders.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin has gained 1.9% over the past 24 hours and is trading at $94,120.
• Ethereum is up 2.4% in the same period to $1,785.

What we’re reading

Kyle Baird is Inside Solana’ Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email at kbaird@dlnews.com.