Roger Ver, the person referred to as “Bitcoin Jesus,” is publicly pleading with ‘crypto president’ Donald Trump to stop his extradition to america.
In a determined and direct tweet on Jan. 26, Roger stated, “Mr. President, I’m an American, and I would like your assist. Solely you, together with your dedication to justice, can save me @realDonaldTrump.”
Mr. President, I’m an American, and I would like your assist. Solely you, together with your dedication to justice, can save me @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/WhVTZ1M1GB
— Roger Ver (@rogerkver) January 26, 2025
Roger had renounced his US citizenship in 2014. He’s now dealing with federal expenses that would see him despatched to jail for over a century.
The entrepreneur who turned “Bitcoin Jesus”
Roger was born on January 27, 1979, in San Jose, California, and his entrepreneurial journey started at simply 19. Whereas nonetheless in faculty, he based MemoryDealers.com in 1999, an organization that offered laptop parts. It turned an enormous participant available in the market, thriving beneath his management.
By 2005, Roger launched Agilestar.com, an organization specializing in optical transceivers, which discovered shoppers amongst Fortune 100 companies. The wild successes of those early ventures set the stage for what got here subsequent: Bitcoin.
In 2011, Roger found Bitcoin whereas it was nonetheless priced beneath $1. “It was like nothing I’d ever seen earlier than,” he stated in a previous interview. He stated he was captivated by its potential to disrupt conventional monetary methods. Roger wasted no time, pouring his vitality and cash into Bitcoin and rapidly incorporating it into his companies.
He additionally personally invested over $1 million into early Bitcoin startups, together with now-giant corporations like Blockchain.com, Kraken, and Ripple.
Trump, who has already made waves by enacting crypto-friendly insurance policies, now finds himself on the middle of a plea from certainly one of Bitcoin’s earliest advocates. Trump has already pardoned the neighborhood’s favourite hero, Silk Highway founder Ross Ulbricht.
From Bitcoin to Bitcoin Money
Roger’s journey by way of the crypto trade took a dramatic flip in 2017 when he moved his allegiance from Bitcoin to Bitcoin Money (BCH). The fork of Bitcoin promised quicker transactions and decrease charges, addressing what Roger stated he noticed as essential flaws within the OG crypto.
In a number of interviews, Roger criticized Bitcoin’s neighborhood for abandoning its authentic ethos. “Bitcoin isn’t about holding and hoping the value goes up. It’s about making monetary methods higher than PayPal or Visa,” Roger stated. Can’t argue with that when you’ve ever truly learn the Bitcoin whitepaper.
When Roger renounced his US citizenship, he turned a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis by way of its citizenship-by-investment program. He usually speaks in regards to the significance of getting a second passport, calling it a security towards authorities overreach.
Curiously, Roger as soon as described Bitcoin as “a pyramid scheme” and criticized Bitcoin maximalists for his or her lack of expertise about gold’s industrial makes use of. “It’s wonderful what number of BTC maximalists don’t even know that gold has makes use of past being a retailer of worth,” he stated in certainly one of his many fiery tweets.
Whereas some hail him as a visionary, others see Roger Ver as an opportunist who undermined Bitcoin to advertise Bitcoin Money. President Trump signed an government order for crypto within the Oval final week. It’s not that far fetched to anticipate Roger’s return to America inside February.
