Cryptocurrency & Blockchain News and Discussions

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caltrek
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How Do You Tax Non-Fungible Tokens? States are in a Quandary.
by Jennifer A. Kingson
Updated May 9, 2022

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/09/nfts-s ... ederal-irs

Introduction:
(Axios) Is a non-fungible token a piece of property? Is it tangible? Tax authorities are grappling with these and other questions as they start to set policy on the sale and transfer of NFTs.

Why it matters: NFTs are being bought and sold for huge sums — the $69 million Beeple is an anomaly, but symbolically important — and federal and state revenue departments want to get their due shares.
  • But the fact that NFTs can take many forms — physical and digital — and be sold in nontraditional ways place them outside the scope of current tax codes.
  • So states are losing out: "At least 31 states apply sales taxes to digital products and services, but few if any tax dollars are flowing to them from the hottest commodity in the digital economy," NFTs, reports Bloomberg Tax.
Conclusion:
The bottom line: By the time the tax authorities figure out how to regulate it, the entire NFT market may already be in a state of collapse.
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caltrek
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Coinbase CEO Says India Central Bank's "Informational Pressure" Prompted Trading Halt
by Manish Singh
May 10, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/10/coinb ... -of-india/

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) Coinbase halted trading service in India because of “informal pressure” from the Reserve Bank of India, the crypto exchange’s chief executive said on Tuesday, addressing the notable Indian episode for the first time in a month.

The Nasdaq-listed firm launched its eponymous crypto trading service in India to much fanfare on April 7. The app allowed users in the world’s second largest internet market to buy crypto tokens using UPI, a highly popular Indian payments infrastructure built by a coalition of retail banks. But just three days after the launch, the firm rolled back the service without an explanation.

The move followed a strange statement made by the National Payments Corporation of India, the governing body that oversees UPI in the country, in which it refused to acknowledge UPI support on Coinbase’s app.

Asked about the Indian episode on the company’s earnings call, Coinbase co-founder and chief executive Brian Armstrong said Coinbase disabled UPI “because of some informal pressure from the Reserve Bank of India.”
Further Extract::
"And there’s a lot of work to go meet with policymakers around the world and kind of teach them about what the AML capabilities are and what are the positive benefits. The people of these countries generally really want crypto. And so to me, that says that most places in the free world and democracies, crypto is going to eventually be regulated and legal, but it’s going to take time for them to get comfortable with this."
caltrek's comment: I don't pretend to be an expert on cryptocurrency. Still, the vague impression I get is that it was first introduced as an alternative to central banks and government regulated currency. Now it seems to have morphed into: "it can work with the proper government regulation."

Say what?
Last edited by caltrek on Mon Jun 06, 2022 2:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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caltrek
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One wonders if Africa might be a place where cryptocurrency can proceed with a minimum of government regulation.

MARA Raises $23 Million from Coinbase Ventures and FTX to Build Africa's Portal to the Crypto Economy
by Tage Kene-Okafor
May 11, 2022

https://techcrunch.com/2022/05/11/mara- ... o-economy/

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) The use of cryptocurrency in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among its young people, cannot be overstated. Data from blockchain intelligence firm Chainalysis says the region’s crypto usage grew 1,200% last year, making it the third-fastest growing cryptocurrency economy.

But despite the proliferation of local and foreign crypto exchanges and the introduction of novel models by up-and-coming web3 platforms, some observers believe there are still notable barriers to using crypto in Africa.

This reflection has led to new upstarts such as MARA, a pan-African crypto exchange platform that wants to “increase the number of Africans who can participate in the crypto economy.” Today, the startup is announcing that it has completed a seed round of $23 million in equity and token sale from multiple investors. They include high-profile crypto and web3 investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Alameda Research (FTX) and Distributed Global.

Other VCs in the round include TQ Ventures, DIGITAL, Nexo, Huobi Ventures, Day One Ventures and Infinite Capital and DAO Jones (investment DAO backed by Mike Shinoda, Steve Aoki and Disclosure), while about 100 other crypto investors participated too.

“We are pleased to partner with MARA as it embarks on building a digital financial system for Sub-Saharan Africa,” says Schuster Tanger, co-founder of TQ Ventures, one of the investors, in a statement. “With the right resources, this region has potential for mass adoption of cryptocurrency. To that end, the local knowledge and specialized skills of the MARA team is quite promising.”
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caltrek
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Crimes of the Future
by Lucas Matney, Anita Ramaswamy
June 5, 2022

Introduction:
(TechCrunch) The crypto space has been moving so quickly over the past couple years that builders have generally seemed to believe existing rules didn’t apply to them. Well, after years of snails’ pace legal action, it seems U.S. prosecutors are starting to feel it’s time to challenge that perception.

This week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York arrested and filed charges against a former OpenSea executive who used his position to front-run NFT (Nonfungible Token) projects that were going to be listed on the home page of the marketplace. Members of the community discovered his actions by tracking his activity on public blockchains.

The arrest was pretty much a massive shock to people in the NFT space who generally believed that Nate Chastain had acted unethically but that it couldn’t be “insider trading” because NFTs weren’t securities. This is a framing that was held by many, including Chastain’s boss at OpenSea who fired him.

“I do think there was a misframing of it as insider trading. We don’t view NFTs as financial assets, so that does not apply. That’s a very specific term for a very specific thing,” OpenSea Devin Finzer told Decrypt in September.

There are an awful lot of people taking a very close reading of the SDNY press release, which states it specifically charged Chastain “with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to commit insider trading in Non-Fungible Tokens.” They notably describe NFTs as “digital assets” later in the release.
Read more here: https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/05/the- ... to-world/
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funkervogt
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Here's an excerpt from an interview with Michael Saylor about the recent "shocks" to the global financial system that will impel people to adopt cryptocurrency (probably Bitcoin) as a reserve currency and investment. Basically, recent events have shown that the American government and other governments can't be trusted to manage currencies.

weatheriscool
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Bitcoin plunges below $24,000 and the crypto meltdown claims another casualty
Source: CNN

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies plunged Monday, and two of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency platforms restricted activity as the market meltdown continued apace.

The Celsius Network, which has 1.7 million customers, said that “extreme market conditions” had forced it to temporarily halt all withdrawals, crypto swaps and transfers between accounts.

“We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilize liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets,” the company said in a blog post.

The UK-registered company has about $3.7 billion in assets, according to its website. It pays interest on cryptocurrency deposits, and loans them out to make a return.

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/13/investin ... index.html
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New York Senate passes Bitcoin mining moratorium

Jun 3, 2022 - Economy & Business

The New York State Senate passed a two-year crypto mining moratorium bill that now moves to Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk.

Why it matters: New York State is home to some of the more onerous cryptocurrency regulations in the country, which some say will stifle a blossoming industry and send it (read jobs) elsewhere.

What's happening: The New York State Senate voted to pass the bill overnight that would establish a two-year moratorium on permitting new crypto mining that uses proof-of-work authentication methods using carbon-based fuel.
  • It would also require an environmental impact study.
  • Mining operations with existing permits would be grandfathered.
https://www.axios.com/2022/06/03/bitcoi ... york-state
weatheriscool
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No let up in crypto slide as Celsius halt leaves investors 'panicking'
Source: Reuters

Cryptocurrencies tumbled afresh on Tuesday, with bitcoin and ether falling to new 18-month lows, after major cryptocurrency lending company Celsius Network's freezing of withdrawals delivered the latest jolt to investors in the asset-class.

Bitcoin fell as much as 7.2% to $20,816 its lowest since Dec. 2020, extending Monday's 15% plunge.

The world's largest cryptocurrency is down over 50% year to date and 28% since Friday.

No. 2 token ether lost as much as 10% to $1,075, its lowest since Jan 2021, and smaller tokens have taken even more of a battering.


Read more: https://www.reuters.com/technology/no-l ... 022-06-14/
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weatheriscool
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Bitcoin drops below $20,000 as crypto meltdown continues
Source: CNN

The price of bitcoin breached $19,000 and ethereum fell below $1,000 Saturday morning, extending the brutal crypto bear market to new lows.

Bitcoin plunged nearly 10% in less than 24 hours, adding to a series of sustained losses over the last several months. It now sits below $20,000 for the first time since November 2020, down more than 70% from an all-time high of $68,000 per coin in November 2021. B itcoin has lost $900 billion in value since that peak.

...

This week, the Federal Reserve increased interest rates by 75 basis points, the largest hike since 1994. The change led to a retreat from all assets. The S&P 500 is also in a bear market and posted its worst week on record since 2020.

The crypto world is reeling from the $60 billion collapse last month of two other major tokens, Terra-Luna and Celsius. Those losses have increased doubts about the general stability of digital currency.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/18/investin ... index.html
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