Tag: Cryptocurency

Ethereum co-founder quitting crypto space as he ‘doesn’t feel safe’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Ethereum network co-founder and entrepreneur Anthony Di Iorio has said that he’s quitting the cryptocurrency world, partially because of ‘personal safety concerns’.

“I don’t feel necessarily safe in this space. If I was focused on larger problems, I think I’d be safer,” said Di Iorio, according to a Bloomberg report. He added that he doesn’t plan on funding any more blockchain projects. Di Iorio has also refused to disclose his cryptocurrency holdings or net worth.

The 48-year-old Canadian techie has had a security team since 2017, with the guards travelling with him, according to media reports.

Di Iorio, who is also the CEO and co-founder of Canadian blockchain company Decentral, has said that he plans to sell the company in the coming weeks for fiat currency.

Decentral-created Jaxx is one of the most popular crypto wallets in the world. The digital wallet garnered about 1 million customers this year.

Currently, Di Iorio is involved in Project Arrow, which is run by a high-school friend, that’s building a zero-emission vehicle. “I want to diversify to not being a crypto guy, but being a guy tackling complex problems,” Di Iorio told Bloomberg.

He, however, said, “I will incorporate crypto when needed, but a lot of times, it’s not… It’s really a small percentage of what the world needs.”

Back in 2013, Di Iorio along with Charles Hoskinson, Vitalik Buterin, Gavin Wood created the Ethereum network. Today, Ether — the native token of the network — has a market value of about $225 billion.

Di Iorio’s announcement comes just days after the Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer criticised the crypto world and called it “the worst parts of today’s capitalist system (e.g. corruption, fraud, inequality)”.

In a series of tweets, Palmer called the industry ‘inherently right-wing’ and cryptocurrency a ‘hyper-capitalistic’ technology.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Explainer: Binance, the giant crypto exchange under regulatory scrutiny

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Britain’s financial watchdog has barred major cryptocurrency exchange Binance from carrying out regulated activities, the latest in a string of moves against the platform by authorities across the world.

Here are answers to some key questions on Binance, one of the world’s biggest exchanges, and what the latest regulatory moves mean.

How big is Binance?

Very.

Trading volumes in June were $662 billion, up almost ten-fold from July 2020, according to data from CryptoCompare. On a single day in May, daily volumes hit $92 billion, U.S. researcher Coin Metrics said.

Headed by Canadian Changpeng Zhao, Binance offers a wide range of services to users across the globe, from crypto spot and derivatives trading to tokenised versions of stocks.

It also runs an exchange that allows users to trade directly with each other. Its own cryptocurrency, Binance Coin, is the fourth-biggest in the world.

Binance is growing in popularity in Britain, where its app has been downloaded 1.8 million times in 2021, and 2.2 million times in total, according to mobile data firm Sensor Tower.

Where’s it based?

It’s unclear.

Binance’s corporate structure is opaque, with its holding company widely reported to be registered in the Cayman Islands. A Binance spokesperson declined to comment on its location, saying it was “decentralised” and that it “works with a number of regulated entities around the world”.

Binance has built up a huge following across the world, with channels on the Telegram social media app for users in more than 30 countries.

And it’s coming under scrutiny from regulators?

Yes – in Britain and elsewhere.

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said last week Binance’s UK arm cannot conduct any regulated activity, without saying why it took the action.

Crypto trading is generally unregulated in Britain, though some activities such as offering crypto derivatives do require permission.

Regulators including the FCA are increasingly worried over the standard of anti-money laundering checks at crypto exchanges and the risks crypto trading poses to consumers.

Japan’s regulator said last week Binance was operating in the country illegally, while Germany’s watchdog said in April it risked being fined for offering tokens connected to stocks. In May, Bloomberg reported Binance is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service.

Yet national regulators often struggle to rein in crypto exchanges based elsewhere, lawyers said.

“It’s very difficult,” said Simon Treacy, senior lawyer at Linklaters. “(The FCA) don’t have jurisdiction over the whole of Binance’s operations, so they use the point where they do have jurisdiction and put pressure on the business there.”

The Binance spokesperson said it takes its compliance obligations very seriously and is committed to following all regulatory requirements wherever it operates.

How will the UK move impact Binance?

Its influence may be limited.

Beyond a loud warning to investors, the FCA has done all it can under its limited powers over an offshore exchange, experts say.

“At the moment the method is to emphasise risks to investors in the UK of these services rather than to regulate them outright,” said Barney Reynolds, a lawyer at Shearman & Sterling.

UK investors can still access Binance via its main website, which the FCA does not have powers over.

Still, the FCA’s demand that Binance seeks its permission to offer regulated services means it would be an offence to suggest to investors it was regulated in the UK.

Binance will also have to rethink plans announced last year to offer crypto trading services using pounds and euros on a platform regulated by the UK.

Google said this week it would only allow FCA-authorised entities to run ads for UK-based financial products on its website, after repeated FCA calls to crack down on online fraud.

Concern at banks over investment scams and fraud involving crypto exchanges may also impact Binance. Britain’s Natwest Group last week capped the daily amount customers can send to exchanges, including Binance.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Bitcoin to become legal tender in El Salvador on September 7

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said in a national address on Thursday that a recently passed law making bitcoin legal tender will take effect on September 7. El Salvador’s Congress on June 9 approved Bukele’s proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency.

Athena Bitcoin plans to invest over USD 1 million to install cryptocurrency ATMs in El Salvador, especially where residents receive remittances from abroad, a company representative said on Thursday.

According to Athena Bitcoin’s website you can use their ATMs to buy bitcoins or sell them for cash.

Also Read: El Salvador’s bitcoin plan “bulletproof”, says president Bukele

The firm expects to gradually install some 1,500 ATMs, hire staff and open an office to carry out operations in El Salvador, which in June became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

“El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele presented us with a tough challenge of 1,500 ATMs. We will go for that, but in phases. We are a private company and we want to ensure that our development in the country is sustainable,” said the firm’s director for Latin America Matias Goldenhörn.

Bukele has touted the cryptocurrency’s potential as a remittance currency for Salvadorans overseas.

“Initially we are going to bring dozens of machines, (we will) test what the business model is like in El Salvador, which will probably be different than in the United States,” Goldenhörn added.

Also Read: World Bank rejects El Salvador request for help on bitcoin implementation

A year ago Athena installed its first cryptocurrency ATM in El Salvador’s El Zonte beach, some 49 km (30 mi) southwest of capital San Salvador, as part of an experiment called Bitcoin Beach aimed at making the town one of the world’s first bitcoin economies.

The World Bank has said it cannot assist El Salvador’s bitcoin implementation given environmental and transparency drawbacks, and the International Monetary Fund has said it saw “macroeconomic, financial and legal issues” with the country’s adoption of the cryptocurrency.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Crypto investors lose $748 billion in a week as prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum, others plunge

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The cryptocurrencies have seen one of the worst weeks as the total value of 7,459 cryptos dropped 33 percent to $1.50 trillion from $2.25 trillion in the last seven days.

Large cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum saw a significant fall in price last week. Bitcoin’s price contracted 27 percent to $34,224 from $48,696 before a slight increase to $35,487, whereas Ethereum dropped 46 per cent from $3,730 to $2,000.

The price of popular meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin fell 39 percent from 52 cents to 31 cents.

Also Read: A timeline of Bitcoin’s journey from 2008 to 2021

Multiple global events were the reason behind this crash. Tesla founder Elon Musk’s tweet raising concerns about the increasing use of electricity produced from fossil fuels like coal for Bitcoin mining led to a price fall for the largest cryptocurrency.

Musk’s announcement that Tesla had sold some of its $1.5 billion worth Bitcoin, though he retracted it later, resulted in the further slide in value for Bitcoin.

China last week banned its financial and payment service providers from offering cryptocurrency transaction-related services and warned against speculative trading of cryptocurrencies. This created an adverse impact on the crypto market in the short term.

Read here: China bans financial, payment institutions from cryptocurrency business

Crypto prices slumped as “miners,” who mint crypto by verifying transactions, halted Chinese operations in the face of increasing scrutiny from authorities.

The trigger for the initial crypto selloff appeared to come from toughening language from Chinese regulators last week, which stepped up further on Friday when a State Council committee vowed to crack down on miners in particular.

Late on Sunday, Huobi Mall, part of cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, said on Monday it suspended crypto mining that services mainland Chinese clients. BTC.TOP, a crypto mining pool, has suspended its China business citing regulatory risks, while crypto miner HashCow said it would halt buying new bitcoin rigs.

Read here: Bitcoin price slips below $40,000 as recovery loses steam

(With Reuters inputs)

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Buying Tesla using Bitcoins? Be prepared to shell out huge taxes

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Wednesday that the electric carmaker had started accepting Bitcoin as a mode of payment for its products. Though this facility is available only in the United States now, Musk tweeted that the option will be available outside the US later in 2021.

You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021

However, there is a catch. Buying something by paying in Bitcoin is in effect selling that cryptocurrency in lieu of the concerned good or service. And in the US, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — the body responsible for collecting taxes — treats Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as property whose sale comes with either a gain or loss. So, those using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies can face a capital gains tax.

A senior policy analyst told CNBC that the value of any cryptocurrency when it is bought and the timing of purchase would determine how much one is subjected to the tax and its rate.

As of 12.40 pm on March 25, the value of Bitcoin is about $53,018. During the pandemic last year, the value of the cryptocurrency skyrocketed, surging to an all-time high of $61,000 in mid-March.

In the US, if a person uses Bitcoin that she/he had held for a year or less, any increase in its value in the period is considered a short-term gain and would be taxed at ordinary income tax rates, ranging from 10 percent to 37 percent, stated the CNBC report.

Citing an example, the report states that if a person’s taxable income is $40,000 without Bitcoin, the highest rate she/he would pay is 12 percent. If a Bitcoin gain of $10,000 is added to that, it would push the person into the next tax bracket — 22 percent for income above $40,525. However, if the person held the Bitcoin for a year or more, she/he would be taxed at long-term capital gains rates — 0 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent.

On its website, Tesla has provided a link where people can select their markets, and find details such as ‘how to pay in Bitcoin’, how long does it take to process a Bitcoin payment’, what happens if a customer accidentally sends the wrong amount’, etc.

On February 8, Tesla stated that it had invested around $1.5 billion in bitcoin and would begin accepting payments for its cars and other products with the cryptocurrency in the near future. The prices for Tesla vehicles range from about $38,000 to $80,000.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala says he will never buy bitcoin; calls on regulators to ban cryptocurrency in India

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Bitcoin has been soaring to new heights since the start of 2021, but market analysts have opposing opinions on the prospects of the cryptocurrency. Despite its volatility and vulnerability to market factors, there is a rather optimistic section that believes bitcoin’s Bull Run will not end in a hurry, while there are others who are convinced about its eventual crash.

And billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has called for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin in the country. Referred to as ‘India’s Warren Buffet’, the 60-year-old went on to state that he “will never buy bitcoin”.

In an interview with CNBC’s ‘Street Signs Asia’ on Tuesday (February 23), Jhunjhunwala did not mince words as he said, “I think it’s speculation of the highest order. I don’t want to join every party in town. I think the hangover is much worse.”

Bitcoin has surged over 90 percent this year so far, according to data available on Coin Metrics. Such strong gains are credited to the rousing acceptance among mainstream investors and companies such as Tesla, Mastercard and Bank of New York Mellon. The cryptocurrency’s market value breached the $1 trillion-mark (Rs72 lakh crore) on February 20.

India’s regulators are yet to take a call on cryptocurrencies, although speculation is rife that the government is planning to ban all such private virtual currencies and launch its own official digital currency. “I think regulators should step in and ban bitcoin and should focus on the digital rupee,” said Jhunjhunwala, who is currently a partner at asset management firm Rare Enterprises.

On Tuesday, Bitcoin saw its biggest daily drop in almost a month, plummeting to as low as $45,000. The cryptocurrency was last down 11.3 percent at 09.39 GMT.

Speaking about the outlook for the country, Jhunjhunwala was optimistic that India would make a strong recovery based on the reforms and policy initiatives taken by the government in the recently-presented Union Budget.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Will Bitcoin cross $20K price level? Here’s what analysts have to say

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Buoyed by strong buying from investors and hedge funds, Bitcoin prices have hit over $18,000, a level last seen in December 2017. On Wednesday, the cryptocurrency traded about 8.6 percent higher at $18,172, showed CoinDesk data.

Bitcoin has been one of the best-performing assets this year despite volatility due to COVID-19. As per the CoinMarketCap data, bitcoin’s market value now stands at $337.2 billion, higher than the $331.8 billion it hit in December 2017.

According to CNBC International, many crypto fans are arguing that things are different this time, also due to the likes of Fidelity Investments, Square and PayPal. Like, Fidelity launched a Bitcoin fund while Square invested in the coin. Meanwhile, PayPal started letting its users buy, hold and sell virtual currencies. The payments giant is set to enable shopping with crypto early next year.

Many market observers believe that the digital currency could move upwards and touch its all-time high of $20,000 given the pace of the current rally.

Micah Erstling, a trader at Hong Kong-based bitcoin and crypto market-maker GSR told Forbes, “Belief is growing that we could reach $20,000 before the end of the year. More importantly, investors believe that this rally is sustainable. Many signs point towards that.”

Mirroring a similar view, Nicholas Pelecanos, head of trading at blockchain development platform NEM said to Forbes that bitcoin is currently witnessing an extremely bullish price action. “Driven by a mix of market structure and strong fundamentals, bitcoin could now be within days of reaching its all-time high,” he added.

But, some of them believe that there could be a bit of correction.

Ian Balina, the chief executive of Washington-based Token Metrics said to Forbes, “While still bullish long-term due to macro-economic factors and large corporations getting into crypto, we expect bitcoin could correct back to around $14,000 by the first week of December.”

He further explained that bitcoin could hit $45,000 in the next couple of years led by the development of central bank digital currencies but the current rally could see some wear-off.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow