Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

US Congressman Tom Emmer is pushing for safe harbor legislation to protect taxpayers with forked coins. A bill entitled “Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets Act of 2021” has been introduced to prohibit “penalties against taxpayers attempting to report certain gains or losses on ‘forked assets’ until the IRS issues sufficient guidance on how to do so.” Bill Aimed at Protecting Crypto Investors Introduced The office of Congressman Tom Emmer announced this week that the congressman has introduced the bill entitled “Safe Harbor for Taxpayers with Forked Assets Act of 2021.” The bill seeks to prohibit “penalties against taxpayers attempting to report certain gains or losses on ”forked assets’ until the IRS issues sufficient guidance on how to do so.” The announcement explains that “The bill delineates that receipt of a forked virtual currency may not constitute a taxable event and creates a safe harbor under which the IRS cannot impose penalties or fees on taxpayers with forke...

PRESS RELEASE. Bitcoin.com Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of BCVT, being available to trade on the 20th May 2021 at 10:00AM UTC. BCVT was created by the BitcoinVend team, as the native cryptocurrency of their BitcoinVend App. BCVT will start trading with USDT and ETH pairs. What is BitcoinVend? BitcoinVend’s mission is to enable cryptocurrency to become more integrated into everyday life, and the economy at large so that the world can make the most of this technology. As with most projects, BitcoinVend is solving a current issue in the market, one surrounding spending crypto more easily. The project does this by means of an all-in-one solution that combines the three core elements needed to facilitate trade: a marketplace, payment processing, and exchange. By combining these three elements in the same place and making it simple, the team has created a frictionless crypto ecosystem that anyone can use as they wish, which in turn will open the crypto market to milli...

Australian Senator and Minister of Financial Services Jane Hume said that “cryptocurrency is not a fad. It is an asset class that will grow in importance.” She emphasized that the government won’t stand in the way of crypto investing. “We have to let people make their own decisions,” she said. Australian Government Won’s Stand in the Way of Crypto Australian lawmaker Jane Hume said on Thursday that cryptocurrencies are not a passing fad and will grow in importance as an asset class, the Financial Review reported . Her crypto comments were part of her speech outlining the Morrison government’s approach to a new wave of digital financial platforms and products. Hume is an Australian senator and the Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services, and the Digital Economy. She is also the Minister for Women’s Economic Security. Commenting on the rising number of platforms — such as Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit — that provide information and give investment advice to investor...

According to reports, over 100,000 African youths have taken part in Binance’s crypto and blockchain education barely a year after the learning program was launched. Dubbed the Binance Masterclass, the education initiative is aimed at equipping newcomers with basic knowledge about cryptocurrencies. Also, as one report explains, the initiative seeks to stop young African traders from becoming victims of cryptocurrency scam tactics. The report said: The Masterclass is primarily aimed at helping crypto newbies (learn) how to identify scams, buy and sell crypto as well as the more advanced concepts such, margin and futures trading as they get started on their crypto journey. In addition, the report also quotes Emmanuel Babalola, a director at Binance Africa, explaining how the learning course is being used to prepare African youths “for career opportunities in the [crypto] market.” “Africa is a very important market for Binance because we see the profound opportunity blockchain br...

A major chipmaker keeps making efforts to calm down the gaming community’s anger toward cryptocurrency miners who are taking the lead in buying graphic cards massively, boosting its prices. Nvidia has announced that it will deliberately limit the capabilities for some of its newly graphic cards to keep a balanced inventory for gamers. Cards With Limited Hashrate Will Be the Ones Shipped Starting May According to the announcement published by the chipmaking giant, the measure will reduce the ethereum (ETH) hashrate to Geforce RTX 3080, RTX 3070, and RTX 3060 Ti graphics cards. The decision follows a similar maneuver done in February with all Geforce RTX 3060 cards. Nvidia pointed out that the new graphic cards will be shipped in late May, although a specific date was not provided as of press time. However, the chipmaker clarified that reduced hashrate only applies to manufactured cards with the “LHR” (Lite Hash Rate) identifier and not with graphic cards already purchased. On t...

Australians have been learning more and more about cryptocurrencies but it turns out some myths and misconceptions are still widespread among the general public Down Under. As a most stunning example, over half of the participants in a new poll by Finder believe Elon Musk invented the first crypto network, Bitcoin. Finder Tests Australians With 8 Questions About Bitcoin The comparison website Finder.com has recently surveyed 1,000 Australians to gauge their knowledge about Bitcoin. The study, conducted through its Consumer Sentiment Tracker, found that a staggering 98% of the respondents were unable to answer correctly a total of 8 true or false questions regarding the cryptocurrency. “Bitcoin is not taxed” produced the most obvious discrepancy with reality, with 59% of the participants determining that the statement is true. Cryptocurrency profits, Finder notes, may be treated either as income or an investment for tax purposes. “When you sell it, you’ll need to pay capital gain...

The Indian government is reportedly looking to form a new “panel of experts” to focus on ways to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in the country. “There is a view within the government that the recommendations made by Subhash Garg are dated and a fresh look is needed at use of cryptos rather than a total ban,” local media reported. Indian Government Re-Examining Crypto Bill The Indian government is considering forming a new “panel of experts to study the possibility of regulating cryptocurrency in India,” The Economic Times reported Wednesday, citing three sources privy of the discussions. The committee could be exploring the use of blockchain technology and suggesting ways to regulate cryptos as digital assets instead of a currency. It may also study ways to operationalize the digital rupee to be created by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). An official familiar with the matter told the publication: There is a view within the government that the recommendatio...

A new bill obliging candidates running for election in Russia to declare their spending on digital assets has hit the floor of the State Duma. According to the draft, Russian politicians will be required to disclose details about every crypto purchase they and their families make, if the total exceeds a certain amount. Candidates to Provide Details About Their Cryptocurrency Dealings The Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has adopted on first reading a draft law that will incorporate the disclosure of cryptocurrency purchases into Russia’s electoral legislation. Candidates running for government positions will have to reveal the amounts they have invested to acquire digital financial assets, a term encompassing digital currencies. The bill , which has been proposed by the government, introduces necessary amendments following the adoption of the Law “On Digital Financial Assets and Digital Currency,” business news agency Prime reported. It will oblige election runn...

While crypto markets, in general, have been dropping significantly in value, the decentralized finance (defi) economy has shaved more than $21 billion during the last week. Statistics show that the total-value locked (TVL) in defi touched $87 billion on May 11, and since then the aggregate total has slid to $66 billion in value. Weekly Stats Show Defi’s Total-Value Locked Metric Loses $21 Billion, TVL Drops 24% Decentralized finance (defi) has been a very popular subject in 2021, as the economy’s TVL has accrued billions of dollars in just a few short months. Last week, the TVL in the defi economy according to defipulse.com data had shown the defi economy came awfully close to reaching $100 billion when it tapped $87 billion last Tuesday. Eight days later, the TVL in defi has shed more than 24% dropping to $66.6 billion on May 19. For example, crypto-assets leveraged in the defi economy like ethereum ( ETH ), binance coin ( BNB ), and the slew of ERC20 assets in existence, have a...

The vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, has warned that crypto assets are “not a real investment” and are “subject to a lot of volatility.” His comments followed massive sell-offs across a broad range of cryptocurrencies. ECB VP Says Crypto Is Not a Real Investment European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos has warned about cryptocurrency investing in an interview with Bloomberg Wednesday. Referring to cryptocurrency, he said, “This is an asset with very weak fundamentals and that is going to be subject to a lot of volatility,” adding: When you have difficulties to find out what are the real fundamentals of an investment, then what you’re doing is not a real investment. His comment came amid sell-offs in a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s price briefly fell below $30K on some exchanges, such as Bitfinex. However, the price has recovered slightly and is hovering around the $38K level currently. In its Financial Stability ...

The Coronavirus pandemic has driven people to take advantage of new business lines to deal with the economic crisis, and cryptocurrency is once again a headliner. Internet cafe owners in China are using their facilities to set up crypto mining farms after temporarily shutting down in 2020. Owners Are Earning Around $6,200 Monthly According to Sina , quoting a recently published report, almost 13,000 internet-fueled cafes that operate 24 hours a day, are depending on their high-end computers to mine digital assets, as their PCs were originally conditioned for gamers. Some of them claim to earn over 40,000 yuan ($6,200) worth in virtual currencies on a monthly basis. The report states that some owners are even using 200 computers to run mining operations. Wang Xi, a Chinese internet cafe proprietary, commented that the attendance in his business is still “not high.” “Working days are less than 50%, and mining is done when computers are idle,” he added. The cafe-based mining farm o...

The Bitcoin Pizza initiative, a new endeavor promoted by Bitcoin influencer Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, that seeks to fund Bitcoin development while remembering Lazlo Hanyecz’s legendary pizza purchase, was launched yesterday. While being applauded by some, it also raised a lot of criticism from the cryptocurrency community due to its proposition. Bitcoin Pizza Initiative Launched Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano, the known cryptocurrency influencer, launched a new endeavor called Bitcoin Pizza. The business objective is to remember the now mythical purchase that Lazlo Hanyecz made 11 years ago, while helping the bitcoin developer community at the same time. The initiative includes bitcoin users, local businesses in 10 different U.S. cities, and custom packaging to create a new brand for this purpose. Today I am announcing Bitcoin Pizza – a new national pizza brand that is launching in 10 cities. The first pizzas will be delivered this Saturday, which is the 11 year anniversary of the ...

Unsurprisingly, the pandemic has driven many of us to rely on digital forms of payments over  cash. In fact, 25% of US consumers use less cash now than before March 2020. Additionally, government policies around the world are now pushing towards digital currency adoption to foment contactless payments. For example, China’s central bank branch is … Continued The post The Global Shift to Explore CBDCs appeared first on Ripple. http://dlvr.it/S00h6R

PRESS RELEASE. AscendEX, formerly BitMax, an industry-leading digital asset trading platform built by Wall Street quant trading veterans, is excited to announce the listing of the Hathor Token (HTR) under the trading pair USDT/HTR on May 19 at 1:00 p.m. UTC. Hathor is a scalable and easy-to-use blockchain for digital assets. Hathor Network is a PoW-based novel distributed ledger architecture using both directed acyclic graph (DAG) and blockchain data structures. Built with scalability, usability, and decentralization in mind, their network uses the HTR token’s unique design to solve significant bottlenecks preventing the broad adoption of blockchain technology. The solution that Hathor proposes to address the problems of scalability and decentralization maintenance among distributed ledger networks includes a chain of mined blocks inside a DAG of transactions. The blockchain is designed for enhanced security when the number of transactions per second is small, whereas the DAG pr...

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Bitcoin and a slew of digital assets have seen massive drops in value during the last few days, while the top two leading crypto assets bitcoin and ethereum have been battling for market supremacy. This week, bitcoin’s towering dominance over the crypto economy has dropped to a three-year low tapping 41.9%, while ethereum’s market cap has captured 18.6% of the crypto economy. Now a recently published Benzinga poll shows survey participants believe ethereum will “crush” bitcoin’s 2021 year-end return. Over 80% of Traders Polled by Benzinga Believe Ethereum Will Outperform Bitcoin by the Year’s End Benzinga, a fintech media and data company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan has published a report called “Ethereum Predicted to Crush Bitcoin’s ROI in 2021.” The survey has obtained data from 100 cryptocurrency traders and investors and many believe ethereum will soon be the top crypto asset. 80.8% polled in Benzinga’s survey indicate that ETH will outperform BTC “through the end of ...

Cryptocurrency sell-off is not a systematic concern for the Fed and does not affect Fed’s policies, two Federal Reserve Bank presidents said Wednesday. “We are all quite aware that crypto can be very volatile,” said the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Crypto Sell-off Does Not Change Fed Policy Two Federal Reserve Bank presidents have commented on the steep sell-off in cryptocurrencies Wednesday. St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard, who firmly believes that cryptocurrency poses no threat to the U.S. dollar, said: By itself I don’t see that as a systemic concern at this point. We are all quite aware that crypto can be very volatile. Bullard said in February that whether “bitcoin price goes up or down” it “doesn’t really affect” the Fed policies. He added that the cryptocurrency is no threat to the USD because “investors want a safe haven. They want a stable store of value, and then they want to conduct their investments in that currency.” Anothe...