Bitcoin News and Finance: What You Need to Know

The global crypto community has actively supported humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and two crypto exchanges are also looking to help Ukrainian refugees abroad. Binance, the largest coin trading platform, and the Ukrainian Whitebit have turned their attention to the Ukrainians who had to leave their country as a result of Russia’s invasion. Binance to Launch Charity Crypto Card for Ukrainian Citizens Escaping Conflict The world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, will launch a “charity crypto card” this month for those who have been forced to leave Ukraine and need help, Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov announced on Telegram, following a conversation with the company’s CEO Changpeng Zhao. “This is an important support for our citizens during the war,” the government official stated, quoted by the crypto news outlet Forklog. He noted that the exchange continues to work with his department on cryptocurrency adoption and plans to support educationa...

Left your crypto taxes until the last second? Here’s how to get your crypto taxes done by April 18 with the least amount of friction possible. The IRS has been really clear that cryptocurrency is definitely taxed – and that they’re able to track crypto investments through various channels. In brief, crypto is subject to Capital Gains Tax and sometimes Income Tax. You’ll pay long-term Capital Gains Tax between 0% to 20% or you’ll pay short-term Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax between 10% to 37%, depending on your Income Tax bracket. Let’s just cut to the chase with what you need to do to report your crypto tax by April 18. Get a comprehensive view of all your crypto dealings, from every exchange – and the very beginning of your trading journey. Aggregate your complete trading history into a single chronological record – and in US dollar terms. Identify your capital gains and separate the total into long-term and short term gains. Identify your income from crypto. You can file...

Britain’s top financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), has allowed five crypto firms to continue to operate in the U.K. with temporary registration. The deadline for crypto firms to register with the FCA was last week but these five firms’ applications are still pending. Five Crypto Firms Can Continue to Operate in the UK With Temporary Registration The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) updated its list of crypto asset firms with temporary registration Thursday. There are now five firms on the list: Cex.io Ltd., Copper Technologies (UK) Ltd., Globalblock Ltd., Revolut Ltd., and Moneybrain Ltd. At the end of March, the British financial regulator said that it extended the registration deadline for some crypto firms to meet its regulatory requirements. At that time, there were 12 firms on the temporary registration list. Companies that are not on the latest list cannot continue to operate after April 1. The financial regulator has registered 33 firms altoge...

The third-richest billionaire in Mexico, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, has shared his experience of living through hyperinflation. He warned that the U.S. and several other civilized countries are “going exactly the same route” his country went through in the 1980s. Mexican Billionaire Warns About Inflation Mexico’s third-richest billionaire, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, gave some advice Thursday regarding inflation, hyperinflation, bitcoin, and fiat currencies at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Florida. Salinas is the founder and chairman of Grupo Salinas, a group of companies with interests in telecommunications, media, financial services, and retail stores. According to Forbes’ list of billionaires, his net worth is about $13 billion currently. The billionaire began by sharing his own experience living with inflation. “I was making $2,000 in 1980 and a few years later I was making 20 bucks — the same salary was down from 2,000 to 20 bucks,” he said, adding: So I know about hyperin...

Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has suggested making the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) a payment option for the Twitter Blue subscription service. Musk is now Twitter’s biggest shareholder. He recently joined the social media giant’s board of directors and promised to bring “significant improvement” to Twitter. Elon Musk Suggests Allowing Payments in Dogecoin Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and Spacex, has actively been engaging Twitter’s users regarding potential improvements to the social media platform since he took a 9.2% stake in the company and joined its board of directors. He has promised to make “ significant improvements ” to the platform. One of the ideas he has been discussing on Twitter concerns the authentication checkmark. Musk suggested that everyone who signs up for the Twitter Blue subscription service and pays $3 a month should get an authentication checkmark. Replying to a user asking for the fee to be lower in Argentina since an entire family eats for $3 the...

On Friday, Grant McCarty, the director of policy and public affairs at Bitcoin Magazine, announced the launch of three political efforts aimed at bolstering bitcoin public policy at the Bitcoin 22 conference in Miami. McCarty revealed the Bitcoin Advocacy Project (BAP), the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI) and an independent expenditure-only political committee called the Financial Freedom PAC. 3 Newly Launched Political Efforts Aim to ‘Bring About an Orange Wave Across Washington’ A new bitcoin-themed Super PAC has been launched to help “elect bitcoin champions.” According to the Financial Freedom PAC website introduced by Bitcoin Magazine’s Grant McCarty, the new Super PAC supports “candidates that aim to defend and uphold the following rights of bitcoin owners in the United States.” In recent times, bureaucrats have unveiled a number of regulatory policies toward digital currencies and many fear that strict crypto regulation can stifle technological innovation. Basically, a Sup...

On Sunday, April 10, 2022, the Terra (LUNA) project and Luna Foundation Gaurd (LFG) acquired 4,130 bitcoin worth $176.1 million at the time of settlement. Using today’s bitcoin exchange rates, LFG now has a total of 39,897.98 bitcoin worth $1.7 billion. Luna Foundation Gaurd Obtains $176 Million in Bitcoin for the UST Decentralized Forex Reserve Two days ago, the Luna Foundation Gaurd (LFG) announced a partnership with the Avalanche Foundation and disclosed it would be purchasing $100 million worth of avalanche (AVAX) in an over-the-counter (OTC) exchange. The $100 million in AVAX is meant to diversify the reserves held for the project’s UST Decentralized Forex Reserve. Terrausd or UST is Terra’s (LUNA) algorithmic stablecoin and LFG has also been backing the forex reserve with bitcoin ( BTC ). Four days ago, on April 6, LFG acquired 5,040 bitcoin ( BTC ) which pushed the stash up to 35,767.98 bitcoin. Today, on April 10, LFG obtained another large amount of BTC as it deposited ...

Another week has passed in the action-packed world of crypto, so it’s time to kick back, take stock of the situation, and enjoy this week’s bite-sized digest of the hottest crypto news from the past seven days. On the menu this go-round is Tesla CEO Elon Musk talking about Twitter’s ‘single most annoying problem,’ a deep dive into the world of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT gains, a pile of bitcoins connected to Mt Gox still shrouded in mystery, and tax developments in Indonesia. Without further ado, this is the Bitcoin.com News Week in Review. Elon Musk Promises to Make ‘Significant Improvements’ to Twitter — Calls Crypto Spam Bots ‘Single Most Annoying Problem’ Tesla and Spacex CEO Elon Musk has joined Twitter’s board of directors and promised to “make significant improvements” to the social media platform. Some changes he is considering include adding an edit button and solving the crypto spam bot problem, which he sees as the “single most annoying problem on Twitter.” Read More An...

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation has revised a draft law designed to regulate the country’s crypto space, introducing provisions for cryptocurrency mining. The bill has been resubmitted to the government and may be adopted during the parliament’s spring session. Updated Law ‘On Digital Currency’ Filed With Russian Government Russia’s Ministry of Finance has amended a bill intended to implement comprehensive rules for the Russian cryptocurrency sector. The latest version now takes into account the positions announced by other government institutions on the matter, the department announced Friday. The finalized draft law “On Digital currency” has been returned to the cabinet of ministers in Moscow. The legislation, which was initially submitted to the federal government in February, aims to regulate crypto transactions in Russia as well as the activities of crypto market players. It was prepared to fill the regulatory gaps left after the adoption of the law “On Dig...

The HBAR foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to accelerate the development of the Hedera Hashgraph ecosystem, has announced the launch of a new Metaverse fund. The fund, which launches with $250 million, will serve to entice builders and programmers to bring their metaverse products to the Hedera network and make use of its decentralized ledger technologies. HBAR Foundation Wants the Metaverse to Happen on Hedera The battle for the metaverse is intensifying, and many organizations are offering incentives for these experiences to be built using their own infrastructures. The HBAR Foundation, an organization devoted to the growth of the Hedera Hashgraph ecosystem and the apps on it, has announced the launch of the THF Metaverse Fund that will offer $250 million in incentives to programmers that want to bring their metaverse apps to life by using Hedera Hashgraph’s tools. On why the HBAR Foundation believes that Hedera is an ideal platform for metaverse inspired apps, it st...

European institutions are closing crypto loopholes for Russia with the latest package of penalties imposed by the EU over Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine. The new sanctions prohibit the provision of “high-value” crypto-asset services to Russian entities and residents. EU Limits Russian Crypto Wallet Deposits to €10,000 Expanding its sanctions in response to the Russian military assault on Ukraine, the European Union has again targeted cryptocurrencies. On Friday, the European Commission, the executive body in Brussels, welcomed the fifth round of restrictions agreed upon by the Council of the EU. They have been tailored to “further contribute to ramping up economic pressure on the Kremlin and cripple its ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine.” The new Council regulation, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, bans the provision of “high-value” crypto-asset services to the Russian Federation. It applies to crypto wallet, account, or custody services fo...

Billionaire Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel has compiled a list of bitcoin’s enemies, the “finance gerontocracy” he said is stopping the price of the cryptocurrency from soaring a hundred times. Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett tops the list. Thiel called him “the sociopathic grandpa of Omaha.” Peter Thiel Unveils List of Bitcoin’s Enemies Billionaire Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel shared his list of enemies stopping bitcoin from rising 100x Thursday while speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Florida. The “enemies list [is] a list of people who I think are stopping bitcoin,” he said. “There’s a lot of them, they tend to have nameless faceless bureaucrat perspectives, which is of course one of the ways they hide.” Thiel continued: We are going to try to expose them and realize that this is sort of what we have to fight for bitcoin to go up 10x, 100x from here. “The central banks are going bankrupt. We are at the end of the fiat money regime,” he said. The first p...

Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has predicted that trillions of dollars will flow into cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. In addition, he said bitcoin mining will “save the world.” O’Leary Says ‘Spigots of Capital’ Will Flood Into Crypto Like You’ve Never Seen Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary gave a keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2022 conference Thursday. He said that based on his experience in the indexing business, “massive pools of capital, these trillion-dollar pools” are waiting for policy. They currently own zero or very little crypto. “It’s the purvey of high net worth individuals, hedge funds, and retail investors,” he clarified. Mr. Wonderful detailed: What we’re missing is policy. When we get policy and the regulator regulates, that’s not a negative thing. The spigots of capital are going to flood into this sector like you’ve never seen. “So for those of us that can invest in it now, you are going to get ahead of what’s going to be a huge wave of i...

The mayor of the U.S. city of Miami, Florida, has unveiled his “Vision for Bitcoin America 2024.” Stressing that the U.S. needs to elect a pro-bitcoin president, he said “we need to integrate bitcoin into every aspect of our society” this year and “unleash the macro power of bitcoin.” Miami’s Mayor’s Vision of Bitcoin America Miami Mayor Francis Suarez talked about bitcoin at the Bitcoin 2022 conference that’s taking place in his city this week. The pro-bitcoin mayor has led several bitcoin initiatives in his city and state. His salary is already paid in bitcoin and his city employees can choose to be paid in bitcoin. “I need to articulate a vision for this country,” he said. “The vision is simple. I call it: Vision for Bitcoin America 2024.” Suarez explained that it has three points, stating: The first is we need to elect pro-bitcoin candidates, and yes the next president of the United States has to be a pro-bitcoin candidate. “Because what’s at stake is federal legislation th...

Global markets company and Chicago-based derivatives exchange CME Group plans to launch 11 new reference rates tied to specific crypto assets. The reference rates and real-time indices bolstered by CF Benchmarks are typically leveraged by exchange-traded products and other investment vehicles. 11 Crypto Assets Get Reference Rate Treatment From CME Group and CF Benchmarks CME Group is adding 11 more cryptocurrencies to the firm’s existing bitcoin and ethereum reference rates. Crypto reference rates like the CME CF Reference Rates are often used as a benchmark for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other financial products. The new rates cover polygon, solana, stellar, algorand, bitcoin cash, cardano, chainlink, uniswap, cosmos, litecoin, and polkadot values. Pricing data for the benchmarks will be provided by Bitstamp, Coinbase, Gemini, Itbit, Kraken, and LMAX. Each coin will leverage two exchanges, CME Group’s announcement discloses. “As the digital asset market continues to expand...

The head of the South African central bank has insisted that regulators and policymakers should be involved in directing any potential move to markets that are based on distributed ledger technology (DLT). Pondering the Implications of Innovation The governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Lesetja Kganyago, has argued that central banks, regulators, and policymakers should and must play a role in “shaping a potential move to DLT-based markets.” According to Kganyago, these stakeholders can achieve this objective by “pondering the implications of innovation, promoting responsible innovation for the public good.” In addition, they can also do this by “informing an appropriate policy and regulatory response.” In his virtual address following the launch of the Project Khokha 2 (PK 2) report, Kganyago shared his views concerning the future of central banks in a world that is based on the principles of decentralization. He said: From a regulatory perspective, I think it is...

Sky Mavis, the company behind the play-to-earn (P2E) game Axie Infinity, announced it has raised $150 million in a funding round to replenish the funds the company lost in the Ronin Network exploit. The funding round — which was led by Binance and had the participation of companies like Animoca Brands, a16z, Dialectic, Paradigm, and Accel — constitutes part of the actions the company is taking to recover its ecosystem and reimburse users. Sky Mavis Raises Funds to Replenish Its Ronin Bridge Sky Mavis, the operator of Axie Infinity, a recognized play-to-earn (P2E) video game in the Web3 ecosystem, has finally announced the actions it will take to recover the funds lost and restore trust in its Ronin Network. The company revealed a funding round where it raised $150 million, led by Binance with the participation of companies in the play-to-earn field like Animoca Brands, and other firms like a16z, Dialectic, Paradigm, and Accel. On the participation of Binance in this round, Changpe...

Johannes Gawaxab, the governor of the Bank of Namibia (BON), has said his organization is planning to launch a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The governor, however, warns the launch might have implications for financial stability. BON Researching CBDCs The BON governor, Johannes Gawaxab, recently confirmed that the central bank is now planning to launch a CBDC. He confirmed the BON has already started researching CBDCs which, according to him, are now a “reality” that cannot be ignored. In remarks published by Namibia Daily News, Gawaxab hinted that the increased interest in privately issued cryptos may have forced the central bank to act. He said: The number and value of cryptocurrencies have surged, raising the possibility of a financial world operating outside the control of governments and central banks. There is thus a need for central banks to have a clear digital currency agenda to reinforce Central Bank authority over money and maintain control over the payment sy...

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar has outlined the implications of India issuing a central bank digital currency, the digital rupee. ”I think central banks would go about it in a very calibrated, graduated manner, assessing impact all along the line,” he explained. RBI’s Deputy Governor Discusses Indian Central Bank Digital Currency RBI Deputy Governor T. Rabi Sankar talked about the country’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) Thursday at an event organized by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER). He also outlined potential implications on India’s financial system and monetary policy, PTI reported. The RBI will issue a central bank digital currency this financial year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced during her budget speech in February. Prime Minister Narendra Modi described that the digital rupee will be the digital form of India’s physical rupee and will be regulated by the RBI. “The digital rupe...

A crypto-friendly special economic zone in Honduras has adopted bitcoin as legal tender, allowing the cryptocurrency to be used to pay taxes and fees. In addition, bitcoin bonds can be issued within its jurisdiction using “world-class standards for AML and KYC.” Bitcoin Operates as Legal Tender in Próspera Próspera, a special economic zone located on the island of Roatan in the Western Caribbean and the Northern Corridor of Honduras, announced Thursday that it has adopted bitcoin as legal tender. Referring to Próspera as “crypto-friendly,” the announcement details, “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies effectively operate as legal tender within its jurisdiction.” A spokesperson for Próspera told Bitcoin.com News: Próspera has no capital gains taxes, which means that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies effectively operate as legal tender in the jurisdiction. “Residents and businesses in Próspera may transact using bitcoin, Honduran Lempiras, U.S. dollars, or any other currency of t...

Amid the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the Russian ruble has managed to rebound despite the strict sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation. The country’s central bank has taken a few steps to protect the nation’s currency as the Bank of Russia revealed a fixed price for gold and rubles. Furthermore, after pegging the fiat currency to gold, on Friday Russia’s central bank announced a surprise interest rate cut that starts Monday. EU Leaders and Western Allies Create Stricter Sanctions Amid Ruble Rebound At the end of February, after the conflict started between Ukraine and Russia, the European Commission and Western allies imposed strict restrictions on the Bank of Russia’s international reserves. The sanctions sparked bank runs and the Russian ruble dropped to record lows against the U.S. dollar. With harsh sanctions still imposed against Russia and the conflict still taking place, European leaders are planning to stop Russian coal imports. On Friday, European Union (EU) leade...

With the current concerns around global energy usage, combined with increasing requirements for data processing services, many countries previously supportive of centralized data processing businesses are investigating the impact of these businesses and how they mitigate a requirement for continuous energy distribution to all sectors – commercial and private. Data processing services consume large amounts of energy in a localized physical space. The combination of energy consumption and physical footprint expansion is impacting the continuous and uninterrupted distribution of energy creating an unsustainable demand from both the commercial and private sectors. To ensure continuous availability across all markets, countries are limiting supply, terminating supply or stopping new operating licenses. However, demand for data processing requirements is not diminishing, it is growing and so alternative data processing solutions are required. Spreading energy consumption with decentralized...