Today in Crypto: FTX Proposes Possible Restart of FTX.com for ‘Dotcom Customers’, US IRS Says Income From Staking Crypto Must be Reported, Justin Sun Announces Tron-Curve Partnership and Buys $3M Wo
Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.
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Exchange news
- The defunct crypto exchange FTX‘s bankruptcy administrators filed a proposed plan that includes a possible restart of FTX.com, which would be available only to offshore customers. The latest filing detailed the division of claimants into multiple categories: FTX.com customers called “dotcom customers”, FTX.US customers, as well as users of its NFT exchange, general unsecured claims, secured claims, and subordinated claims. Each class will receive a proportional payout from the remaining pool after the preceding class’ has been settled. The document also proposes that the debtors might opt for a stake in the new exchange rather than a cash payout. The proposal also stated: “Claims by holders of FTT (whether or not held on any FTX exchange), preferred stock and equity investors in the Debtors and related claims. All these claims and interests will be canceled and extinguished as of the Effective Date and holders will not receive any distribution.”
- Binance announced that its subsidiary, Binance Japan, launched a local dedicated platform (binance.com/ja) to start onboarding new customers in Japan. Per the press release, existing customers who have global Binance accounts will get a separate notice to initiate the migration process after August 14. At the time of launch, new customers can access a suite of services that consists of spot trading, Earn products, and NFT marketplace. The exchange also plans to provide derivatives services in the future. With spot trading, it is bringing 34 tokens “as a first step,” it said, including BNB, which will be available in Japan for the first time.
Tax news
- The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a new ruling clarifying that the income earned via staking crypto is now considered gross income and must be reported as such in the tax year they were received, along with all other forms of income, including money, property, and services. The Revenue Ruling 2023-14 said that: “If a cash-method taxpayer stakes cryptocurrency native to a proof-of-stake blockchain and receives additional units of cryptocurrency as rewards when validation occurs, the fair market value of the validation rewards received is included in the taxpayer’s gross income in the taxable year in which the taxpayer gains dominion and control over the validation rewards. The fair market value is determined as of the date and time the taxpayer gains dominion and control over the validation rewards. The same is true if a taxpayer stakes cryptocurrency native to a proof-of-stake blockchain through a cryptocurrency exchange and the taxpayer receives additional units of cryptocurrency as rewards as a result of the validation.”
Investment news
- Justin Sun, the founder of the blockchain network Tron, announced a partnership between Tron and the DeFi protocol Curve. Meanwhile, a wallet tagged as belonging to Sun acquired CRV 5 million (worth $3 million at Tuesday noon UTC) from Curve founder Michael Egorov for $2 million, according to security firm PeckShield and Lookonchain analysts. It may have been an over-the-counter (OTC) deal with Egorov to purchase Curve’s CRV tokens at a lower rate than the market price, at $0.40 each. “Our joint efforts will introduce an stUSDT pool on Curve, amplifying user benefits,” Sun said in today’s announcement.
- According to the latest equity disclosure data from Nasdaq, as of June 30, 2023, major investment firm IDG Capital increased its stake in crypto mining company Bitdeer by 91,308 shares, with a total investment of approximately $0.93 million, said a press release. Bitdeer has mining datacenters deployed in the United States and Norway.
Regulation news
- Laser Digital Middle East FZE, the Dubai-based digital asset subsidiary of financial services giant Nomura, received operating license approval from Dubai’s Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) completing the final stage in VARA’s licensing process. Per the press release, this step permits Laser Digital to provide Virtual Asset (VA) Broker-Dealer Services and VA Management and Investment Services from its Dubai entity. The company is also set to launch its Trading and Asset Management businesses in the coming months, offering institutional investors OTC trading services and a range of digital asset investment products and solutions, it said.
- The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) demanded four local crypto firms – Kuna, CoinPay, GEO Pay, and Qmall – to provide financial statements for the first two quarters of 2023. According to a July document shared by Kuna exchange founder and CEO Michael Chobanian, the NBU asked the crypto businesses to provide data on operating volumes and information about the reception and transfer of funds, as well as to issue statements for all accounts from the beginning of 2023. Chobanian confirmed the news on his Telegram channel as well. “Indeed, there was such an invitation to the market. What are your guesses about the purpose of such information collection,” he asked, suggesting that the reasons are still unclear.
Adoption news
- United Arab Emirates national airline Etihad Airways will soon release a 300-edition expansion to its Polygon-based EY-ZERO1 non-fungible token (NFT) collection with a mint price of $350, according to the website. The company promised additional benefits to the holders, including Etihad Guest Silver Tier Status, priority check-in, lounge access, and the ability to stake assets to earn miles. The limited-edition release launches on August 1 and is the eleventh 3D aircraft model added to its EY-ZERO1 NFT collection first launched in July 2022. The new NFTs are designed after the Boeing 787 Dreamliner seen during a promotional tour for “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”.
