USD 10K+ Crypto Transfers & IRS, Central Banks on Crypto Volatility + More News
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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Tax news
- The US Treasury said the Biden administration’s proposal to strengthen tax compliance includes a requirement for transfers of at least USD 10,000 of crypto to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service, Bloomberg reported. “As with cash transactions, businesses that receive cryptoassets with a fair market value of more than USD 10,000 would also be reported on. Although cryptocurrency is a small share of current business transactions, such comprehensive reporting is necessary to minimize the incentives and opportunity to shift income out of the new information reporting regime,” the Treasury said.
In an explanation – Form 8300 and Reporting Cash Payments of Over USD 10,000 – the IRS says that a “person” who must file Form 8300 includes an individual, company, corporation, partnership, association, trust or estate.” Bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH) dropped following the news. At 16:27 UTC, BTC trades at USD 39,608 and is still up by 6% in a day, ETH dropped by 8% in an hour, reaching USD 2,706 and almost erasing all its gains in the past 24 hours.
Investments news
- The current crypto market volatility is of no concern to the US economy as a whole, two Federal Reserve policymakers claim, Reuters reported. St. Louis Federal Reserve president James Bullard said that “By itself I don’t see that as a systemic concern at this point,” adding that the crypto volatility is something they’re already “aware of.” However, at the same time, Norway’s central bank warned that dramatic price swings in crypto assets could spell trouble for the banking system if lenders continue to increase such investments. Also, the Bank of Canada said volatility in cryptocurrency assets is an emerging vulnerability to the country’s financial system.
- US banking giant Wells Fargo & Co said its investment institute is planning to evaluate and onboard an actively managed cryptocurrency strategy for its wealthy clients, Reuters reported. The Wells Fargo Investment Institute said it views digital assets as an alternative investment for qualified investors through a professionally managed fund, the report added.
- Digital wallet Eco said that some of the world’s most prominent cultural icons participated in its recent fundraising of more than USD 26m — alongside a16z Crypto, Founders Fund, and more than one hundred others. These investors included Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Thirty Five Ventures, Carmelo Anthony and Stuart Goldfarb’s Melo7 Tech Partners, Tiffany Haddish, Justin Blau, Larry Fitzgerald, Keisuke Honda, and Kelvin Beachum Jr.
- Figure Technologies, the blockchain-based startup co-founded by Mike Cagney, said it is closing a USD 200m Series D funding round at a USD 3.2bn valuation. 10T Holdings and Morgan Creek Digital are co-leading the round and joined by new and existing investors including DCM, Digital Currency Group, HCM Capital, Ribbit Capital, RPM Ventures, the partners at DST Global and others.
- Cryptocurrencies.AI, a centralized and decentralized exchange, said it has secured more than USD 8m in investment “in a move to overcome exchange fragmentation and poor user experience in crypto.” Alameda Research, Alphabit, DFG, AU21, Master Ventures, Fomocraft Ventures, Protocol Ventures, A195, GBIC, and Rarestone Capital were listed among the investors.
- Won Hee-ryong, the Governor of Jeju Island, a semi-autonomous province of South Korea, has become the first leading politician in the country to admit he made crypto investments. Won stated that he bought BTC, ETH, the somesing (SSX) token and the Kakao-issued klay (KLAY) token, reported Chosun. The Governor has previously made headlines in South Korea by seeking to use the island’s special legal system to work around a nationwide ban on initial coin offerings (ICOs). He stated that he had made around USD 900 worth of crypto purchases and added that he thought that crypto investment was “something I needed to do.”
- Digital asset financial platform Matrixport will use APIs by peer-to-peer payment infrastructure provider Circle to onboard fiat funds, automatically settled in the latter’s own stablecoin, USD Coin (USDC). Using international wire transfers, Matrixport users can add value to their digital asset accounts for purchasing cryptoassets, Circle said.
NFTs news
- A lawsuit was filed against NFT issuer Dapper Labs, Inc and their CEO in the state of New York, as the plaintiffs allege that their NBA Top Shot Moments are unregistered securities, per a report published by Forbes. However, neither the NBA nor the NBA Players Association were sued.
- Tezos (XTZ) is the new official blockchain partner of Red Bull Racing Honda, and the partnership will see an exclusive NFT line launching on the Tezos blockchain. “Tezos will help us maximize our engagement with our fans through the development of NFTs,” Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing Honda Team Principal and CEO, was quoted as saying in an announcement.
- Football legend Sir Kenny Dalglish, formerly of Liverpool FC and the Scottish National Team, and current Manchester City player Riyad Mahrez will be creating NFT memorabilia in partnership with NEM Group. The NFTs are powered by NEM (XEM)’s platform Symbol, according to an announcement.
Mining news
- Crypto mining company BIT Mining Limited said it has entered into a binding investment term sheet with Dory Creek, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bitdeer, to invest in a crypto mining data center in Texas. BIT Mining aims to invest USD 25.7m and jointly construct and operate the Texas Mining Center with Dory Creek. The total power capacity of the Texas Mining Center is 57.2 MW, with more than 85% of its power generated by clean and low-carbon energy, they said.
- The government of Kazakhstan has announced that crypto miners in the country will likely have to pay tax, reported Tengri News. The country’s senate is set to vote on a draft bill that, if passed, will see the measure passed into law before the year’s end, with promulgation expected on January 1, 2022. Rather than tax them on their mining profits, however, tax bodies would oblige miners to pay tax on the amount of electricity they consume – and miners would be charged per kw/h of usage.
Scam news
- The US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is not asking people for BTC in order to release back to you some fictitious funds, an alert from the institution warned. The scam message claims that “IMF.UNITED NATIONS and WORLD BANK have made a new policy that any debt or payment belonging to an individual above USD 1M should be paid through a bitcoin wallet address.” The OCC stressed that they do not participate in holding funds for other entities in the first place.
Wallet news
- Blockchain security company CoolBitX has released CoolWallet Pro, a crypto wallet that features “increased coin support” and “expansive staking features,” according to an emailed press release. DeFi, dapp, and NFT in-app integration will be available for CoolWallet Pro users in the third quarter this year, they added.
Exchanges news
- Kraken has onboarded venture capital firm Tribe Capital’s Co-founder and Partner Arjun Sethi as the third board member of the exchange, Bloomberg reported. Tribe is Kraken’s second-largest investor, as it has spent USD 120m on primary and secondary equity investments since December 2020.
Blockchain news
- The Japanese conglomerate Hitachi and the real estate giant Sekisui House are set to begin piloting blockchain-powered rental and utilities contracts. Per EnterpriseZine, the companies will use a prototype platform that will allow renters to make rent payments to property owners and pay water bills to a state-run provider. The firms have been cooperating with housing authorities and the water provider in the city of Osaka on a project that will see them run the pilot in rental properties in Osaka owned by Sekisui House. A domestic blockchain provider named Nexchain will provide the platform solution.
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(Updated at 16:45 UTC: more details have been added in the first paragraph.)
