TronWeekly

Crypto World News

You are here: Home / Archives for Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency

Legislators Spurns the Proposed Crypto Tax Bill in New Hampshire

by

The New Hampshire House of Representatives downvoted the bill, sponsored by Republican Representatives Dennis Acton and Michael Yakubovich and introduced on January 3rd, 2019.

If the case was different, the bill dubbed “HB 470” might have opened up the door for the citizens of New Hampshire to pay their taxes and fees to the state in any form of Digital Currencies from July 1, 2020. The state treasure thereby had to find a third-party processor who can process the cryptocurrency transactions without charging anything to the state.

However, legislators claimed that the decision taken by the General Court’s Executive Department and Administration Committee regarding HB 470 was unwise to be implemented. They wanted it to be canceled. And so did the committee who killed the bill with a majority in the voting held in November 2019.

What changes might have been effective if the bill had passed?

The bill might have opened up the door for the citizens of New Hampshire to pay their taxes and fees to the state in any form of Digital Currencies from July 1, 2020. The state treasure thereby had to find a third-party processor who can process the cryptocurrency transactions without charging anything to the state.

The bill was proposed by two Republicans, Dennis Acton & Michael Yakubovich. It was presented on January 3, 2019. The New Hampshire House Bill 470 comprised two major clauses which were quite confusing. If taxes are allowed to be paid in cryptocurrency, then will it be allowed for full payment or partial payment? If some of the cryptocurrencies are allowed, then which all currencies will be allowed? Bitcoin? Or any other as well?

Having said that, it was surprisingly passed by the sub-committee of the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee in February last year.

Since cryptocurrencies are highly volatile in nature, it’s rates are fluctuating. This volatile nature could affect the tax collected by the state and revenue generated will fluctuate. This can indirectly create a problem in state administration.

More so, this isn’t the first of its kind, back in 2015, such Crypto Tax Bill (HB 552) was voted down by the New Hampshire Lawmakers. During that time, a similar kind of bill was passed. It was killed off in the committee phase itself.

Later in 2018, a similar bill was proposed in Arizona which was taken down and scrapped due to insufficient votes.

Presently, taxes can only be paid in U.S. Dollars at New Hampshire. If paid in any foreign currencies, it is duly returned. Ohio was the only state where cryptocurrency was accepted while paying taxes and fees to the state which eventually in due course of time, removed when the new treasurer, Robert Sprague, took the command.

Akon Is Officially The Owner of The Crypto City ‘AKON’

by

Akon, the pop star who has remained an icon in the music industry, revealed that he had finalized the plans to build his namesake “Akon City”

The singer had first made news about the city back in 2018 when CNN first reported it. Since then the plan has been progressing slowly but steadily, with construction having started in March of last year. The development was quickened for the current week when he was given permission to build on the land given to him by Macky Sall, Senegal’s President.

Akon claimed that the entire ecosystem will be completed following a proposed 10-year plan. This included a stage 2 construction phase that will begin mid-2025. The singer initially talked about the designs to construct such a city along these lines, that it could stay reasonable and add to Africa’s economy He envisioned that using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology would give the power back to the people.

The Akon City will operate solely using his cryptocurrency, ‘Akoin’

Akoin. Apart from functioning as a mode of currency, the Akoin is also expected to serve as a way to establish credit, borrow money, access government services and much more. The officials close to the development of Akoin had earlier stated the cryptocurrency’s whitepaper would be launched soon. According to the hit churning singer:

“Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology offer a more secure currency that enables people in Africa to advance themselves independent of the government. I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out. I think that blockchain and crypto could be the savior for Africa in many ways because it brings the power back to the people.”

Akon’s vision for Akoin comprises making the cryptocurrency available in all 54 African countries soon. According to the website run by the organization, Akoin was called the “uniting crypto-currency of Africa” with a promise to “empower Africa”. The singer has also repeatedly talked about how the project will not be a standalone one, but rather something that works through collaboration.

Many celebrities like Akon have delved into crypto for their own causes. In this current instance, it was Africa’s hunger for growth that was reflected in Akon’s vision. This was evidenced when he commented that Akon City would be like the fictional city of Wakanda, portrayed in the Chadwick Boseman starring Black Panther.

US Lawmakers Again Proposes Bill to Exempt Small Crypto Transactions from Taxes 

by

While the crypto community stresses the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency or bitcoin, such as the ability to use Bitcoin to buy a slice of pizza or cup of coffee – this is considered to be taxed in the U.S just like stocks are being taxed on such use-cases.

Bill to Exempt Taxes for Everyday Crypto Transactions

As an attempt to make bitcoin everyday currency such as US dollars where people don’t pay capital taxes, US lawmakers re-introduced a bill intending to exempt personal crypto transactions from taxation for capital gains. Noticeably, a bill dubbed “Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act 2020” was introduced on Thursday by the Congresswoman Suzan Delbene of Washington and the Congressman David Schweikert of Arizona.

The crux of the matter is that the Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency transactions existed without having any particular rule made for it. Such transactions were treated equally as a commodity that can be transacted similarly to other currencies. Consequently, this scenario created a problem at the time of paying the annual taxes. As such, every time you spend some Cryptocurrency, there is a possibility of a tax event to occur. So, every user had to keep information about every single Bitcoin being transacted with its value which might have appreciated or depreciated.

“Gross income of an individual shall not include capital gain, by reason of changes in exchange rates, from the disposition of virtual currency in a personal transaction (as such term is defined in section 11 988(e)). The preceding sentence shall not apply if the capital gain which would otherwise be recognized on the transaction if it exceeds $200.”

If approved, the bill will cover all the transactions that have taken place after 31st December 2019.

Coin Center, which was equally involved in pushing for the de minimis exemption said on Thursday; 

“This easy solution to an obvious problem with today’s tax treatment of Cryptocurrencies would help level the playing field for this technology.”

That said, now it is time for us to wait and watch until the bill is approved and the new amendments are brought into the action.

Bitcoin [BTC/USD] Price Analysis: Price booms as 2020 continues to shower its fortunes

by

Bitcoin [BTC/USD] Price Analysis: Price booms as 2020 continues to shower its fortunes

 

Bitcoin [BTC/USD] Price Analysis: Bitcoin‘s performance in 2020 has been the talk of the cryptocurrency town and many naysayers have now begun to backtrack on their comments about the digital asset’s fall.

The second week of 2020 has been quite fruitful for Bitcoin as its price hit its highest point since November of 2019. This event has been quite clamorous for the space as multiple proponents came forward to praise the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

At press time, Bitcoin’s price was $8293.33 with a total market cap of $150.51 billion. The market cap too has risen to one of its biggest markers since last October, another win for the currency. It is easy to say that the price rise has been random but a technical analysis will give us a deeper look.

1 hour:

Bitcoin [BTC/USD] Price Analysis:
1-hour Chart
The hourly chart for Bitcoin’s price showed multiple green candles shooting for the sky. The immediate price support for Bitcoin was lifted to $7762 after a continuous price hike for 6 days.

The Parabolic SAR was strongly below the price candles. This indicated that Bitcoin’s price would continue to stay in the bullish territory.

The Chaikin Money Flow indicator was another friend to Bitcoin’s price. The CMF was way above the zero line which meant that the capital coming into the Bitcoin market was much more than the capital leaving the market.

The Awesome Oscillator was showing burgeoning green signal after the recent bullish run. The bump in the AO meant that the Bitcoin market pressure was at a long term high.

The short term indicators all showed bullish signs, which may indicate a strong bull run for the next couple of days including a mix of price flatlines.

1 day:

Bitcoin Price Analysis:
1 Day Chart

 

Bitcoin’s daily price chart had begun to reflect the currency’s performance in the short term. The green candles had begun to take over with the last 6 markers staying green throughout. The immediate support on the daily chart was at $6626.3.

The CMF had spiked to the upper strata strongly for the first time since the middle of October 2019. The climb meant that investors were regaining their faith in Bitcoin.

The Awesome Oscillator signalled green for the first time in 2020. Together with the CMF, we can speculate that institutional investors were increasing their ramp up towards the Bitcoin industry,

The Parabolic SAR for Bitcoin’s long term price also remained bullish, a positive sign for traders. The markers remained below the price candles and assured holders that the atmosphere was bullish.

Bitcoin’s price prediction has always been tricky with analysis, with multiple factors affecting its movement. The above-mentioned Bitcoin price charts and indicators have all in tandem stated that Bitcoin’s strong start to the year will bring its dividends soon.

 

XRP Continues To Shine In Mexico As Bitso Shows Strong Numbers For MXN Pairing

by

XRP movements across different markets have been a sight to behold with various players involved in daily transactions. Sticking to its belief in cross-border transactions, XRP has made several strides in regions where normal fiat movement has been difficult.

Bitso, one of the most popular Latin American exchanges has been a platform where XRP has shone and on January 6, the liquidity index touched a new all-time high for the new year. On this particular day, the daily progress was at 92 percent with the liquidity index settling at $9.417 million. This was just $800,000 shy of the ATH at $10.189 million. After having a fairly dim final month of 2019, the Bitso XRP/MXN  ATH was created on December 30.

The noticeable hike in the liquidity index caught the eye of the community quickly because while the current ATH was formed near the $10 million mark, just a month back it was near the $6 million mark. Bitso has also pushed the trading pair on its customers in a bid to grown and expand the RippleNet US-MXN corridor. The trading pair movement is not the only feature that Bitso has planned to execute in Mexico, as the organization even launched its On-Demand Liquidity in the same region.

The above-mentioned additions came at a time when XRP was just beginning to get out of the bear rut. At the time of writing, XRP was trading for $0.21086 with a total market cap of $9.137 billion. The cryptocurrency’s value had risen right after that of Bitcoin, at a rate of 7.94 percent in 24-hour. This sudden surge even lifted XRP’s low lying 24-hour market volume, now at $1.61 billion. Brad Garlinghouse, the CEO of Ripple himself stated that they can’t control the price of XRP any more than a random Bitcoin whale. In his words:

“Yes, Ripple owns a lot of XRP, we’re very interested in the success of XRP, but the accusations of us dumping, that’s not in our best interests to do that […]. We would never do that and in fact, we’ve taken steps to lock up most of the XRP we own in escrows so we can’t touch it.”

Analyst says Bitcoin will rally soon and that community should not ‘panic’

by

The cryptocurrency market was pushed into a state of panic recently after the severe dip in prices. Bitcoin, the most popular and the biggest cryptocurrency on the planet has been one of the worst affected in this scenario as its value fell by more than $2500 within the span of ten days.

Although the situation was quite grim, Bitcoin analysts have not lost hope in the digital asset with davethewave tweeting:

“Though there is an air of panic, this is Bitcoin normal [the panic is normal also]. BTC is super-volatile. It has now corrected 50%. I’ve compressed the time in this chart to provide a visual of log growth time. As they say, good things take time.”

An analysis of Bitcoin showed that the cryptocurrency was struggling to climb back up to bullish highs. The Relative Strength Index, an indicator used to measure the ebb and flow of market pressure, was below the oversold zone. This was a sign that the selling pressure was much greater than the buying pressure, a direct correlation of the price crash.

The Chaikin Money Flow indicator had fallen way below the zero line after changes in investor sentiments. The dip in the CMF stated that the capital leaving the market had overtaken the capital flow into the Bitcoin market. Bitcoin had gone through a similar rise and fall in October when its value fell to $7440 after which it shot up to $9540. The latest bear run started from that range to settle at the current price point of $6695.

Some members of the Bitcoin community had several queries about the price prediction. The most asked question was about whether the current situation was a result of market capitulation. This was again in relation to the fact that during the beginning of November, the cryptocurrency was holding near the $9000 mark which was a surprising reversal in fortunes. The Parabolic SAR for Bitcoin also took the side of the bear as the markers continued to stay above the price candles. This was a direct prediction that before the predicted bullish parabolic move occurs, Bitcoin will have to go through some more downturns.

The ‘panic’ that davethewave talks about seems to be receding because huge Bitcoin transfers have made their mark in the space recently. This included two separate transfers of more than $300 million and $90 million each in the space of 48 hours.

Facebook CEO Fails to Promise Libra Launch Date – Here’s Why

by

Facebook’s proposed cryptocurrency Libra received massive attention ahead of its launch, but something is undoubtedly cooking as the CEO of social giant failed to commit the specific launch date of Libra.

Zuckerberg on Libra

As per the popular tech media Nikkei Asia, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg avoided specifying the launch date for their upcoming stablecoin, Libra. Although the giant seems continually contributing to the development of Libra, Zuckerberg says that;

“Obviously we want to move forward at some point soon [and] not have this take many years to roll out,” he said. “But right now I’m really focused on making sure that we do this well.”

There’s no doubt that the name Libra appears on the top bulletins often – sometimes with the positive comments by the regulator or central bank officials, and other times caught with the criticism.

However, the officials from the team Libra, including Calibra CEO David Marcus responds to the rising concern of regulators optimistically. This time, the Facebook boss shared his views on Libra in an interview with Nikkie Asia, wherein he reveals the team behind Libra is really focused on launching Libra.

As the giant is entering the financial industry, Zuckerberg informs that they’re moving forward to launch Libra with utmost caution. He notes the project is “compassionate for society” and says that “they seek to work through the issues” ahead of their appearance – and it does so by consulting with people. Zuckerberg further continued;

“And that’s a very different approach than what we might have taken five years ago. But I think it’s the right way for us to do this at the scale that we operate in.”

Libra v/s Regulators

It’s worth reminding that Bruno Le Maire, the Finance Minister of France is the latest high-profile policymaker who bashed at Libra. At the opening of an OECD conference on cryptocurrencies, Bruno Le Maire stated that the plans of launching Libra could not move in Europe until monetary sovereignty concerns were address.

Considering Libra as a threat to the sovereign currency of the nation, he says, “we cannot authorize the development of Libra on European soil.”

Commenting on the rising concerns from the regulators, he says that, ahead of launch they want to ensure “they work through all of those.” Zuckerberg’s statement fails to commit launch date of Libra – on the other side, the Calibra CEO in his earlier tweet said that they would launch Libra in 2020, as announced earlier this year.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Never miss our daily cryptocurrency news, price analysis, tips, and stories. Join us on Telegram | Twitter or subscribe to our weekly Newsletter.

The Central Bank of Brazil Updates Cryptocurrency Asset Classification

by

The Brazilian Central Bank will now follow the guidelines of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in regards to the cryptocurrency trading.

In a recent ‘External Sector Statistics’ report published by the Banco Central Do Brasil which mentioned that the bank would follow the standard rules of IMF in cryptocurrency trading. In this crypto asset classification, the buying and selling of digital assets will be categorized as non-financial products, and the bank will make a balance sheet on account of the goods.

The balance sheet of the central bank is just like a traditional balance sheet that banks use to record the financial position that is drawn from assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity.

As the trading of cryptos gets done through the foreign exchange contracts, the central bank will provide the cryptocurrency trading in their import and export statistics. Brazil being a net importer of digital assets, has reduced the trade surplus on its balance sheet.

The IMF Recommendations

The IMF recommendations mentioned in the Treatment of crypto assets in macroeconomic statistics state that,

“Despite compilers’ increasing need for advice, there has been no formal guidance on the statistical treatment of crypto assets. Neither accounting nor regulatory standards provide clear guidance either. At present, Bitcoin-like crypto-assets do not meet the definition of a financial asset and hence currency, in macroeconomic statistics.”

The IMF recommendations guide the classification for the treatment of digital assets in macroeconomic statistics based on the current statistical standards and classifications. Bitcoin and other digital tokens without counterpart liabilities should be classified as produced nonfinancial assets in a distinct sub-category under valuables.

A Positive Development for Banco Central Do Brasil

This classification update of the cryptocurrencies is substantial progress for the central bank. As it will help the bank to recognize the digital assets as goods which will allow the users to use the crypto asset as a payment system.

As per the recommendations of the IMF mentioned above, the central bank from now on will continue to follow those instructions and make progress — and let the crypto ecosystem expand all across the state.

The central bank of Brazil has been doing R&D work on cryptocurrencies, knowing the importance of fast-growing blockchain technology and how cryptocurrencies can really boost their market. The central bank was ready to make further progress in crypto and engage such a relation with the new market that would improve the economic condition of the country.

The recent update on the classification of digital assets would open new gates for the financial industry of Brasil and brings more legitimacy as well as reliability to different businesses all over the country. And of course, the awareness of the central bank on the new revolutionary technology will turn out to be very helpful for the economic growth of Brazil in long-term progress.

Overall this is a good development for the crypto market as its significance keeps on growing. This crypto asset classification will also raise a sense of competition for other banks across the world. For staying competitive, more banks will adopt this crypto asset classification. Moreover, with the top financial institutions and governments recognizing the influence of crypto industry over different sectors of life, a massive wave of crypto adoption seems to be on its way.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Never miss our daily cryptocurrency news, price analysis, tips, and stories. Join us on Telegram | Twitter or subscribe to our weekly Newsletter.

Nexo collaborates with Mastercard as the crypto loan firm introduces credit card

by

Mastercard, one of the well-known multinational financial services cooperation, has recently collaborated with the crypto loan provider Nexo to introduce crypto credit card.

Though Mastercard does not provide with the service to buy cryptocurrencies with its Credit Card, it doesn’t reflect that Mastercard is holding back from the crypto space. The recent launch of the credit card by Nexo is the first-ever crypto credit card that will let the users buy items on loan and then, later on, pay for the stuff.

The co-founder of Nexo, Antoni Trenchev, said that the Nexo Credit Card would offer users to spend the value of their cryptocurrency without really spending it. Furthermore, the card does not deem any monthly, annual, and foreign exchange fees, which makes it more attracting and favorable product for crypto users.

Comparing the Nexo credit card with the likes of Crypterium and TenX that transforms the digital currencies to fiat currencies for each transaction. Whereas, Nexo card would collateralize users crypto and then supply it with a fiat loan at the same amount.

So far, Nexo has lent almost $700 million worth of crypto to over 200K users. Through the money borrowed, users can buy different products at merchants that accept the Mastercard.

Trenchev stated that the card’s issuer has the permit (license) inside the European Economic Area. By the end of this year, Nexo plans to increase its network across different countries, and they are preparing to launch its services across Asia and the U.S.

Nexo in their press release mentioned:

“When using the Nexo Card to purchase goods and services, you actually pay using your Nexo flexible open-ended revolving credit line that is backed with your crypto holdings and thus not selling any of them, which is giving you the freedom to spend today and sell your holdings whenever you want in the future to pay back the loan.”

Once a user takes a loan through the Nexo credit card, while returning the money, they would be charged with about 8-24% interest rate that would be based upon the rules and loan structure.

While repaying their loans, users would be given both options of the fiat and crypto. Using Nexo’s token would decrease the interest rate to a massive 8%.

One significant advantage is that minimum payments will be removed in case the price of Bitcoin rises. This means that users debts would decrease if the collateralized assets escalate respective to the market, which makes the credit line ‘dynamic.’

Nexo acts under the Know Your Customer (KYC) protocol and goes after the international sanctions. Moreover, the blockchain investigators are linked with the crypto firm to inspect any illegal activity through a process called ‘Chainalysis.’ This keeps a proper check and balance in the entire ecosystem.

The Nexo official added that in case if the cryptocurrencies collapse, users would either have to deposit more crypto, pay a part of their loan to reduce exposure, or sell a portion of their collateral to restore the loan-to-value ratio.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Never miss our daily cryptocurrency news, price analysis, tips, and stories. Join us on Telegram | Twitter or subscribe to our weekly Newsletter.

Facebook Libra’s potential competitor; Huawei’s CEO recommends China to develop its own Crypto 

by

The technology war between China and U.S. seems to enter a new phase, where we might see China bringing up its very own cryptocurrency to compete Facebook’s Libra, persists Huawei CEO.

In the recent past, we have seen how trading tensions between the U.S. and China has increased. President Donald J. Trump banned Huawei in the U.S. residing beside the reason that Huawei is a security threat to America. With all this said, China has emerged as a new economic power, and it is a threat to U.S. and American companies.

Recently, the CEO of Chinese telecom corporation, Huawei, in an interview to Italian media channel said that China should come up with its own cryptocurrency, crypto that should be backed by the state.

In reply to a question regarding the Facebook crypto, Libra, Ren Zhengfei said that China has the full capacity to create its own digital currency, why should they wait for Libra. Adding further to the debate, Ren replied that a state possesses greater strength than an Internet company.

Making a strong point, Ren said that the time has come for the Chinese government to forestall Facebook’s digital currency. Ren was not certainly looking to make a comparison between Huawei and the social media mammoth though he mentioned that how Huawei has made development in the blockchain field, joining the Hyperledger consortium and the launch of cloud service backed by blockchain.

Since Libra’s emergence, the world media has given it an ultra-hype because Facebook owns it. Libra can come up on top because of the userbase that FB has, which is nearly around 3 billion. This is a massive plus for Libra, and we can see the core focus is to take the online monetary system to the doorstep of poor and unbanked.

Libra being owned by an American company can be exasperating for rival nations, especially China. That’s the reason why Ren wants China to develop its own crypto to attain supremacy against the U.S.

Huawei’s CEO didn’t mention that the company has any sort of intentions to create its own Libra-kind crypto. At the moment, Huawei is more focused on what they are doing. They have already given some tough time to Apple and have really succeeded in launching 5G. But who knows in future, Huawei comes up with its own cryptocurrency? It wouldn’t be a bad idea to target Facebook’s Libra.

So far, Libra is looking to satisfy the U.S. regulatory authorities and explain to them regarding the global currency system proposed by Facebook. So, Libra is yet to have clearance from U.S authorities. Though Mark Zuckerberg claims to have full- acquiescence with the lawmakers. According to the plans, Libra is set to launch by 2020.

In the meanwhile, China’s central bank members emphasized that Libra possess a particular danger, and it can have adverse effects on China’s economy. Libra’s ominous sign could drive the state to thing about creating its own digital currency.

Disclaimer: The presented information is subjected to market condition and may include the very own opinion of the author. Please do your ‘very own’ market research before making any investment in cryptocurrencies. Neither the writer nor the publication (TronWeekly.com) holds any responsibility for your financial loss.

Never miss our daily cryptocurrency news, price analysis, tips, and stories. Join us on Telegram | Twitter or subscribe to our weekly Newsletter.