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South Korea Becomes Latest Country to Consider Cryptocurrency Taxation, Final Decision to be Made in September

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The cryptocurrency industry has been under the scanner of financial regulators since it first came to the limelight. With the increasing popularity of virtual assets such as Bitcoin, countries across the globe have begun to take steps to see that it is being treated as an asset under their purview.

Just recently, South Korea announced that it will join the list of countries that tax cryptocurrencies. Officials in the South Korean financial sphere have stated that taxation will always be present wherever there is a source of income. South Korea first came up with the idea of cryptocurrency taxation in 2017 but was then shelved due to implementation issues.

The South Korean Ministry of Strategy and Finance has made it clear that traders, ICOs, and mining operations will all have to tax on their profits. Officials of the finance authority shall prepare an amendment to the tax rules to ensure that cryptocurrencies are now included within the umbrella. The first announcement relating to the new rule is expected to take place in September, with regular assembly presentations planned for September.

Reports added that the Ministry of Finance also intended to consider taxes on capital gains and other taxes on income for both domestic and foreign countries. South Korean financial officials also pointed out that other countries have followed the tax model, with the US and France as main examples. A Ministry of Information and Technology said:

“We are looking at ways to tax if profits are made through transactions, mining, and public offerings (ICOs) in accordance with the principle of ‘taxation where income is located’. There are few countries that impose VAT and transaction taxes abroad, and they are not considering the introduction.”

Although the government sees taxation as a viable option, cryptocurrency experts say otherwise. The imposition of such a task becomes difficult because it is possible to avoid a legal network by carrying out interpersonal transactions. After South Korea first considered cryptocurrency taxation, 20 countries have implemented the same concept.

One of the main reasons for the slowdown is the sheer scale and complexity of the tax burden. Even the Chairman of the Korea Blockchain Association Tax Commission has confirmed that it would take at least 3-4 years for a concrete tax model to come to fruition. South Korea is also host to the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. If the new tax laws are to come into effect early, it will be interesting to see how these bodies will react to the changes.

Ethereum Co-Founder Launches Polkadot After Competitors Look to Keep Up With the Development Craze

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Developments in the cryptocurrency industry have not been few and short in between as many organizations in the space have taken up the challenge. The latest company to join the bandwagon of updates was Polkadot, a company founded by former Ethereum CTO Gavin Wood.

According to recent releases, Polkadot will provide peer-to-peer applications, economies and businesses to people in the right field. Polkadot’s main objective is to connect several chains together in a unifying network. This will allow chains to make rational decisions on a unified network.

Polkadot’s latest releases suggested that its designs were far superior to those of its existing counterparts. The Polkadot spokesperson also addressed the advantages witnessed on its platform. Polkadot ‘s designs often take advantage of heterogeneous sharding, scalability, upgradeability, and transparent governance, and cross-chain composability. Polkadodot recently talked about its starting point and how it was a launch pad for other firms in the industry.

Dr. Gavin Wood, the founder of the Web3 Foundation stated:’

“Polkadot is, in many respects, the biggest bet in this ecosystem against chain maximalism. Even if there were one perfect chain, I don’t think it would stay perfect for very long. I would argue that it’s really not such a good plan to be so focused on backing one winner above all others,” Dr. Wood noted, when discussing the vision for Polkadot.

Polkadot has a range of goals built into its itinerary. This ranges from a domain-specific chain that has its own parameterization to smart contracts that can make your bid faster than ever before. Dr. Wood candidly mentioned that Polkadot had learned from all walks of life back in 2015 when Ethereum was first conceptualized. Polkadot also intends to give priority to developers in a world where they are often left behind.

The latest protocol governance system will allow the Polkadot network to innovate and expand much faster than the mainstream legacy networks. This may pave the way for accelerating the development of mainstream decentralized applications. One small aspect of Polkadot that goes fairly unnoticed is its contribution to network security. By implementing the “Sudo Module,” developers claim that others will be able to execute critical logical calculations as well as security audits.

If Polkadot can keep all its promises, it will become one of the first few sharded blockchains to be capable of carrying out its processes. Officials close to the company stated that this would set a new precedent for Web 2.0 and later.

RBI Calls Out all Banks Who Refuse to Provide Accounts to Crypto Organizations, Claims There Are No More Bans

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The Indian market has always been seen as an enemy of the cryptocurrency industry, with Reserve Bank of India  (RBI) acting as an antagonist. Indian cryptocurrency supporters were recently won by the Supreme Court’s decision to lift the 2018 crypto ban.

Despite the change, there have been some industry complaints about mainstream banks preferring traditional set-ups rather than emerging virtual asset companies. In order to combat this difference of opinion, Unocoin, co-founder of BV Harish, took matters into his own hands.

Just recently, Harish filed a  Right to Information [RTI] with the Supreme Court to inquire whether provisions were in place to address the bias shown by the institutions. The Reserve Bank has expressly stated that the new legislation applies equally to all bodies, regardless of their affiliation with the financial department. The RTI premise was based on a report that banks were not issuing accounts to cryptocurrency traders.

The RBI took almost a month to respond to the initial RTI that was much talked about in the cryptocurrency world. According to the central bank, there were no prohibitions or restrictions that would set aside any individual or organization working in the digital asset world. The main reason for the bank’s reply was the sheer number of complaints from the Crypto Department. Speaking on the RBI’s latest revelation, Harish said:

“ Bankers have been saying that they need new RBI circulars mentioning that there are no more restrictions for them to provide bank accounts for crypto businesses. Now, we have received a positive response from the RBI. ”

The RBI was just one of the bodies that responded to the requests, while several major players remained silent on the issue. Banking giants such as SBI, HDFC, and Axis Bank have yet to comment on the plight of cryptocurrency officials. Despite the backlash from the mainstream community, enthusiasts like Harish are out to prove how crypto can benefit people.

Ever since the original ban on crypto was lifted in March, the people involved in the sphere predicted that the ride would not be as peachy as it seems. It makes sense why the banks did not pay any attention to crypto: restricted mindset.   Many supporters believe that if major organizations could overcome the mental hurdle, a lot of pieces would start to fall into place.

Tron Reaches Another Milestone as Total Transactions Cross One Billion

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The cryptocurrency market has undergone a variety of shifts in the last few weeks, with price fluctuations playing a major role. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the digital asset world has tried its best to keep up with developments and updates.

Tron, the cryptocurrency set to bring to Web 4.0 recently announced a big network achievement. As of May 19, Tronscan announced that the total number of transactions on the Tron network had reached 1 billion, an accomplishment celebrated within the community.

According to industry analysis, the cryptocurrencies that thrive are the ones that evolve and develop internally. Justin Sun founded Tron has always made headlines of new updates, with the latest news being a feather in a burgeoning bag. Tron accomplished this goal by concentrating on accelerated growth while continuing to make efforts to decentralize the network.

While the total number of transactions on the Tron mainnet clocked in at 1.001 billion, the block height was recorded to be 19,873,960. The number of transactions increased to 1,336 million on 1 May, following a market downturn in the preceding days. Many cryptocurrency experts will claim that Tron needs to win because of its price front results.

Tron used to be a permanent part of the top 10 cryptocurrency team, but over the past few weeks, his fate has deteriorated. At the time of the press, TRX was in 17th place when selling for $0.015. Cryptocurrency had an overall market cap of $1.02 billion and a 24-hour trading volume of $1.466 million.

The total number of accounts reached 5.898 million while the main chain enjoyed a decent spike. The 14-day account growth has also been remarkable with the figure increasing from 5.76 million to 5.88 million in two weeks.

United States IRS Decides to Look into Dealing with Cryptocurrency Taxes

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The cryptocurrency industry has been the subject of several regulatory concerns in the last few years. Most of these concerns have often been aimed at two major sectors of the industry: security and the vulnerability to massive fraud.

When the cryptocurrency industry grew, so did the size and scope of the scams. The United States Internal Revenue Service [IRS] was the latest agency to move into the virtual asset world with a plan to combat cryptocurrency tax evasion.

Just last week, the IRS released a paper that requested independent experts to help crackdown on cryptocurrency tax evasion. The [SoW] report produced by the IRS set out their criteria, which focused mainly on tax returns on cryptocurrency gains/losses. Sources close to the IRS have reported that it would cover the taxation of small-time players

An excerpt from the SoW added:

“Taxpayer transactions can be relatively simple, or in some instances, they can have hundreds of thousands of digital asset transactions in a year.”

Reports have indicated that the IRS has been tracking the cryptocurrency space for some time. One of the first steps to be taken by the IRS would include trading of cryptocurrencies and related procedures. The IRS recognized that billions of dollars worth of transactions occur on these exchanges, while fraud occurs simultaneously.

At present, traders still have the option to obtain a crypto tax software and calculate the exact rate to be reported. The IRS had to reveal this information because reports circulated that the Agency needed requesting crypto firms to disclose user data.

The latest move from the IRS was met with some trepidation by officials in the cryptocurrency space. David Kremmer, Chief Executive Officer of CryptoTrader. Tax claimed that a lot of people in the industry would not be pleased with the decision, but those legitimate traders would have nothing to worry about.

 

Temasek Holdings CEO Hit By Fake Stories Linking Her To ‘Wealth Loophole’

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The world has seen a massive rise in cybercrime after the rapid development of technology and with that the internet. In today’s time, it has become very easy to run a scam on the internet and the latest victim of such an activity was Madam Ho Ching, the Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of Temasek Holdings. 

Recent reports showed that fake portals were issuing articles on their website that stated how Ho Ching made a lot of money using ‘financial loopholes’. 

Ho Ching is also the wife of the current Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. Her connection to the political leader is also seen as a reason for this defamation. The Monetary Authority of Singapore warned that websites were posing as legitimate portals to publish fake news.

One website posed as The Strait Times and published a piece that claimed: “Ching’s latest investment has experts in awe and big banks terrified”. While there was no mention of any backing for the statement, the article continued to shed light on the fake news. The piece also added that Singaporean citizens were ranking in millions of dollars sitting at home because of the same wealth loophole.

The usage of Mdm Ching’s photo has also drawn her comments, blasting the portals for it. She stated that such practices were wrong and that people should not fall for it as she would never endorse such efforts. Her Facebook post back in November said:

“These fake articles talk about fantastical ways of making money from bitcoins and such like, and pretend there are loopholes for multiplying your money quickly.They sometimes use old pictures of me, and other fake news would use newer pictures of me, photoshopped in front various banks.Pls report to Facebook, WhatsApp, or whichever social media channel you have been seeing this.More importantly, don’t get scammed or conned into investing into this or that get rich schemes.”

The Monetary Authority of Singapore has been very serious when it comes to such malpractices because of its efforts to promote digital money. The body is also responsible for bringing in technological changes as blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies into the country.

This was not the first time that Singapore was hit with such a scam as other politicians had also been affected earlier. Last year, Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam was also hit by such a scandal. He also serves as the Chairman of the Monetary Authority of MAS.

 

Source:CNA

European Nations Proposing Plans for Libra Competitor

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The German Central Bank called out on banks across Europe to come up with a cheaper competitor for Facebook’s Libra Coin. 

Jens Weidmann who serves as an official of the European Central Bank and the President of the German Central Bank announced the suggestion earlier today. The financial expert who seems against the idea of digital Euro believes that European nations have the ability to create a faster and cheaper Libra alternative.

Despite having a hard time the previous year, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are putting up work to win regulatory approval. Following the announcement of China’s digital stablecoin posing as succinct competitors to Libra coin, other nations are head-on heels to launch their own CBDC.

Libra’s many wars seem to be as a result of the power it might hold. Most people believe allowing Facebook’s inclusion into financial data; in addition to the personal data it currently poses -; gives it better traction to outshine the United States Dollar. 

Cheap, Fast & Transparent Libra Alternative

Several nations, as well as technologists, have been scrutinizing the pieces of the puzzle. For instance how the social media giant has been working around the clock to win regulatory frameworks. Hence, these nations are also working tirelessly to find a better option for Libra. Meanwhile, Jens Weidmann called out on other banks in the region to develop a better alternative for Libra, that will be cheaper, faster and transparent. 

Weidmann stated that smaller banks are in a better position to provide such a solution to customer requests. In fact, he noted that he didn’t believe in creating an immediate solution’; but a corresponding offer to carter for customer requests. 

Dr Jens Weidmann
Credit: Wikipedia

Mark Zuckerberg lastly noted that Libra would serve the world as a standalone entity from Facebook. Furthermore, since Facebook seems to be the key reason that Libra is still lagging with compliance -; Separating both entities seemed the best way forward for Libra. Meanwhile, Ripple Chief Executive Officer Brad Garlinghouse said that the project will only launch until 2023.

Lack of Concrete Plan to Launch Libra in 2020

For instance blockchain analyst Bello Perez believes that Libra lacks a concrete plan to see it launch in 2020. A board member Patrick Ellis had previously told Reuters that the Libra Association didn’t have plans to determine its launch this year. 

“At this stage, there is no strategy set in stone for the markets or the product, or how it will actually get rolled out,” 

However, After reaching out to Ellis on whether Libra would actually launch in 2020, he simply said “Yes.”

Initially, the social media giant sent the world into a frenzy when it drafted plans to launch a digital coin. Facebook announced that it had garnered support from at least 28 companies such as PayPal, Mastercard and Visa. 

However, it wasn’t long before global regulators began showing concern and issuing warning. A situation that scared several Libra backers including Paypal and Mastercard. Libra’s story turned gaga spiralling into a congress questioning of Facebook President Mark Zuckerberg. 

The barrel of regulatory scrutiny is believed to have been among the reasons for several members of the Libra Association exiting. For instance, the European Union antitrust began probing Facebook Inc back in August. 

Moreover, the European Commission began to investigate Libra’s potential anti-competitive mannerism, amid rising concern that the payment system had the capability to cut off rivals. 

Swiss Concerns With Libra

Recently, shortly before the end of 2019. Switzerland President noted that Libra had failed and required reworking to win approval. For instance, he raised concern about the type of currencies underpinning the stablecoin. He said:

“I don’t think (Libra has a chance in its current form), because central banks will not accept the basket of currencies underpinning it,” 

Tron [TRX/USD] Technical Analysis: Sun-Led Crypto Fails to Climb Back Up the Price Ladder

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Tron [TRX] has been one of the major cryptocurrencies that have not seen a significant surge over the past few days with several among the top ten cryptocurrencies seeing red in the market right now.

Tron’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Justin Sun, has been at the forefront of the company’s developmental announcements that have come in the wake of the prices moving in a sideways manner.

1 hour:

trx 1 hour 1

Tron’s one-hour graph shows the prices dropping from a peak that it had achieved a few days back. The visible uptrend that led to the formation of the peak saw the prices rising from $0.0232 to $0.0247.

The downtrend that followed brought the prices down from $0.0248 to $0.0229. The cryptocurrency’s support has been holding at $0.0223 while the immediate resistance is at $0.0248.

The Bollinger bands are at the start of a divergence which points to an immediate breakout. The Bollinger clouds have also been sporadic due to the lack of significant price movements.

The Chaikin Money Flow [CMF] has bounced off the axis which is a bullish sign. Tron bounceback also indicates that money has started flowing back into the market after the graph had crashed the bottom recently.

One day:

trx 1 day 1 1

Tron’s run over the past few months has seen the cryptocurrency’s prices falling from its peak in the summer (in fact, that’s been the case of all cryptocurrencies). The cryptocurrency’s downtrend resulted in the prices falling from $0.0390 to $0.0247. Tron’s support has been holding at $0.018.

The Parabolic SAR has been predominantly bearish with most of the markers staying above the price candles. The month of November has not been kind to the cryptocurrency with the price drops overtaking price hikes.

The Relative Strength Index [RSI] is tending towards the oversold zone. It shows that currently, the selling pressure is more than the buying pressure. The drop also coincides with the number of buy-ins reducing.

Conclusion:

Tron’s sustained price movement looks likely to continue with the market still not being ready for a price hike trend change. The RSI, Parabolic SAR and the Bollinger bands all indicate that the prices will continue to move sideways, interspersed with price drops.

Image courtesy of PixaBay

Stellar Lumens [XLM] Overtakes EOS On The Cryptocurrency Charts; Major Market Volatility Detected

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Stellar Lumens [XLM] made news today, November 12, when it overtook EOS to become the fifth largest cryptocurrency on the charts. XLM has been on a roll in recent days with its 24-hour price change reaching upwards of 5% and correcting itself by hitting lows of 4.5%. It is clear that the volatility in the XLM markets is very high hence the trading volume is at $113.4 million, which is a whopping 99.51% increase in a 7-day time frame.

The market cap of EOS peaked at $5.21 billion in the same time frame as XLM but has since decreased, bringing the market cap to $4.89 billion.

CoinMarketCap e1542011075303
Source: CoinMarketCap

The prices have increased from $0.2429 to $0.2771 while the market cap settled at $5.36 billion. The price of XLM reached a new high within the 7-day range i.e., $0.2835. The announcement of XLM’s air-drop in partnership with Blockchain company has raised a lot of eyebrows as this could be the biggest air-drop in the crypto-space. As per the announcements, the air-drop in total is worth $125 million.

The trading volume of EOS, which is well above the XLM’s trading volume has seen a decrease of $45 million and is now at $671.2 million, which didn’t seem to affect the price too much.

EOS was also in the spotlight a few weeks back due to the research published by Whiteblock which seems to point out a very disturbing finger at EOS claiming that the EOS is nothing more than a cloud service. The research which was commissioned by ConsenSys to Whiteblock further claims that EOS lacks the most basic feature of the blockchain, “immutability”.

The only respite that the EOS community can find is from the new stablecoin that was launched on the EOS platform called CarbonUSD. The bad news seems to find its way back to EOS as there was a fake app on Google Playstore that claimed to be developed EOS RIO, but the group of EOS developers in Brazil [EOS RIO] gave out a statement saying that the official app is yet to be developed.