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Showing posts from May 19, 2021

Indian Government to Set up Panel of Experts to Take a Fresh Look at Regulating Cryptocurrencies: Report

The Indian government is reportedly looking to form a new “panel of experts” to focus on ways to regulate the cryptocurrency industry in the country. “There is a view within the government that the recommendations made by Subhash Garg are dated and a fresh look is needed at use of cryptos rather than a total ban,” local media reported. Indian Government Re-Examining Crypto Bill The Indian government is considering forming a new “panel of experts to study the possibility of regulating cryptocurrency in India,” The Economic Times reported Wednesday, citing three sources privy of the discussions. The committee could be exploring the use of blockchain technology and suggesting ways to regulate cryptos as digital assets instead of a currency. It may also study ways to operationalize the digital rupee to be created by the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). An official familiar with the matter told the publication: There is a view within the government that the recommendatio...

Election Candidates in Russia to Disclose Crypto Investments, New Bill Suggests

A new bill obliging candidates running for election in Russia to declare their spending on digital assets has hit the floor of the State Duma. According to the draft, Russian politicians will be required to disclose details about every crypto purchase they and their families make, if the total exceeds a certain amount. Candidates to Provide Details About Their Cryptocurrency Dealings The Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has adopted on first reading a draft law that will incorporate the disclosure of cryptocurrency purchases into Russia’s electoral legislation. Candidates running for government positions will have to reveal the amounts they have invested to acquire digital financial assets, a term encompassing digital currencies. The bill , which has been proposed by the government, introduces necessary amendments following the adoption of the Law “On Digital Financial Assets and Digital Currency,” business news agency Prime reported. It will oblige election runn...

Defi Economy Lost $20 Billion This Week, Decentralized Exchange Volumes Still Sky High

While crypto markets, in general, have been dropping significantly in value, the decentralized finance (defi) economy has shaved more than $21 billion during the last week. Statistics show that the total-value locked (TVL) in defi touched $87 billion on May 11, and since then the aggregate total has slid to $66 billion in value. Weekly Stats Show Defi’s Total-Value Locked Metric Loses $21 Billion, TVL Drops 24% Decentralized finance (defi) has been a very popular subject in 2021, as the economy’s TVL has accrued billions of dollars in just a few short months. Last week, the TVL in the defi economy according to defipulse.com data had shown the defi economy came awfully close to reaching $100 billion when it tapped $87 billion last Tuesday. Eight days later, the TVL in defi has shed more than 24% dropping to $66.6 billion on May 19. For example, crypto-assets leveraged in the defi economy like ethereum ( ETH ), binance coin ( BNB ), and the slew of ERC20 assets in existence, have a...

ECB Vice President Says Crypto Assets Are ‘Not a Real Investment’ Citing Weak Fundamentals

The vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, has warned that crypto assets are “not a real investment” and are “subject to a lot of volatility.” His comments followed massive sell-offs across a broad range of cryptocurrencies. ECB VP Says Crypto Is Not a Real Investment European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos has warned about cryptocurrency investing in an interview with Bloomberg Wednesday. Referring to cryptocurrency, he said, “This is an asset with very weak fundamentals and that is going to be subject to a lot of volatility,” adding: When you have difficulties to find out what are the real fundamentals of an investment, then what you’re doing is not a real investment. His comment came amid sell-offs in a wide range of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s price briefly fell below $30K on some exchanges, such as Bitfinex. However, the price has recovered slightly and is hovering around the $38K level currently. In its Financial Stability ...

Nearly a quarter of unique Bitcoin wallets at a loss amid $15K price dump

Bitcoin’s $15,000 price pullback over the last few days has caused the percentage of wallets underwater to exceed 23%. Bitcoin ( BTC ) is down almost 30% in the last seven days and this dip has triggered an almost commensurate plunge in the percentage of wallets in profit. Data from crypto data provider Glassnode shows that Bitcoin price drawdown has led to almost a quarter of unique on-chain entities being at a loss. This situation also bears some parallels to previous extreme downside price action periods that interrupted bullish advances. Source: Glassnode During the Black Thursday crash of March 2020, unique on-chain entities at a loss also approached the 25% mark as Bitcoin fell almost 50%. Further back, the 2019 rally from the $3,500 bottom of the 2018 bear market also had a similar temporary break that saw the percentage of unique wallets at a loss also slide towards 25%. In all previous situations where the percent of entities at a loss approached 25% during a bullish...

BlockFi mistakenly credits users with too much Bitcoin in promo payout

Just under 100 BlockFi users are reported to be affected, with some allegedly receiving as many as 700 Bitcoin due to a mishandled promotional offer. Crypto promotional schemes are old hat in the industry, with many businesses trying to secure customer loyalty through a range of perks and mini handouts. For BlockFi, however, its latest promotional offer has gone topsy turvy, after the platform mistakenly paid out oversized rewards in Bitcoin ( BTC ). One BlockFi user allegedly received a staggering 701.4 BTC on May 14. Under the terms of the original giveaway , BlockFi had offered Bitcoin rewards for clients trading a set volume in U.S. dollars between March 18 and 31. With rewards due to be credited to accounts by May 31, BlockFi warned users already on May 14: Some clients who participated in the March trading promotion may see an inaccurate bonus payment displayed in their transaction history. Our team is working on a fix and the proper amounts will be reflected shortly. — B...

Stocks, China and the dollar: 3 reasons why Bitcoin price is tanking below $40K

$39,000 may seem unfairly cheap for Bitcoin, but there is likely more keeping it there than just Elon Musk. Bitcoin ( BTC ) has hit its lowest price since Feb. 8 and is struggling to maintain $40,000 — but is Elon Musk wholly to blame? Cointelegraph takes a look at other factors working against Bitcoin bulls this week as the market returns to levels that some thought would never appear again. USD bounces off multi-month lows Tesla CEO Elon Musk bashing Bitcoin's energy consumption is the narrative of the moment everywhere, but some classic hurdles to fresh price gains are also back this week. Among them is the strength of the U.S. dollar, which is attempting to stage something of a comeback after a losing streak that began in late March. At the time of writing, the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY), which measures USD against a basket of trading partner currencies, had bounced off long-term support to reverse its downtrend. DXY is traditionally inversely correlated with Bit...

Cuban Central Bank Issues Warning on the Rising Number of Crypto-Related Ponzi Cases

Cuba has witnessed some exciting times in the last few months as far as nationwide digital currency acceptance, but the road toward this goal is still under construction. The country’s central bank recently issued a warning about the rising number of cryptocurrency-related scam cases across the island. Alleged Crypto Scams Are Mentioned in the Alert According to the notice published by the Banco Central de Cuba, citizens should be aware of the Ponzi schemes hiding under legit-looking digital asset investments. The schemes have been scamming several people across the nation, whose has been hurt by a long-lasting economic crisis. The central bank’s officers also released the names of some of the alleged scams operating without licenses in Cuba, such as Mind Capital, Mirror Trading, Arbistar, Trust Investing, Qubit Life/Qubit Tech, X-Toro, among others. Arbistar has been under the loop of the Spanish authorities, as the bogus company is accused of being a million-dollar crypto scam...

Bitcoin $5K ‘kimchi premium’ returns while gold prices surge in Korea

Bitcoin is trading at 12.5% higher in South Korea than in other markets, while gold prices climb to quarterly highs. Bitcoin ( BTC ) was trading at $5,000 higher in South Korea than in other markets on Wednesday as capital flow controls continue to enforce the “kimchi premium.” While Bitcoin was trading at $39,932 on Coinbase at the time of publication, the price on the Korea-based Bithumb exchange stood at $45,115. According to a recent Bank of America statement, the kimchi premium is a result of capital flow controls aimed at stopping the cross-border transfer of “hot money,” reports Reuters. “The onshore price for cryptocurrencies in Korea is persistently above international prices suggesting this to be a result of effective capital control that prevents effective arbitrage of onshore and offshore prices. Korean capital controls allow the ‘Kimchi premium’ to persist,” the Bank of America said in a report on Tuesday. The 12.5% premium on Bitcoin in Korea persists despite the co...

New bill would require candidates in Russian elections to declare crypto

The bill must still go through two readings in the Duma before going to the Federation Council. Russia's State Duma has approved a new draft bill in its first reading that would require election candidates to disclose their crypto holdings, expenditures and purchases. The draft bill also asks election candidates to indicate a source of income for cryptocurrency purchases and requires crypto declarations not only from the actual candidates, but also their spouses and minor children for the past three years. Introduced in March 2021, the draft bill includes a set of amendments to existing Russian law like those on presidential and State Duma deputy elections, guarantees of the electoral rights, as well as the country’s major cryptocurrency bill, “On Digital Financial Assets” officially enacted in January this year. The next step in the draft bill’s development will be the consideration of potential amendments in mid-June. Elections for the State Duma are scheduled for Septem...

Inner Mongolia sets up hotline to report suspected crypto miners

Authorities in Inner Mongolia are cracking down further on crypto mining operations that may be jeopardizing the region's bid to reduce carbon emissions. A new announcement from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Development and Reform Commission, or DRC, has informed the public that they now have a direct way to report on any outlying cryptocurrency operations in the region. As previously reported, Inner Mongolia was once home to a vast network of crypto mining operators, who collectively accounted for 7.71% of the global Bitcoin ( BTC ) hash rate between Sept. 2019 and April 2020. As part of Beijing's increasingly proactive and ambitious agenda to reduce carbon emissions, Chinese authorities have increasingly scrutinized the coal-rich region of Inner Mongolia, where plentiful and cheap electricity remains reliant on fossil fuels. According to A Greenpeace report from the end of March of this year, Inner Mongolia approved the highest amount of new capacity for coa...

Bitcoin price dip below $40K costs Tesla nearly 100% of its BTC profits

Elon Musk may have egg on his face after his comments effectively erase all the money his company made from buying Bitcoin. Bitcoin ( BTC ) fell below $40,000 on May 19 as bearish sentiment continued to dictate price direction resulting in the cryptocurrency market losing $350 billion in value . BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView Analysts calm as BTC/USD hits 15-week lows Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked BTC/USD as it put in lows of $38,500 before bouncing higher. Coming after a week of successive drops, Wednesday's dip put Bitcoin at its lowest level since early February and 40% below its all-time highs. "Bitcoin putting in new lows, probably buy more soon," popular trader Scott Melker told Twitter followers in a post that characterized the conversely calm mood among market veterans. As Cointelegraph reported , those closer to the data were anything but bearish throughout the week, and even a sub-$40,000 BTC...

$350B lost in crypto bloodbath as Bitcoin and Co sink 15–30%

The cryptocurrency market is painted red after numerous coins lost more than 30% in the past 24 hours. The global cryptocurrency market cap lost in excess of $350 billion overnight leading into Wednesday, May 19, as Bitcoin ( BTC ), Ether ( ETH ) and a majority of the altcoin market lost between 15–30%. Tuesday night’s plunge leaves the global market cap more than $750 billion worse off than it was this time last week. That figure equates to 30% of the $2.5 trillion peak reached by the combined market cap one week ago on May 12. Bitcoin lost 15% on the day as the coin price sank from $45,632 to $38,787 in a matter of hours. That takes the coin’s weekly losses to over 32%. The only time Bitcoin lost as much as this in such short a time frame was in late 2017, just as BTC’s bull run at the time came to a screeching halt. Ether lost more than 19% on the day, as it fell from $3,562 to $2,881, and added to weekly losses of 33.8%. Other altcoins, particularly recent gainers, were subje...

South African Crypto Holders Urged to Approach Tax Body Before It Descends on Them

A South Africa-based tax expert, David Lesperance, says with the country’s revenue collector now closing in on cryptocurrencies, holders must now take the initiative and approach South Africa Revenue Services (SARS) before it descends on them. Lesperance argues that by making the first move, cryptocurrency investors will be able to avoid the punitive penalties that SARS often imposes on tax dodgers. Crypto Taxes Inevitable In the meantime, Lesperance, in remarks that were made during a call with Bitcoin.com News, urged crypto holders to get over “the fantasy that they are not going pay taxes.” Also, in his message aimed especially at early crypto adopters, the tax expert explains how features of the public ledger work in the favor of revenue collectors like SARS. He said: Cryptocurrency based transactions are a revenue collector’s dream because everything is on the public ledger whose data cannot be changed. Lesperance, who recently delivered a presentation at a recent tax web...

More than half of Australians think Elon Musk invented Bitcoin: Survey

Over 40% of respondents were unaware that Bitcoin had a limited supply. Australians' knowledge of cryptocurrency could use some improvement, as more than half of them think that Elon Musk created Bitcoin ( BTC ), according to a new survey. Finder, Australia’s most visited comparison website, conducted a survey of 1,004 Australians to find out more about what they know about crypto, The Australian reports Wednesday. According to the survey results, 56% of Australians are not aware of mysterious Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto , believing that Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Musk is the founder of the world’s largest cryptocurrency. A significant number of respondents also did not know that the Bitcoin supply is limited to 21 million coins , with 44% of them thinking that Bitcoin has unlimited supply just like fiat money. The survey also found that many Australians are already in crypto or willing to get into the industry, with 25% of respondents either owning or planning to own...