Organizing taxes has always proved a difficult process for companies and individuals during the yearly tax season. With crypto, this process becomes even more complicated. Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) appear similar to fiat currencies, in the eyes of the taxman, these digital assets need to be treated differently. This means cryptocurrency transactions may need to be reported as capital gains or losses. That is why it’s important to keep track of crypto transactions over time. Software like Cointelli makes it easy for both individuals to file crypto tax returns and for tax professionals to offer crypto-tax …

History was made when the Topps trading card of American baseball player Mickey Mantle sold for $5.2 million. Setting a new standard for rare collectibles, traditional collectors quickly realized that this industry is far different from the days of older generations, with larger-ticket sales now commonplace. Now, the world is quickly shifting into a digital era, meaning physical assets that once held millions in value are making their way to the virtual world through nonfungible tokens (NFTs). The result is that NFTs are now being offered as the next generation of collectibles. Similar to a traditional trading card, users can …

The United Arab Emirates is reportedly getting ready to start issuing federal licenses for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) by the end of the first quarter of 2022. The move is expected to become part of a complex regulatory framework that the Middle Eastern nation is looking to establish on its way to becoming one of the world’s most crypto-friendly jurisdictions. What could this trajectory look like for the UAE? The proposed regime The UAE’s Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) is reportedly finalizing rules that would allow digital asset firms to set up shop in the country. While working on …

The tide is turning on the way in which law enforcers discuss cryptocurrencies and treat crypto users. The United States Secret Service has launched a cryptocurrency awareness hub featuring a cheesy public service announcement video. The educational tool seeks to combat the “illicit use of digital assets as well as provide public awareness information on digital asset security and how to ensure it remains secure.” Watch the video here: "Secret Service: Safeguarding the next generation currency", Source: U.S. Secret Service Youtube U.S. Secret Service Office of Investigations Assistant Director Jeremy Sheridan said that the hub focuses on "investigating financial crimes." …

Grayscale Investments’ latest report “Reimagining the Future of Finance” defines the digital economy as “the intersection of technology and finance that’s increasingly defined by digital spaces, experiences, and transactions.” With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many financial institutions have begun to offer services that allow clients access to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. Last year, in particular, saw an influx of financial institutions incorporating support for crypto-asset custody. For example, Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon, announced in February 2021 plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an …

Mirror Protocol, a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built atop the Terra blockchain, was among the biggest gainers in the last 48 hours, primarily as its native token MIR rallied by over 30% to $1.48, its highest level since Jan. 22. Has Mirror Protocol bottomed out? MIR price rose despite an absence of concrete fundamentals, a sight pretty common across crypto assets. As a result, its rally may have been purely technically-driven, especially because it originated after MIR had dropped by more than 90% in value from its May 2021 high near $13, making the token extremely oversold. IncomeSharks, an independent …

On Feb. 6, the United States Department of the Treasury released a report under the headline “Study of the facilitation of money laundering and terror finance through the trade in works of art.” In fact, only a tiny fraction of the 40-page document is dedicated to the “Emerging Digital Art Market,” by which the department understands the market for nonfungible tokens, or NFTs. Still, even a brief mention of the emerging NFT space in this context can have major implications for the tone of the nascent regulatory debate with regard to the asset class. What the report said The overall …

The world recently got a sneak peek at what a digital dollar, or at least one component of a hypothetical United States central bank digital currency (CBDC), might look like, courtesy of Project Hamilton, a collaborative effort of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the MIT Digital Currency Initiative. The results of the project’s first phase were originally expected last summer but were released on Feb. 3. The project, announced in 2020, is named in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Treasury secretary, and Margaret Hamilton, an MIT staffer who contributed to NASA’s Apollo program. Researchers developed two …

The government and central bank in Russia have reached an agreement on how to regulate cryptocurrencies, according to a Tuesday announcement. Russia's government and central bank are now working on a draft law that will define crypto as an "analogue of currencies" rather than digital financial assets, set to be launched on Feb. 18. Cryptocurrencies would function in the legal industry only if they have complete identification through the banking system or licensed intermediaries. Kommersant notes that Bitcoin (BTC) transactions and possession of cryptocurrency in the Russian Federation are not prohibited; however, they must be done through a "digital currency …

Whether regulations on stablecoins and digital assets should be addressed at the state or federal level was the topic of discussion among at least two U.S. lawmakers in a hearing for the House Committee on Financial Services. Speaking virtually at a Tuesday hearing titled “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets’ Report on Stablecoins,” North Carolina Representative and ranking committee member Patrick McHenry asked the committee to consider state-level regulatory frameworks in lieu of a comprehensive federal law on stablecoins. In response to McHenry, Jean Nellie Liang, the Under Secretary for Domestic Finance …

The Bank of Russia has registered tokenization service Atomyze as the country’s first digital asset management company, the central bank officially announced Thursday. According to the announcement, the Bank of Russia has formally deemed the rules of the company’s information system and the platform’s technical implementation as being compliant with the Russian law. The registration enables Atomyze to provide its clients with an opportunity to issue digital financial assets, or DFA, on its platform as well as obtain “new types of assets in the tokenized form.” The organization will be also enabled to “independently carry out exchange operations within its …

Chris Giancarlo, who served as chair for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission until 2019, will be joining the board of directors for blockchain startup Digital Asset. In a Tuesday announcement, Digital Asset said Giancarlo would be providing counsel on asset tokenization, distributed ledger technology, and the possible impact of regulatory developments on the crypto space. The former CFTC chair is currently working as senior counsel at the Willkie Farr & Gallagher law firm, and co-founded the Digital Dollar Project, a non-profit organization aimed at generating data to inform U.S. lawmakers on developing a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. …