A tax proposal on crypto from India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may be closer to becoming law as the country’s lower house of parliament is scheduled to consider the legislation on Thursday. According to a Wednesday publication, Sitharaman will be introducing appropriation and finance bills for 2022 to the Lok Sabha — the lower house of parliament — on March 24. The Finance Bill includes an amendment to the country’s income tax laws identifying “virtual digital assets” — including cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens — as taxable investments. First announced by the finance minister in February, the amendment to India’s existing …

Step aside, El Salvador, there’s a new Bitcoin-centric destination on the map. As a 32-million-square-foot private island sanctuary in the remote South Pacific, Satoshi Island is a “place for the crypto community to call home.” A combination of honeymoon getaway, Bond-villain hideout and naturalist paradise, there’s one enigmatic exception to Satoshi Island: it’s 100% crypto. Talking to Cointelegraph, the Satoshi Island team of Denys Troyak, James Law, Taras Filatov and Benjamin Nero mentioned that it is: “A true crypto-economy where everything will be paid for in crypto and all ownership on the island is represented with NFTs.” With its name …

The government of El Salvador has reportedly decided to postpone the issue of a Bitcoin (BTC)-backed bond due to the unfavorable market conditions fueled by the geopolitical crisis. El Salvador’s “Volcano Bond” will not go live in March as the Salvadoran government expected previously, finance minister Alejandro Zelaya said in an interview with a local TV channel. Zelaya claimed that the delay was due to the volatile prices of BTC fueled by the Russia-Ukraine crisis. He added that the government of El Salvador decided to wait for favorable conditions in the financial market, expecting September at the latest, stating: “Now …

Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation and former head of data, blockchain and digital assets at the World Economic Forum, said the digital yuan may present certain challenges for the United States. However, regulators and lawmakers may want consider how to encourage digital innovation, as China is already "massively tech forward" for its residents. Speaking to Cointelegraph during Austin’s SXSW festival, Warren said that though she believed China’s digital yuan was unlikely to significantly affect retail payments in the United States, the adoption of the technology surrounding it could impact the dollar’s global dominance. The CCI CEO …

Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s free zone, published a consultation paper on March 21 titled “Proposals for enhancements to capital markets and virtual assets in ADGM.” The document contains draft guidelines that, among other asset classes, cover nonfungible token (NFT) trading. The paper proposes that companies with a license from the free zone’s financial regulator be allowed to facilitate NFT trading. Along with sections dedicated to traditional financial instruments, the document contains a little more than a page on virtual assets and NFTs. In this section, the free zone’s chief regulator, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), describes …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has extended its window to approve or disapprove spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications from asset managers WisdomTree and One River. According to separate Friday filings, the SEC will push the deadline for approving or disapproving a rule change allowing shares of the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust and One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange and New York Stock Exchange Arca, respectively. The regulator said it will extend its window for the decision on WisdomTree’s Bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle to May 15 and One River’s to June 2. …

Proof-of-work (PoW) crypto mining won’t be banned in the European Union — not this year at least. That’s the conclusion from last week’s closely watched committee vote in the European Parliament (EP). A last-minute amendment presented by an ad hoc coalition of social democrats and Greens would have established a de facto ban on proof-of-work mining — the type of consensus mechanisms used by native cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) — has been decisively rejected. The crypto community can breathe easily, but some still worry that the industry’s problem with its energy-intensive consensus protocols remains. “My first reaction …

The Malaysian Ministry of Communications and Multimedia (KKMM) is reportedly backing the adoption of cryptocurrencies, with the deputy minister calling the government to legalize crypto. Deputy communications and multimedia minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin has urged Malaysia’s regulators to legalize certain use cases of cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFT), local news agency Harian Metro reported on Monday. Zahidi pointed out that such measures would significantly support young people as the cryptocurrency industry has been growing increasingly popular among the younger generation. He also said that the KKMM is exploring ways to increase the participation of young people in the industry. …

FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried gave the opening keynote at this year's Blockchain Week, with the events of day one held at the headquarters of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Addressing the event remotely from the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried used his keynote to announce the launch of FTX Australia, localizing one of the world's largest crypto exchanges by volume. FTX is the naming rights sponsor for the event. “This is something that has been in the works for a number of months, and it’s been a really high priority for us as a company.” Really excited to launch FTX: Australia!https://t.co/ZcBNEuyiG9https://t.co/jGumMSXMW3 https://t.co/rABSI5Y81O — …

The people of Ukraine require the world’s help more than ever before. As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to rage on, the world must rally behind the Ukrainian government to bring back peace and stability to the Eastern European nation. The crypto community has done just that with nonfungible token (NFT) companies, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) and crypto users all over the world leading the effort to help aid Ukraine with donations of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Polkadot’s DOT and even NFTs. It is impressive how fast the crypto community got behind the Ukrainian people. Two days after …

The Qatar Central Bank (QCB) is reportedly investigating the possibility of launching a digital currency and issuing digital bank licenses. According to the head of the fintech section at QCB, Alanood Abdullah Al Muftah, the central bank is expected to set a direction for its future focus soon on a range of fintech verticals. Al Muftah noted that QCB will also determine whether Qatar can establish a central bank digital currency (CBDC). She explained: "Each central bank should study digital banks, considering their growing significance in the global market. We also see the direction of the market moving towards having …

Representative Brad Sherman will be introducing a bill in the House aimed at cracking down on U.S. businesses handling crypto transactions for Russian banks and individuals. Speaking at a hybrid markup meeting with the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, Sherman said he will be introducing a companion bill to Senator Elizabeth Warren’s legislation that would give the Biden administration “explicit authority to require that crypto exchanges that are subject to U.S. law stop facilitating transactions with Russian-based crypto wallets.” Warren first announced the legislation on March 8, later saying during a Senate Banking Committee hearing she will be introducing …