Platform business models have become all but the de facto business model for the digital economy. This dependence means that unsustainable practices of platform business models impact the overall sustainability of the digital economy. Regarding the generation of network effects, platform business model owners would be well-advised to consider blockchain-based tokenization. Platforms generate value by creating marketplaces where participants can easily transact. By digitally matching supply with demand, platform business models provide a scalable base for new value propositions, novel revenue models or a means to build on the assets of private individuals. Network effects are crucial to success The …

Last month, the United States Congress increased the tax benefits of charitable giving in the CARES Act in hopes that people will give more. Some give money; others give property; and a growing number have been giving crypto assets. Once you have made the difficult decision of which charity or cause to donate to, your focus should shift toward your tax position. There are certain things to keep in mind when giving crypto assets — particularly considering how their volatility can affect your taxes and decision making. Which crypto asset do I gift? Generally, giving a gift of crypto does …

The South Korean police have launched an investigation into the source of leaked information about the government’s new crypto tax legal amendments. Social media users and private blogs had revealed details of the changes before it was made official this week. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, the first article featuring leaked information was published in a state-themed site, which rapidly spread across the crypto communities, and was picked up by other media outlets. The Metropolitan Investigation Team of the Sejong District Police is leading the search into who leaked the full details of Seoul’s plans. It’s not the first time …

Cryptocurrencies may render some outdated regulations obsolete, according to crypto-anarchist and white hat hacker Pavol Luptak. According to Luptak, “cryptocurrencies or crypto markets may undermine government laws and regulations that are obsolete for the 21st digital century.” He said, “I can say the Space Age technology will help us to escape from the Bronze Age rulership. Despite the fact that rulers will not like it.” “Although we spend a significant part of our lives in an unlimited borderless virtual online world, we are still trying to enforce the territorial laws valid for the physical world. I don't think it makes …

The South Korean government has announced a 20% tax rate for income generated from cryptocurrency trading. Following a Tax Development Review Committee meeting on July 22, the Ministry of Economy and Finance published its revised tax code detailing the new rules. In a section headed, “Taxation on Virtual Asset Transaction Income,” the ministry introduced the new rules with a note that at present, both personal (resident and non-resident) and foreign corporations’ virtual assets are non-taxable. The government states that introducing taxation for virtual assets is now necessary, pointing to the approach taken by other countries, where cryptocurrencies are already taxed …

Crypto and taxes hardly go together like cream and sugar. Yet every crypto investor or business these days faces them. For many, starting with the United States Internal Revenue Service’s launch of the “it’s property, not currency” mantra in 2014, it has been six long years of trying to comply. However, there are plenty of useful tools available that may help with the process. But make no mistake, there are still many unanswered questions that can make doing your taxes a nightmare. Even most noncrypto taxpayers think of taxes as complex, and they are not wrong. But when it comes …

The lack of regulatory uncertainty in South Korea is causing major Korean cryptocurrency exchanges to lose international traders and turn their focus on the domestic audience. Speaking to Cointelegraph, a spokesperson of the South Korean exchange Upbit expressed his concern about their platform facing issues with providing fiat to crypto trading to its users: “Providing fiat trading via authenticated banking accounts has been a key issue for us as we were unable to provide the service for over two years.” New partnership as a partial solution To partially solve the challenge, Upbit on June 23 partnered with an internet-only bank …

South Korean private sector members recently discussed a crypto-related taxation bill meant to establish capital gains tax for cryptocurrencies. During these discussions on July 13, members indicated crypto gains taxes could rise as high as 20%. Cryptocurrencies could be considered as “goods” Proposed amendments to existing laws also plan to classify cryptocurrencies as “goods,” rather than currencies. Lawmakers have established that virtual assets can be considered as electronic certificates of economic value that can be traded electronically. However, when the transactions are for sales purposes, it could be viewed as an asset. A South Korean court referenced Bitcoin (BTC) in …

The United States Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department have published minimal guidance on the tax treatment of virtual currency and no guidance on Simple Agreement for Future Tokens or secondary forward contracts on SAFTs. Accordingly, it is difficult to determine the appropriate U.S. federal income tax treatment of a secondary forward contract on a SAFT. In 2014, the IRS issued Notice 2014-21 and updated it with FAQs that provided that convertible virtual currency is treated as “property and general tax principles applicable to property transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency.” Thus, a corporation’s issuance of such virtual currency …

Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, believes other countries are much more open-minded in terms of crypto regulation and taxes than America.. Lawrence Zlatkin, chief tax officer at Coinbase, shared the exchange’s outlook on taxation and the global cryptocurrency market during a Unitize panel on July 7. He was joined on the panel by Fidelity’s senior tax counsel Jessica Reif-Caplan and Deloitte’s global tax leader, Rob Massey. Lack of crypto taxation clarity During the discussion, the speakers highlighted the lack of clarity around cryptocurrency taxation in the U.S.. According to the tax experts at Coinbase and Fidelity, the uncertainty is …

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, reported on Tuesday how automatic reporting in 2019 helped uncover $11 trillion worth of assets in offshore accounts. The result came as the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS, entered its third year of operation since its launch in 2017. Unlike many previous iterations of international tax reporting standards, the CRS requires countries to automatically report activity in accounts held by foreign nationals to their respective country of origin. This solves issues deriving from request-based information sharing, which required active suspicion and investigation from the originating country. This is supported by over …

Switzerland’s existing tax law is applicable to developments in the blockchain industry, the Swiss Federal Council said. According to the federal authority, Switzerland does not need to amend its existing tax legislation in regard to blockchain and distributed ledger technology. No legislative action is necessary regarding the blockchain industry In a June 19 meeting, the Federal Council addressed a report on the need to amend Switzerland’s tax law in response to DLT and blockchain developments. According to the official statement, the existing legislation including income, profit, wealth, capital gains taxes, as well as VAT, “has proved its worth” regarding arrangements …