Responsibility of SEC for crypto securities, Federal Fiscal Court’s decision on crypto taxes, Solana’s fight against network failures, serious accusations against Binance, and Silvergate problems: these events made the news this week.
Another exciting week in the crypto space is drawing to a close. The most important events around Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Co. at a glance.
SEC Responsible for All Crypto Values - Except Bitcoin
In a February 23 interview with New York Magazine, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) head Gary Gensler assessed that all cryptocurrencies “except Bitcoin” fall under Treasury control. According to Gensler, with the exception of Bitcoin, all crypto tokens must be treated as securities.
“At their core,” says Gary Gensler, “these tokens are securities because there is a pool in the middle, and the public expects earnings based on that pool.”
Federal Fiscal Court Makes Decision on Crypto Taxes
Profits from cryptocurrency trading are subject to income tax law. The Federal Tax Court reached this decision. This means that many investors now have clarity from above.
The judges at the highest German finance court made it clear: cryptocurrencies are economic goods that have a market value and can be bought and sold as a means of payment on trading platforms. This means that profits from Bitcoin, Ethereum and Co. are considered “private sales transactions” and must be stated in the tax return.
How Solana Fights Against Failures in the Network
The new year starts for Solana with old problems – a network failure. On February 25, the Blockchain went down for more than 24 hours. A software update caused a bug, unfortunately, not an isolated case. In 2022, Solana struggled with a total of seven network outages. Critics claim that the reason for this vulnerability is a design flaw in the Blockchain. Will Solana get the problem under control in 2023?
“Of course, such failures shouldn’t happen,” Max Sherwood, a Solana validator working for Berlin-based trading app Unstoppable Finance, tells BTC-ECHO. “But you have to be fair. Solana is in beta. No one claims the Blockchain work is done. We learn something new with every network failure.”
Serious Accusations against Binance
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is said to have embezzled $1.8 billion in customer funds, Forbes writes in a recent article. The business magazine is thus assuming that the trading venue is “maneuvering similarly to FTX”.
When the crypto exchange FTX imploded in November last year, competitor Binance presented itself as a white knight who shook hands with the ailing industry. The trading center is campaigning for more transparency with an initiative to disclose its own reserves, launching a billion-euro recovery fund, and providing financial support to struggling crypto companies. Binance repeatedly emphasizes that its own customer assets are fully covered.
Silvergate: Crypto Bank Continues to Get into Trouble
After Silvergate shares suffered a price drop of more than 40 percent, a growing number of players in the crypto sector are distancing themselves from the bank. The crypto derivatives platform Ledger X and the trading platform Coinbase had already stopped payment transactions with the company last Thursday.
Crypto exchange Crypto.com then suspended US dollar transfers through Silvergate on Friday. A number of other big players followed. So have Circle, Paxos, Galaxy, Gemini, Bitstamp, and CBOE, which have all gone out of business with the bank.
By Audy Castaneda
