The measure of the tax-collecting agency applies to transactions with both fiat money and cryptocurrencies. The IRS estimates that it has received USD 600 billion less in taxes than it should have.

In recent days, the US Treasury Department called for the report of transfers to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They said that it will be compulsory to pay taxes on transfers, with both fiat money and in cryptocurrencies, of USD 10,000 or more.

The measure, which covers accounts from both exchanges and payment services, primarily seeks to combat tax evasion. Likewise, those companies whose revenue is higher than the aforementioned amount must also report it to the IRS.

The official statement of the Treasury Department shows the concern of this entity about cryptocurrencies. They say that these types of assets “pose a significant detection problem, facilitating illegal activities that include tax evasion.”

“This is why the proposal of the President (Joe Biden) includes additional resources for the IRS to address the growth of crypto assets. Although they currently constitute a small portion of the revenue of the market, transactions with cryptocurrencies could increase in importance in the next decade,” according to the document.

The report also explains that the initiative is part of Joe Biden’s American Families Plan. They state that their financing has demanded complementary measures aimed at taxes. For that reason, they seek to reduce the gap between the taxes that people should pay and those that they actually pay. According to the aforementioned document, the difference is USD 600,000 million. They add that it could rise to USD 7 trillion within the next 10 years if the trend does not experience a correction.

US Government Officials Have Different Positions on Cryptocurrencies

Several US government agencies have turned their attention to Bitcoin and other crypto assets in recent months. Some of them plan to draw up a joint strategy to regulate this sector, even anticipating the measures of 2020 and previous years.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Reserve (Fed) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seek to address this issue. One of the priorities of Michael Hsu, the newly appointed director of the OCC, is to review policies that favor cryptocurrencies.

Michael Hsu (from the OCC), Randal Quarles (from the Fed) and Jelena McWilliams (from the FDIC) explained how their agencies are dealing with the regulation of this market.

Regarding these types of innovations, the cryptocurrency community has welcomed Gary Gensler’s appointment as Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Gensler has received instruction in new technologies and has highlighted the value of Bitcoin, which he classified as “the modern form of gold.”

In early May, he told CNBC television that the United States is seeking “greater protection” for those who invest in digital assets. At the time, he commented that these regulations would help investors to be sure that no one is manipulating either the market or the public.

By Alexander Salazar

The bitcoin price fell 26.1% in the week of May 10-16, according to Coin Metrics. The new BTC holders sold with risks of loss, but the big holders still keep it up on HODL.

Bitcoin has not been trading at $40,000 for at least three months. February 8 was the last day that the first cryptocurrency traded at $ 39,000, right before the purchase of $ 1.5 billion in BTC by the car company run by Elon Musk, Tesla. The price has been fluctuating since then with a rally whose biggest correction intends to maintain the support of $ 48,000.

The company’s purchase seems to influence both the recent statement of the Chinese government prohibiting institutions and means of payment to operate with cryptocurrencies, as well as the disclosure of the risky investments that the company makes behind the stablecoin Tether with the money of its users.

These pieces News do not Cause Enough Impact on the Market

This news is part of some kind of propaganda instilled with fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) that the Bitcoin industry has been accustomed to for years; they might not have had enough effect on market psychology.

It is vital to consider that the ground the bitcoin’s price has gained since February, until reaching its all-time high of $ 64,800 on April 14, has been completely erased. The price is at the same price as before Tesla revealed its billion-dollar purchase.

This situation is a total trigger for the fear and greed index, which gauges extreme fear to a level not seen since March 2020, when the WHO declared a Covid19 pandemic. Also, the injection of bitcoins to exchange houses returns to levels of that black Thursday in which the cryptocurrency lost 40% in a few hours.

New Holders Fear Unpredictable Volatility

The correction of the bitcoin price in the week of May 10 to 16 was the subject of analysis in Glassnode, which made a report published on Monday 17. The analytical firm points out that, in that period, a correction of 26.2% was registered. It was a sudden reaction to a series of tweets by Elon Musk expressing concern about the energy consumed by Bitcoin.

This firm highlighted that, in different tweets, Musk went from positions critical of bitcoin mining to argue that the Dogecoin blocks were 10 times faster and larger than those of bitcoin, which created a confusing situation in the market, according to Glass node.

There are many supply and demand dynamics that resemble the top of the 2017 cycle, but there are also important differences that could challenge the beliefs of both bears and bulls, Glassnode argues.

How the Magnitude of Bitcoin Corrections Affect the Crypto world

Starting from the moment of the last all-time high of $ 64,800, which happened on April 14, the price correction recorded in recent weeks is 28%, according to the analysis led by Glassnode. This analysis puts this correction as the largest correction of the current bull cycle. In terms of cycle length, bitcoin’s current bull run has lasted about 200 days, which is relatively short compared to the 2017 cycle, the study notes.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The groups offer “sophisticated investments” with bitcoin as part of a financial improvement. Pyramid schemes like Arbistar and Trust Investing are among those noted.

The Central Bank of Cuba released an informative note in which it spoke about the proliferation of alleged companies that promote “investments” with bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies. The local financial institution named up to at least six organizations that have neither authorization nor license to set operations in the country.

The monetary entity warned citizens that Mind Capital, Mirror Trading, Arbistar, Trust Investing, Qubit Life / Qubit Tech, and X-Toro, among other unnamed organizations, use misleading advertising through the internet to arouse interest between people.

The operations that these schemes use have little or zero trust and transparency and they hide behind apparently technical arguments, but devoid of content. All this, without there being a real economic asset or value to back it up, the bank said in the statement.

Recruitment of “Investors” in Bitcoin

According to the regulator, individuals play the role of agents and offer high returns in a short time in exchange for participants recruiting new members for the “business.” The method is designated by the bank as multi-level or pyramid scams, also known as Ponzi schemes.

It is this recruitment of new “investors” that the bank questions, especially since it is a question of schemes that are not possible to maintain in the long term. According to the institution, many international organizations work in the same way and end up in collapse because of the loss of investors’ assets.

The bank’s recommendation is to avoid every single operation of this type and if users have any questions, request more information at the following email [email protected]. Some of the organizations mentioned by the entity such as Arbistar and Trust Investing are being investigated in various countries.

About the Trust Investing case, three weeks ago its director, Ruslan Concepción, was arrested at the Havana airport for alleged “illegal economic activity.” The alleged company has also been identified by other regulatory bodies on a global scale such as the National Securities Market Commission of Spain (CNMV).

Bitcoin Will be Part of the New Economic Guidelines in Cuba

In Cuba, the Communist Party adopted BTC to play a relevant role in the new economic guidelines for the period between 2021 and 2026. Its leaders believe that bitcoin could help to solve the economic crisis that the country is currently facing.

The announcement was made by Mercedes López Acea, a member of the Political Bureau, which is the highest representative of the upper management of the PCC. The official indicated that, as part of the new guidelines, it will seek to improve and update the study of cryptocurrencies and their benefits for the current conditions of the Cuban economy.

Although there are zero details offered in this regard, it could be a first step in the future use of cryptocurrencies by the Cuban government. As reported by the official newspaper of the only political party admitted to the island, in addition to cryptocurrencies, other “strategic issues for the nation’s progress” were discussed.

By: Jenson Nuñez

According to data from Coingecko, NFT’s dominance over the global cryptocurrency market is 1.1%. The Theta Network token ranks in the top ten of the major NFTs.

The non-fungible token (NFT) market continues to gain ground in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. At the time of writing this note, its market capitalization exceeded USD 23 billion (USD 23,724,610,258.11), while the total trading volume is more than USD 2 billion (USD 2,642,766,991.02) in the last 24 hours.

The statistics can be found on the Coingecko portal. The portal also stated that currently, NFT’s dominance over the global cryptocurrency market is 1.1%. Comics, music, works of art, literature, and even famous tweets have been converted into NFT, for which they have gained millions of followers around the world. For their better custody, they currently count on a decentralized storage service in Filecoin.

NFTs are digital assets or tokenized versions of real items and representative stuff in the real world that have the particularity of not being interchangeable with each other. These NFTs can work as proof of authenticity and ownership within the digital world.

Theta Network Token Ranks in the Top Ten of the Main Cryptocurrencies

The Theta Network Token is a decentralized blockchain-based video broadcasting network, which posted 41.8% dominance. In this way, it now appears on the charts of the main NFTs by market capitalization with more than USD 9 billion, according to data collected by Coingecko.

Theta network came to light in early 2019; the theta mainnet plays the role of a decentralized network in which users share peer-to-peer (P2P) computing resources. The project is in Steve Chen’s hands, he is the co-founder of YouTube. He and Justin Kan, the co-founder of Twitch, are leading the project.

Theta has its native cryptocurrency token, THETA, which works through various tasks within the network, and features Google, Binance, Blockchain ventures, Gumi, Sony Europe, and Samsung, along with a guardian network of thousands of gatekeepers.

Theta is the main token for the Theta platform and is freely tradable on all big exchanges. The pairs include cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, and stablecoins. In October 2020, the highest volume pairs came from Binance.

In the last week of 2018, the theta token increased its value 59% from USD 0.160 to USD 0.259, showing its highest point on May 30 of that year with a value of USD 0.290 per coin.

This figure was, at the beginning of this week, USD 185.5 million, although this figure later crumbled down and is now at 165.6 million dollars. The reason for this increase is that the token appeared listed on the Binance exchange, the second platform with the highest volume of exchange according to Coinhills.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The period between May 8 and 19 is an important date to consider. In 11 days, bitcoin’s market capitalization dropped by $555 billion.

In just under two weeks, the market capitalization of bitcoin (BTC) crumbled down $555 billion. This figure is higher than Argentina’s gross domestic product (GDP) which is USD 418 billion.

According to data and information provided by the TradingView index, after reaching a local peak of USD 1.1 trillion on May 8, the capitalization of the first cryptocurrency fell by 50% until reaching a figure close to USD 554 one billion yesterday, May 19.

In this period, the unit price of each BTC fell from $59,260 to $35,030. According to data provided by the International Monetary Fund, Argentina’s GDP was USD 418 billion in April 2021. This means that the fall in the capitalization of bitcoin was 1.32 times this figure.

Market capitalization measures a financial asset and how it impacts the economy. In the case of bitcoin, it is equal to the price of each BTC multiplied by the total currency (which is close to 18 million).

The gross domestic product of a country is a quantity that shows the monetary worth of the production of goods and services of final demand during a determined period, in this case, the period represents one year.

The World Bank’s Position about Argentina

The World Bank made a statement saying that Argentina’s GDP has fallen year after year since 2017 when it was USD 643 billion. But in South American regions, the strongest economy is that of Brazil, with a production that circles USD 1.49 billion annually.

On May 13, before another abrupt drop in the price of bitcoin and market capitalization, this media reported that the fall had surpassed Venezuela’s GDP almost four times in a matter of hours.

In less than three hours, bitcoin fell from $54,500 to $45,700, according to data from TradingView, overnight on Wednesday, May 12. This loss of market value represented a decline in bitcoin’s capitalization from $1.02 trillion ($1.02 billion) to $855 billion.

IMF Manages Data Regarding the Loss of Capitalization in Venezuela

On the other hand, data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Venezuela’s GDP for this year is 42,530 million dollars. Specifically, the loss of capitalization of bitcoin is equivalent to 3.9 times that amount, which shows the negative outlook in the country.

Despite the price swings in the short term, if the time reference is extended, it is observed that the market capitalization of BTC has increased, to date, more than 10 times since March 12, 2020. On that day, known as “Black Thursday,” the price of the cryptocurrency fell to $5,900 and its total capitalization was $71 billion.

By: Jenson Nuñez

ASFI explains that currencies can be valued as money only when they have a backup coming from a Central Bank. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have been forbidden in Bolivia since 2014.

For the Authority of the Financial System of Bolivia (ASFI), bitcoin cannot be considered as money. In the opinion of the institution of the South American country, only currencies backed by central banks can be valued, as recent statements make clear. ASFI still has its eyes on bitcoin and the rest of cryptocurrencies, banned since 2014 by the Central Bank of Bolivia.

Now, the executive director of the organization, Lenny Valdivia, reflected on the weakness that they see in cryptocurrencies: he suggested that Bolivians must study in detail how they invest their money. Likewise, he urged warning about “irregular elements” in what he considered as high-risk investments.

For Valdivia, the lack of support from central banks or physical assets of cryptocurrencies could cause a drastic loss of value for any of those assets. The executive highlighted the prohibition of cryptocurrencies in Bolivia, ensuring that bitcoin, and other digital assets, cannot work in legal exchange operations in the South American country.

In the same vein, Valdivia referred to cryptocurrency exchange platforms, which operate outside the jurisdiction and, therefore, the control of the Bolivian authorities and their laws.

Many Latin American governments see anonymity as a problem. The Bolivian regulator hinted at the ASFI representative in her statements, referring to the “ease” that this element provides in the potential execution of transactions regarding money laundering, drug trafficking, and even terrorist financing.

Bolivia, Bitcoin, and Cryptocurrencies

Despite the ban, in Bolivia bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies make a normal life in the market. In the country, it is possible to access the sale of crypto assets in P2P markets such as Binance, Paxful, LocalCryptos, or LocalBitcoins. Volumes in the latter have increased during 2020, surpassing countries such as Paraguay and even Uruguay.

Although the interest in bitcoin trading has been growing fast, the Bolivian ecosystem has shown a lack of education about the crypto world. Ignorance has let happen various scams and pyramid schemes that offer false returns to the South American country.

Various leaders have been warning about this type of scheme in the country. But while Bolivia is betting on a total ban, other countries seek friendlier regulations that allow the development of business with cryptocurrencies and a population that understands the risks of this industry.

Bolivian Justice about Crypto scams

Bolivian justice recently put behind bars another of those involved in the scandalous pyramid scheme that happened a few months ago. Abigail P. T, 23, secretary of the fraudulent company Bitcoin Cash, has been presented by the Special Force to Fight Crime (FELCC) to be tried for a cryptocurrency scam.

According to sources in the country, the director of the FELCC, Carlos Prada, reported that the citizen is one of those involved in the collection of money for the pyramidal scam with cryptographic currencies that took place last June. This case affected 100,000 people in the whole country, getting away from users at least 55 thousand dollars.

By: Jenson Nuñez