The Community Comments on the Anti-Bitcoin Clause in the Agreement between Argentina and the IMF

Alexander Salazar
-
0
The Community Comments on the Anti-Bitcoin Clause in the Agreement between Argentina and the IMF

The Argentine Congresspeople approved the agreement with the IMF that includes objectives against Bitcoin. Representatives of the Bitcoin ecosystem believe that the community will continue to promote the sector.

The Argentine government signed an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to refinance its debt with the organization. They included the demand to stop the advance of the local Bitcoin and cryptocurrency industry. Despite the stir in the community making life in the sector, recent events indicate the agreement will become law soon.

The details in the agreement became public knowledge once the government sent it to Congress for discussion. At that time, the community learned it included a provision against Bitcoin that committed the government to discourage using cryptocurrencies.

The government sought to preserve financial stability and prevent money laundering, informality, and disintermediation.

The Argentine congresspeople approved the legal text, the first guarantee to implement the agreement with the IMF. The debate took place during intense protests by a group of citizens.

Implications of the Approval of the Law for the Cryptocurrency Sector

Representatives of the Argentine cryptocurrency ecosystem agree there is little information to foresee the consequences. For that reason, the scenario looks uncertain for the development of that sector in the country.

NGO Bitcoin Argentina recently asked the government for information supporting the application of measures on cryptocurrencies. However, specialists believe that the authorities will most likely not respond to the request.

Franco Bianchi, CMO of Argentine startup Lemon, said that the ideal scenario would be a context of clear rules. They would allow promoting the adoption of crypto assets, as in some countries implementing laws on using cryptocurrencies.

Argentine bitcoiner Franco Amati commented he is against an agreement with the IMF due to implications for citizens regarding taxes and inflation. He said that the inclusion of the term cryptocurrencies in the project provides new arguments in that respect.

According to Amati, they intend to discourage cryptocurrencies and thus prevent thought crimes and intermediation. He believes that that can only happen in the mind of a bureaucrat. The bitcoiner suspects the IMF wants to avoid new state funding attempts through Bitcoin like in El Salvador.

What the Argentine Community Can Do about Cryptocurrencies

According to Bianchi, the Argentine community has a crucial level of adoption, and the country could become the world capital of cryptocurrencies. Evidence of that is that the tickets to see Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum, in Argentina sold out in only three minutes.

The CMO of Lemon said the industry is growing, and everyone is working together from the Argentine Chamber of FinTech. He considers that users of cryptocurrencies will promote them due to the advantages of the Argentine economic context.

Franco Amati thinks it is better to wait to see what happens in the coming months. Besides, he commented that the community would see how much the Argentine government complicates startups, workers, and users in the sector.

By Alexander Salazar

The police Threatened to Seize the Bitcoins of One of the Canadian Truck Drivers

Jenson Nunez
-
0
The police Threatened to Seize the Bitcoins of One of the Canadian Truck Drivers

The BTC seized under pressure were transferred to the Escrow Agency. More than 14 bitcoins got distributed among the protesters.

The police wanted the seed phrases to access Nicholas’s cryptocurrency wallets. Under pressure from the official, the victim got forced to hand over the private keys.

Nicholas St. Louis is one of the fundraiser organizers in bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies that sought to financially support the protesters of the “Freedom Convoy 2022” movement in Canada.

The police forced him to give them the seeds or seed phrase, the set of between 12 to 24 words that grant access to a cryptocurrency wallet created to receive support.

The same situation happened to the other organizers of the collection, who got arrested near St. Louis at the end of last February.

The Canadian government highlighted that they managed to seize and obstruct part of the bitcoins given to the protest, which managed to gather at least 22 BTC during the demonstrations between January and February. These protests took place in rejection of the obligation to get vaccinated against Covid-19.

The case ended up becoming a power struggle torn between two legal stances. Both jurisdictions would determine who should have power over the donations to get distributed among the protesters now immobilized through their digital currency wallets.

The civil suit arrives from citizens and entities impacted by the protests; on the other hand, there are accusations against the protesters and the collectors for committing a crime by disrupting the public order.

Bitcoin Confiscations

According to the affidavit, St. Louis arranged on March 9, police applied for a search warrant at his home. The officials took him to a car outside his place, and one of them spoke about accusing him of money laundering and other related illicit activities.

After extracting his electronic devices and other assets, they obliged him to give the private keys of his self-custodial wallet. He possessed just $15,000 housed in that wallet.

St. Louis explains that there is still a part of the restricted donations in other portfolios. This situation happened because after distributing some 14.6 bitcoins among the truckers, he received a court order that stopped him from distributing the funds.

An Unbelievable Order to Confiscate  Bitcoins

An Ontario Superior Court judge created the Mareva Order in late February. Its main goal is to prevent the distribution of millions of dollars collected for the Freedom Convoy.

The ruling prohibits the convoy leaders and their fundraisers from disposing of the funds received in donations, including digital assets such as bitcoin.

This situation tied up the private funds of the fundraiser’s organizers: Nicholas St. Louis, Tamara Lich, Christopher Garrah, Patrick King, and Benjamin Dichter, along with the nonprofit organization Freedom 2022 Human Rights and Freedoms.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Lessons about Bitcoin Two Years after the Onset of the Pandemic

Alexander Salazar
-
0
Lessons about Bitcoin Two Years after the Onset of the Pandemic

Two years ago, Bitcoin lost 40% of its market value in one day, going from USD 8,000 to USD 4,400. Although the war has increased the volatility in the market, it seems to be stabilizing.

After the World Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, markets reacted to the downside.

On March 12th of that year, the Bitcoin price dropped by 40%, going from almost USD 8,000 to USD 4,400 in a few hours. One day later, BTC even reached USD 3,700 at its lowest point, a value not seen in a year.

That raised the alarms, as that was the lowest price in a year, plus a 40% drop in one day; just weeks before the market had its sights on a new bullish cycle in which BTC would hit new all-time highs in the price.

That affected the whole cryptocurrency market, whose total capitalization dropped from over USD 220,000 million to about USD 138,000 million in a couple of days.

A Drop to USD 20,000 Would Be a Debacle

The Bitcoin price rose from under USD 4,000 to over USD 60,000, and a drop below USD 40,000 now scares the markets. In 2020, people dreamed of the price breaking the all-time high of USD 20,000 in force.

Since the price is around ten times higher, it would be disastrous to see BTC at USD 20,000 again.

However, Bitcoin exceeded the price it had before the pandemic in just a month and a half. After that, it has not dropped back to that level to date.

Although the value of BTC is even below the levels of last year, the 2020 crash still looks insignificant in the long term. It would have to drop by USD 15,000 or more in 24 hours to experience such a bloody day again.

Despite the War, the Bitcoin Trend Is Stabilizing

The pandemic was a declaration that affected everyone almost, but not quite, equally since each country has its particular contexts. Since the pandemic is global, the response from the markets also occurred worldwide.

Although some people present the scenario as a third world war, it only involves the Russian and Ukrainian territory. The reduced number of external stakeholders only have political and economic participation, not military.

Analyst Eduardo Gavotti recently said that markets would fall significantly only in a large-scale war scenario. In that regard, he described the pandemic debacle as an unprecedented event unique in history.

Although Bitcoin has recently experienced volatility, it is lower than during March and April 2020. For example, analytics data from Coin Metrics shows that the trend is stabilizing.

The Halving Event, Market Cycles, and Fulfilled Predictions

Another lesson about Bitcoin is that its market cycles are clear and start with its configuration. Various analysts agree that the reduction of BTC issuance is decisive in its long-term market behavior.

In 2020, everyone expected the halving event written in the Bitcoin code, which occurs on the network. That reduction in the supply of BTC occurs about every four years.

The pandemic marked a setback on that path towards new highs after a promising start to the year. However, Bitcoin did not take long to get back on track and fulfill the predictions.

By Alexander Salazar

Declaring Taxes on Bitcoin in Spain Might be Frustrating

Jenson Nunez
-
0
Declaring Taxes on Bitcoin in Spain Might be Frustrating

There may be diverse connotations about taxing the same investment in digital assets. An informed selection of investment in digital currencies might be helpful to alleviate tax pressure.

The Spanish tax authorities still do not offer cryptocurrency investors enough criteria to pay taxes correctly. According to the Spanish economist Juan Ramón Rallo, there is an uncertain atmosphere regarding some returns connected to the crypto sector.

Rallo expressed these views in a video released on his YouTube channel. He explained the tax issue with Paula Urcera, in charge of Tax Affairs at the TaxDown company, and Alberto Toribio, leader of Institutional Relations at CryptoPlaza. The specialists had different views on how some products linked to the cryptocurrency sector should get reported to the Treasury.

Spain has been consolidating moves to get residents who invest in digital assets to pay taxes on the performance of the different items. However, the immediate increase and the usefulness of these items for investment in the crypto sector might worsen the panorama.

According to Alberto Toribio, three years ago, 2 million Spaniards invested in digital currencies; today, there are at least 7.5 million investors, citing data from Statista in December 2021. Toribio also said considerable activity regarding the cryptocurrency and Defi segment in Spain.

Paula Urcera explained that essential obligations, like the tax known as IRPF, imply reporting the capital gains or losses on each sale transaction. This report can cause many complications on tax returns for traders, who execute a high volume of transactions each year.

On the other hand, the obligations can also fluctuate according to the place of residence. It depends on the community where users live, so they must declare some taxes or others according to their location.

Utility Tokens Pay VAT in Spain

Specialists coincided that an item like NFTs (non-fungible tokens) gets treated differently than digital assets. These items got tied to other taxes, such as VAT (Value Added Tax). However, according to Toribio, applying this same tax to utility tokens a few weeks ago seems to have caused a stir in Spain.

Utility tokens have a consumption-oriented purpose usually serve as a method of user loyalty with a specific project, granting discounts or other types of incentives.

Paula Urcera highlighted that the investment in utility tokens would not imply the purchaser declaring a tax, as in the case of assets. However, Toribio firmly thinks that there is still a lot of confusion on the subject.

Other Relevant Options

In a country such as Spain, both natural and legal persons must pay taxes on their profits on the capital invested in digital assets. The percentages of the Spanish state’s yield start from a minimum of 19% and can approach at least 50%. The experts revealed various methods that taxpayers are currently applying to refresh fiscal pressure.

Regarding utility tokens, which will now get charged with VAT, Alberto Toribio explained that the measure obliged the companies that manage these items to apply new procedures to avoid getting harmed.

By: Jenson Nuñez

According to a Report, Russians Go to UAE to Liquidate Millions of Dollars in Bitcoin

Jenson Nunez
-
0
According to a Report, Russians Go to UAE to Liquidate Millions of Dollars in Bitcoin

Amid attacks over Ukraine, a report shows how some Russian billionaires are taking their cryptocurrencies to the UAE, searching for a haven to house their money.

Cryptocurrency firms located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have received massive requests from Russian customers to liquidate an excessive amount of dollars in digital assets like Bitcoin. This information got reported exclusively by the Reuters news outlet, which mentioned plenty of local industry sources.

An executive at one of the firms expressed that he received many inquiries in the last ten days from Swiss brokers requesting for liquidation of billions of dollars in bitcoin because their customers are afraid that Switzerland would block their funds.

Russians Bring their Cryptocurrencies to the UAE

The executive’s statements to Reuters suggest that it is not just a common type of client since they speak of managing exorbitant amounts of funds. According to the individual, none of the requests received have been for less than $2 billion.

That executive said they have clients that go to the entity through a broker and talk about selling at least 125,000 bitcoins, an amount in dollars that could even surpass $6 billion.

According to the report, not all customers from Russia desire to liquidate their digital assets. Some customers wish to invest in the UAE real estate sector, while others want to use the services of UAE companies to turn their digital wealth into hard assets. Others want to save their money and keep it away from entities blocking the funds.

A UAE-based real estate agent who operates with digital currencies told that media outlet that they had seen many Russians and even Belarusians arriving at countries like Dubai and bringing crypto. A financial source in the country also assured the increasing sales of cryptocurrency properties to Russians.

Dubai has long been a popular spot for the Russians with massive wealth and an ideal place for real estate investors even before Ukraine’s invasion started. On the other hand, the UAE, which keeps executing crypto-friendly regulations, becoming an attractive destination for the sector, has desisted from taking sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

As CoinDesk noted, UAE presidential adviser Anwar Gargash highlighted that the Gulf state firmly thinks taking sides would only lead to more violence between the parties. The UAE’s approach encouraged all parties to find more diplomatic ways to solve their problems.

A haven for Russian Money

The Reuters report suggests that the apparent political ambiguity of the UAE regarding the war in Europe and the favorable regulations with digital assets could be an escape path for the Russians amid Western punishments.

The outlet noted that The UAE had not joined the financial punishments applied by Western nations, and its central bank has not released any guidance regarding the procedures.

Two executives from Healy Consultants, which provides mentorships to business start-ups, including cryptocurrency ones, confirmed that they received more interest from Russian clients.

They argued that this phenomenon is because the Russians are trying to find ways out against the inflationary pressures the ruble is currently facing amid the warfare, so they are turning to digital assets to mitigate the stress.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Ukraine Calls for USDT Obstructing in Russia and Tether Refused to Take Action

Jenson Nunez
-
0
Ukraine Calls for USDT Obstructing in Russia and Tether Refused to Take Action

Tether refused to block Russian customers unless they get legally forced to do so. Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal are three of the various companies that have already obstructed Russian users.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is pushing one more time on the digital currency industry to block its activities in Russia.

This time, Fedorov directed his intentions toward Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether, the issuer of the stable coin Tether (USDT), to block any financial operation with the Russians. In his opinion, they must do so to maintain world peace.

The Ukrainian official commented on March 11 that the democratic world joined efforts against Russia to punish the invaders for attacking a nation.

At the call of the official Fedorov, Ardoino replied that they would not obstruct Russian users unless they get obliged to do so by order of the regulators.

The representative explained to the media view that the actions of a government do not represent the intentions of a few individuals. Unless the regulatory authorities by which they receive direct orders command them otherwise because they desire to protect the accounts of all their customers.

Blocking a stable coin like Tether could impede how a cryptocurrency exchange behaves since it has become a central part of that crypto environment by allowing liquidity management. Currently, it is the most prominent stable coin with a market cap approaching $80 billion.

Tether’s position has the same stance as previously by bitcoin exchanges and digital currencies like Binance and Kraken. Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, highlighted that digital assets got created to bring greater financial liberties to people around the globe.

Financial Liberty

On the other hand, Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, highlighted that this financial liberty could only happen through legal ways. Powell said he knows why he received such a request, but Kraken is not in a position of blocking or obstructing in any possible way the accounts of its Russian clients without a legal requirement to apply such a measure.

Given the negative responses from the representatives of these entities, the Ukrainian government intends to take legal steps to oblige these networks to obstruct Russian addresses.

Ukraine’s request to entities in the crypto sector align with a proposal executed recently by US President Joe Biden for exchanges to prevent Bitcoin and other digital assets from being a valuable tool for sanctioned Russians and organizations to avoid these punishments.

Cryptocurrencies are an issue that also concerns governments and regulators in Europe and other nations worldwide who stand against the Russian military operation.

Other Entities Executed Measures Against Russia

Although some companies kept bringing their services to customers in Russia, one step in that direction and decided to block activities with that country was the American exchange Coinbase.

Other payment entities such as Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and PayPal also opted to stop their financial activities in Russia.

These cards created in Russia were disabled and didn’t work outside Russia. Cards made by financial institutions outside Russia will no longer operate within the Russian Federation. On the other hand, PayPal expressed its rejection regarding Russia’s attack on Ukraine and also suspended its financial activities on Russia.

By: Jenson Nuñez

1...869870871...1,654Page 870 of 1,654