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Daily Bit
I’m golfing in Myrtle Beach (and I intend to win), so no full Bit today.
Instead, I’d offer up some reader feedback on this week’s posts.
Keep in mind, that I’d like to crowdsource below-the-fold compression blurbs and even some above the fold features long-term. If you’d like to contribute below the fold, email our BD and Community lead, Katherine Wu (katherine@messari.io) with a cover letter and resume.
+ Thoughts on the BMO bitcoin account shutdowns: “While volatility for retail customers is one of the cited reasons BMO is now blocking cryptocurrency transactions, it should be noted that BMO is providing “banking services as part of the payment and settlement infrastructure” for the Toronto Stock Exchange’s wholly owned subsidiary Shorcan Digital Currency Network. Can’t help but see a connection.”
+ Thoughts on crypto tax nightmares: “Small crypto hodler experience: 1) Go through TurboTax and aren’t prompted to answer anything about crypto. 2) Read WSJ, which says “an exchange of one digital currency for another — say, bitcoin for ether — is taxable, beginning Jan. 1, 2018, because of the tax overhaul. What about earlier swaps? The IRS hasn’t said, but some specialists think these could qualify as nontaxable “like-kind” exchanges.” 3) F*** it. (Files based on standard W-2, retail brokerage info.)”
+ Thoughts on my super scientific twitter tax poll: “I’m not so sure about throwing out the 52% who say they think they won’t be caught [for crypto tax evasion]. I’d bet a lot of small fish — i.e. sold <$20K, <$10K, <$1K? In 2017 — aren’t planning to report. Feels like the psychological equivalent of paying state “use” sales tax for tax-free goods bought online.”
+ Thoughts on XRP: “Hey, I loved your XRP piece. This coin drives me nuts. So many messed up things about it. However, I don’t agree with the point you made about how you think it’s likely Coinbase will add it. Whaaa??? I doubt it. Coinbase people are smart people. I don’t think they would be stupid enough to add a shit coin to their platform. Why do you think they’ll add it?”
[TBI Note: this was in response to my January piece. I think, based on the Bloomberg news this week, that I was proven wrong re Coinbase, but Grayscale did launch an XRP fund that now has $5.8mm in AUM.]
+ On those big XRP donations: “I haven’t seen anyone address whether those “$29M” in XRP are locked up in some way or the recipients are free to immediately sell them. I think if they are all free to immediately sell them then we should applaud the donation. If not, it’s almost evil and horribly dishonest.”
[TBI Note: Honestly, this shouldn’t matter. The XRP donation is essentially a dilutive event to XRP holders. Where would we draw the line? $30mm? $100mm? $500mm? When would donating money to the detriment of your private currency’s investors be inappropriate. I thought it was BS.]
Have an excellent weekend!
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I Like Pictures
We talk a lot about self-regulation, but here’s Bloomberg’s take on actual regulation globally:
New York State should be darker.
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Red Pillz
The volunteer army at Messari is building a free, open-source library that anyone can use as a resource, so you can go down the crypto rabbit hole a bit more efficiently. Starting next week, we’ll start featuring one new token profile each day.
Interested in participating in this exclusive research group and slack channels? Apply to Eric Turner (eric@messari.io).
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TBI’s Compression Algorithm
SEC latest remarks on ICOs. Princeton hosted SEC chairman Jay Clayton at a crypto event this week. Clayton acknowledged that “just because [something is] a security today doesn’t mean it’ll be a security tomorrow, and vice-versa” and that “distributed ledger technology has incredible promise for the financial industry”. While this oral statement does not carry binding legal authority and should not be relied on by token issuers, it may be the chairman’s most positive public statement on the crypto sector thus far, and signals that the agencies may be open to considering new legal frameworks for tokens. CoinDesk
Coinbase making moves. Two major headlines from Coinbase yesterday: first, the formation of the Coinbase Venture Fund that will fund to invest in industry startups, particularly in infrastructure. The company noted they won’t shy away from investing in potentially competitive companies either. The exchange also announced they will support asset withdrawal for new assets generated by bitcoin forks, though no firm date has been released yet.
GDPR and Blockchain. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, one of the most sweeping regulations on data and privacy frameworks, goes into effect next month. The GDPR requires any entity “processing” personal data to “erase” information upon request. This “right to be forgotten” may prove problematic for open blockchain networks. CoinCenter’s latest piece gives a good rundown and argues why decentralized networks won’t change under the regulation. Coin Center
Quick Bits (Don’t read that, I read it for you)
Choke Points (Exchange news) + Binance delists Centra tokens after the SEC and the DOJ (via SDNY) slaps the token founders with civil and criminal charges of fraud + Bitflyer hires Tom Love, co-creator of the programming language Objective-C, to to help build and scale its ‘miyabi’ private blockchain.
Startup Signals (ICOs and startups) + Bitpay, a crypto payments company that works with merchants to allow bitcoin and bitcoin cash payments closed a $40mm Series B led by Aquiline Technology Growth and Menlo ventures
BigCo Noise (Enterprise initiatives)+ The Mexico Government reveals its Blockchain HACKMX project to track bids for public contracts using blockchain.+ Japan’s ICO Business Research Group (which includes a member of Japan’s House of Representatives and the CEO of bitFlyer) has put forward a series of proposals related to the regulation of initial coin offerings.+ U.S. Patent and Trademark Office releases IBM’s December 2016 patent application for blockchain test configuration
The Powers That Be (Legal/Reg/Policy)+ The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), i.e. India’s Central bank, announced that entities regulated by the RBI should not provide services to individuals or businesses dealing with or settling virtual currencies. Ironically, the RBI announces its own cryptocurrency initiative in the same statement. Details still murky, FUD TBD. + The Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) has released a new warning about StocksBTC, a cryptocurrency margin trading site.+ The SEC has quietly begun considering two Bitcoin ETF proposals by Proshares.
“Celebrities”+ Tom Lee attributes the recent massive outflow from crypto to dollars to the mid-April income-tax filing deadline, as as investors sell crypto holdings to pay capital-gains levies. [He says it’s $25bn of tax revenue, I think it’s closer to $5–10bn US.] + Heated debate between Roger Ver and Samson Maw over Bitcoin scaling at the two day Deconomy conference in Seoul, Korea. Core has killed babies apparently.
Did I miss something big?
Send me the link, your twitter handle and your best imitation compression algorithm write up. If I really whiffed, I’ll include your bit tomorrow (with attribution).
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Shameless Plugs
Hit me up when I’m in your city!
Upcoming Travel:+ SF (4/8–4/10 — Blockfin at LendIt) + Boston (4/25–4/27 — Pillar VC’s Unchained) + SF (5/1–5/3 — private event)+ NYC (5/10–5/17 — Fluidity, Ethereal, Consensus, Token Summit)+ Asia (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong early through mid-June)
My company, Messari, is hiring:+ Front-end developer, blockchain engineers, data engineers+ Volunteer analysts and summer interns+ Content curation lead (compression algo tinkerer)
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Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.