Cryptocurrency markets have started to recuperate from last weeks losses as bitcoin, ethereum, and a slew of digital assets have seen slight gains. However, the cryptocurrency avalanche has seen its value skyrocket this past week 46.9% higher over the last seven days. Avalanche has also crept into the top ten digital asset market valuations with its $31.5 billion market cap. On November 21, avalanche tapped an all-time price high at $144 per unit as the crypto asset has gained a whopping 3,795% in 12 months.

The crypto asset avalanche (AVAX) has increased a great deal over the last 24 hours jumping in value more than 21%. Besides gala (GALA), avalanche is the biggest crypto asset gainer during the last day. On Sunday, AVAX reached an all-time high (ATH) at over $144 per unit and has entered the top ten cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. AVAXs market is just below the stablecoin market usd coins (USDC) $36.2 billion capitalization.

Seven-day statistics indicate that AVAX has climbed 46.9% in seven days, 83% in two weeks, over 133% during the last three months, and year-to-date, AVAX is up 3,795%. Tether (USDT) commands 63.84% of todays AVAX swaps while the U.S. dollar has around 14.23% of AVAX trades. This is followed by trading pairs such as BTC (9.58%), BUSD (5.56%), TRY (3.86%), ETH (1.33%), and BNB (0.79%).

The most active crypto trading platform exchanging avalanche (AVAX) on Sunday is Binance. The exchange Binance is followed by Okex, Trader Joe, Huobi Pro, Bitfinex, and Coinbase in terms of AVAX trades. Defillama metrics show that AVAX holds the fourth-largest total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (defi) with $12.74 billion. In the last 24 hours, the TVL increased 10.85% and over the last week, it increased 20.95%.

The Avalanche-based decentralized exchange (dex) Trader Joe has seen a 34% increase in users over the last seven days and $1.1 billion in global trade volume. The dex Trader Joe is the second-largest platform in terms of trade volume below Uniswaps $4.29 billion in weekly swaps. Trader Joe is also the sixth-largest defi protocol in terms of TVL with $2.59 billion total value locked on Sunday. Furthermore, Avalanche-based tokens like joe (JOE) and wonderland (TIME) have been rising in value alongside the native currency AVAX.

What do you think about Avalanche hitting an all-time high and making it into the top ten crypto assets in terms of market cap? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Responding to the allegation that Congress leaders are involved in Bitcoin scam, Karnatakas Congress chief DK Shivakumar on Sunday stated that home minister Araga Jnanendra is a mad man.

Speaking to India Today, DK Shivakumar said, Mr Home Minister is a mad man. Which leader's son is involved [in the scam], let it come out first. No congress leader is involved.

On Wednesday, Karnataka home minister Araga Jnanendra had claimed that Congress leaders are involved in the Bitcoin scam in which 25-year-old hacker Srikrishna Ramesh allegedly made away with thousands of bitcoins in five-six years. He also denied the Congress partys accusation that the ruling BJP was shielding influential people in the case.

Araga Jnanendra said, Hacker Sriki was caught in an incident at a popular mall in 2018. Why did the then CM Siddaramaiah not get him arrested? When we caught Sriki in a drugs scandal, we came to know that he is involved in the Bitcoin scam also. So we recommended an inquiry by the Enforcement Directorate.

In response, Congress leader DK Shivakumar also said that his party has been asking Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to provide the letter that was written to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) asking it to take over Srikrishna Rameshs case.

We have been asking them to give us the letter given to the ED since they say there is a criminal investigation report with all the details. This should be made public, DK Shivakumar said.

He also claimed that the BJP was throwing dirt on the Congress to divert attention from their internal issues.

Their internal tussle is going on, they are trying to create some confusion. Nothing is there. If it is there [truth to BJPs claims], let him [state home minister] name him [involved Congress leader] if he has the guts, he said.

On Saturday, the Bengaluru Police detained Srikrishna Ramesh after he got involved in a brawl at a hotel in the city.

ALSO READ: Karnataka withdraws night curfew, allows horse racing

ALSO READ: Karnataka Congress demands more details on Bitcoin controversy, CM says investigation underway

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Karnataka home minister is a mad man: Congress state chief ...

The price of bitcoin has dipped below the $60K zone, a number of people have been talking about the third-largest bitcoin address called 1P5ZED which has accumulated thousands of bitcoin during the last few days. Nobody knows who the owner of the wallet is but it holds more than 111,359 bitcoin, as its been steadily accruing bitcoin since the wallets first transaction on February 5, 2019. While some assume the address is a mega bitcoin whale, onchain data indicates that the wallet could be tied to an exchange.

Bitcoins fiat value has been volatile and its one of those times where everyone is looking for answers to why BTC has slid in value. For instance, on November 10, bitcoin (BTC) slid from a $69K all-time high (ATH) and five days later, it was coasting along in the mid-$65K to $66K per unit range. Since the crypto assets ATH, bitcoin is down 16% in value and slid under the $60K zone. Of course, the volatility sparked whale watchers and people talking about bitcoin whale transactions happening in real-time.

Bitcoin whales are individuals or organizations with large sums of BTC and the whale can also be of various sizes. Depending on who you ask, BTC whales can be individuals or organizations that own 1,000, 10,000, 50,000, and 100,000+ bitcoin. An entity that holds more than 100,000 BTC would be considered a mega-whale, and there are only three bitcoin addresses in existence with 100,000 BTC or more. The top five largest BTC wallets hold anywhere between 84K to 288K BTC, and three of those wallets are marked or tagged as exchanges.

Lately, crypto publications and a slew of individuals on social media and forums, have been speculating about the actions of the third-largest bitcoin wallet. The conversation has been trending and many people believe that a large whale bought the dip, while the price of BTC slipped. Bitcoin.com News has seen a few large whale sightings as well amid BTC hitting fresh new price highs nine days ago. Although the whales our news team discovered stemmed from mined bitcoin block rewards from over a decade ago.

The third-largest bitcoin (BTC) address was first created on February 5, 2019, when it received a small fraction of BTC. Seven days later, onchain data shows the wallet obtained 1,119 BTC on February 12, 2019. The wallet address 1P5ZED doesnt look like an individual bitcoin holder and the transactions 1P5ZED has processed look more like exchange activity from a crypto trading platform. As mentioned above, three out of the top five BTC addresses are flagged as being associated with cold wallets belonging to Binance, Bitfinex, and Okex.

1P5ZED has all the tell-tale signs of being associated with an exchange and its not known for sure, but its been flagged on a few occasions. The address has received a lot of BTC during the last two years and occasionally it spends BTC as well. 1P5ZEDs transactions have very little privacy according to statistics from blockchair.com, as the block explorers privacy tool indicates most of its transactions are done with a very low preference for privacy. Most of 1P5ZEDs transactions have a critical to low privacy rating in terms of the level of traceability. The transactions suffer from vulnerabilities such as matched addresses and inputs and outputs that are often similar.

On the block explorer oxt.me, the address 1P5ZED has notes associated with it, which explain that the address could be tied to an exchange. The first annotation on oxt.me about 1P5ZED says it was submitted by a person named TEJAS on November 22, 2020. The individual writes it could be Bittrex and also leaves a link in the annotation as well. The article linked references a 717 BTC transfer that was allegedly carried out between Bittrex and 1P5ZED.

The second annotation on the block explorer oxt.me was added by ERGOBTC on July 14, 2020. The note says the address source suggests Gemini or Coinbase. This led our investigation down to parsing 1P5ZEDs transactions during the last two months. Blockchain parsing data shows that 1P5ZED transacts quite a bit with the BTC wallet address known as 1FzWLk. While 1FzWLk transacts with 1P5ZED a lot, 1FzWLk is also flagged with a note on oxt.me about the address being associated with an exchange.

The 1FzWLk annotation was also submitted by ERGOBTC, on the same day the second annotation was applied to 1P5ZED. [1FzWLk] annotated as Okex by Whale Alerts. Though source and cluster spending suggest closer ties to Coinbase and Gemini, annotation details. While its not certain 1P5ZED (which acts like an exchange cold wallet) and 1FzWLk (which acts more like a hot wallet) belong to a trading platform, theres a lot more supporting evidence that shows 1P5ZED is likely owned by an exchange.

Do you think 1P5ZED is a random whale address or do you think it belongs to an exchange? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, oxt.me, bitinfocharts.com,

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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As the U.S. government seeks ways to fund its swellingdebt anddeficits and seemingly ever increasing spending, a puzzling anomalyexists.Investorshave flocked to bitcoin and othercryptocurrencies yet receive a preferred tax rate on long-term profits as compared to gold bullion.This makes no sense if, as its advocates like to say, bitcoin is digital gold.

In 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Notice 2014-21, which characterizes cryptocurrencies as property for tax purposes. Meanwhile, gold bullion and equivalent exchange traded funds (ETFs) are treated as collectibles, like coins, gems, jewelry, art, stamps, toys, comic books, sports cards, etc.

Assets are generally not taxable until the point of sale, when an investor realizes a gain or loss. If either bitcoin or gold is bought and sold within a window of 12 months, the proceeds are taxed as ordinary income at a maximum of 28 percent.

But if bitcoin is held for more than 12 months, anygains from a sale are taxed at the preferred long-term capital gains rate, up to a maximum of 20 percent. Gold bullion held for more than 12 months, however, is still taxed up to a maximum of 28 percent.

The revenue implications of this tax preference for bitcoin are significant if not enormous.If the IRS treated bitcoin like gold,additional billions in tax revenue would result. The value of cryptocurrencies globally has mushroomed from nothing to more than$3 trillionin a decade. A portion of thesemassive gains by U.S. investors would be subject to some form of highertaxation.

Investors appetite for bitcoin and gold is likely to growas inflation heats up andprices rise. As increasing demand for bitcoin drives its value higher, the tax revenue implications of treating it differently than gold will also increase.

What is the rationale for the IRS favoring bitcoin?

If gold and bitcoin are, in effect, alternative currencies, then our current tax policy is irrational.It makes no more sense than a policy that taxes profits from trading euros more lightly than profits from trading yen.

For better or worse, the tax code is a bludgeon that the government uses to influence behavior. Usually, favorable tax treatment exists if the government deems something to be a public good and wants to favor it. For example, tax policy favors home ownership by having the home mortgage interest deduction.

Yet no sound reason exists for public policy through taxation to favor investment in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, which tend to be speculative, over gold, whichis a time-tested measure and storehouse of value.

The rationalefor taxing gold and collectibles at a higher ratethancapital gains in property like bitcoin is that collectibles were mostly owned by the wealthy and that gains from those collectibles neither motivated innovation nor stimulated economic growth.This rationale no longer makes sense, if it ever did. Regardless, this reasoning wouldapply equally to bitcoin.

The wealthy use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as storehouses of value just as they do gold

Billionaires such as Elon MuskElon Reeve MuskHouse Democrats push vote on social spending plan to Friday McCarthy delays swift passage of spending plan with lengthy floor speech Musk planning first orbiting SpaceX test flight in January MORE and Mark CubanMark CubanMark Cuban adamant about vaccinations: 'If you work for me, I require my employees to be vaccinated' 'Shark Tank' investor Barbara Corcoran apologizes for comments about Whoopi Goldberg on 'The View' NFL player said he'll get vaccinated if he can earn a profit from it MORE openly espouse their holdings in cryptocurrencies. They are just some of those who have gone public with their support. Ten individuals hold roughly 6 percent of the entirety of bitcoin.These are known as whales.

So bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are storehouses of wealth for the rich, in a similar manner as gold.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are no more productive than gold

While technologically innovative, it is unclear whether bitcoin stimulates economic growth compared to other productive uses. In contrast, the (physical) mining industry as a whole, exclusive of oil and gas workers, employs 182,900 in the United States. These are real jobs with real economic benefits for society.

By one account, 4 percent of Americans have quit their jobs due to gains in cryptocurrencies. Good for them, but is this what we really want as a society?

Measuring the productive impact of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is less clear since they are mined, or digitally uncovered, by individuals. Of the 21 million bitcoins that exist, 18.7 million, or 89 percent, have already been mined, so even if there is an economic boost from bitcoin mining, it is in theory very temporal.

Tax policy should disfavor bitcoin and deflate the bubble before it bursts

Instead, tax policy shoulddisfavorbitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rather than favor them.

Gold is easier to monitor, tax and regulate, relatively speaking. It cannot go through a metal detector without detection or entirely avoid the possibility of a random bag or cargo inspection.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which can be stored on a thumb drive, are more shadowy and elusive, and can be used to evade creditors and to enable criminal enterprises, such as those involved in sex trafficking and money laundering.While privacy advocates may laud this, it comes at a great cost.

Further, the multi-trillion-dollar cryptocurrency market is increasingly a systemic risk to the global economy. The larger it becomes, the more levered the rest of the global economy becomes to it. A sudden drop mirroring the meteoric rise of bitcoin would bring other assets down with it, including housing and the stock market, as crypto investors are forced to sell their non-crypto holdings to cover their losses.

Cryptocurrency minings energy and environmental impacts are also widespread. Digital mining is extremely energy intensive to the point of straining power grids, and therefore a source of environmental concern. Crypto mining operations, by one estimate, consume more energy than the entire country of Argentina. Tax policy should disfavor this.

Fixing the tax anomaly

Taxes on cryptocurrencies should be on par with gold and collectibles. Congress could accomplish this through legislation, or the IRS could simply issue a revised notice and ruling concerning the tax treatment of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

As the old saying goes, If you want to be treated like a lady, act like one.In tax terms, this could be translated as: If bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are to be valued as digital gold, they ought to be taxed like they are really gold.

Chad Bayse is an attorney and Navy judge advocate. He was a counselor to Attorney General Jeff SessionsJefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsThe metaverse is coming society should be wary Trump criticizes Justice for restoring McCabe's benefits McCabe wins back full FBI pension after being fired under Trump MORE and attorney-advisor at the National Security Agency. He holds stock positions in Barrick Gold (GOLD), Kinross Gold (KGC) and Sibanye Stillwater (SBSW). He holds no bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The views expressed in this article are his own and not those of the Department of the Defense or the Navy.

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