Category Archives: Cryptocurrency
How should income from cryptocurrency be taxed as capital gains? – Times Now
How should income from cryptocurrency be taxed as capital gains?
New Delhi: In India, cryptocurrency is not a valid currency or a legal tender in the conventional sense, which means that you cannot pay with cryptocurrency to buy and sell anything in India. Due to this, there is currently no rules or regulation on the taxation of the income earned from cryptocurrencies. But despite this fact, many Indians have, of late, invested in the new age asset class and have earned handsome returns from the asset class because of the rise in Bitcoin and altcoins.
With investors earning attractive returns from this asset class, there were calls for taxing the income generated from cryptocurrency investments. Several tax experts since then have suggested that people should declare their income from cryptocurrency under the head of "capital gains". But how should the capital gains tax on crypto trading be calculated? This created confusion among taxpayers. Let us take an example and understand how this income will be taxed as capital gains.
Tax experts say, if a cryptocurrency is held as a capital asset, then the profit or loss from it should be reported as capital gains or loss. If this asset is held for more than 36 months then the gains/losses should be classified as long-term capital gains or losses and if sold before three years, then the gains/losses will be treated as short-term capital gains or losses.
In the first case (long term capital gains), gains will be taxed at 20% and on top of that there will be applicable surcharge and cess and in the second case(short-term capital gains), gains will be taxed as per the income tax slab of the taxpayer.
Suppose, you have bought Bitcoins worth Rs 1 lakh on May 1, 2019 and sold them for Rs 1.5 lakh on January 5, 2021. Here, the holding period is less than 36 months, so the gains will be treated as short-term capital gains. So the gains of Rs 50,000 will be added to your taxable income and will be taxed as per your tax slab.
In the above example, if you would have bought the Bitcoin prior to January 5, 2018, then the gains would have been treated as long-term capital gains, and would have been taxed at 20% with indexation benefit. Indexation is a process to adjust buying price of an asset to factor inflation.
Worth mentioning here is that if you have invested in any cryptocurrencies then you must disclose that in your income tax return otherwise there could be penal consequences later on when you sell that asset and realise some gains.
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How should income from cryptocurrency be taxed as capital gains? - Times Now
Why The Rise Of Cryptocurrency Adoption In Africa Should Be Noticed Closely? – The Dubrovnik Times
We have enough talk about how America has adopted Cryptocurrencies and how their economy has got a significant boost. America being at the top of the Global finance ecosystem, we accept it to grow no matter what route it takes. This is the reason why countries don't take America's example for Cryptocurrency adoption.
But what if we tell, Cryptocurrency holds the potential to enhance the economy of a developing country like Africa? Would you believe us?
Yes, in the last year, Africa was the fastest-growing nation in terms of Cryptocurrency adoption. Experts are keeping a close eye on every movement. After all, this can go down in history as a case study on how Cryptocurrency can revamp the failing economy.
For a long time, Africa has suffered from infrastructural problems, making financial services less accessible. Seeing the crumbling infrastructure of the nation, the people of Africa took their chances with Cryptocurrencies. And it really does wonders for them. Today, Africa is one of the fastest-growing Crypto nations.
Africa is the second most populated continent in the world. Due to its historical issues with colonization, civil wars, and harsh terrain, the country has suffered severely from infrastructural problems. This has led to severe problems, one being almost 57% of the population remain unbanked.
Despite being one of the major issues, the same problem has made an encouraging environment for Cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency as a whole has seen noteworthy growth during the pandemic, especially in Africa. Africa has been named the fastest-growing nation in terms of Cryptocurrency adoption in the last years.
The African Crypto market has grown over 1200% in the last year. Chain analysis estimates that the African countries' total Cryptocurrencies from July 2020 to June 2021 is around $105 billion.
The report also features these Crypto trends in Africa.
While P2P transactions contribute to only a tiny part of all African transactions (2.6% for Bitcoin & 1.6%) for all Cryptocurrencies, no other region uses Cryptocurrency for P2P services as high as the African users.
The major driver for this large-scale adoption is banks. Banks have made it impossible for major African countries like Nigeria and Kenya to adopt Cryptocurrencies.
Seeing how governments are against the regulation of Cryptocurrencies, it comes as no surprise for the residents of the nation to turn towards P2P services.
Between July 2019 and June 2020, African cross-region values crossed the expectation of Chain analysis. This shows just how many Africans are receiving their remittances in the form of Crypto.
Chain analysis also pointed out the Cryptocurrency payments growth below $1000. This shows potential Africas remittance industry holds.
If you are wondering why Africa is a nation with a booming remittance industry, the world banks data shows that Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most expensive places to send money. Hence, they found using Cryptocurrency more effective than traditional money transfer services.
When we talk about African countries, the first thing that comes to mind is the high inflation rate. African countries are known for their devaluation of currencies. Currency risk in African countries is sky-high.
For a country that imports goods more than they export, constant devaluation of the central currency erodes the wealth of the African countries.
This is the reason why African people are more comfortable in using Cryptocurrencies for all kinds of transactions.
Despite being one of the smaller Crypto-economies globally, Chainanalysisb found that Africa has been a place with some of the highest Grassroot adoptions.
Now, what does grassroots adoption mean? Grassroot adoption is a term used for an area with most people being connected to Cryptocurrency networks. For Africa, this figure is 7% which is higher than the global average of 5.5%.
If you drill down further to see where these Cryptocurrency transactions have happened, you will find that most of the transactions are done by professionals and retail marketers.
For a person living in Africa, it is hard for them to keep their wealth in the form of central money. Over time, the face value of the currency degrades.
If you are one of the readers who belongs to any African country, you likely dont have a bank account. What if we say you can open an account right here, right now.
By clicking the link, you will be redirected to a Crypto-based website, where you can register yourself and enjoy digital banking-like services.
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Why The Rise Of Cryptocurrency Adoption In Africa Should Be Noticed Closely? - The Dubrovnik Times
Cryptocurrency Crypto.com Coin’s Price Increased More Than 9% Within 24 hours – Benzinga – Benzinga
Crypto.com Coin's (CRYPTO: CRO) price has increased 9.59% over the past 24 hours to $0.45. Over the past week, CRO has experienced an uptick of over 16.0%, moving from $0.40 to its current price. As it stands right now, the coin's all-time high is $0.52.
The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Crypto.com Coin over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are bollinger bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.
The trading volume for the coin has risen 14% over the past week diverging from the circulating supply of the coin, which has decreased 1.84%. This brings the circulating supply to 25.26 billion. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for CRO is #22 at 11.43 billion.
If you are interested in purchasing Crypto.com Coin and want to know the best cryptocurrency exchanges, follow this link to Benzinga Money.
Do you want to learn more about trading and be able to analyze your own portfolio of stocks or cryptocurrencies? Consider signing up for Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro gives you up-to-date news and analytics to empower your investing and trading strategy. You can follow the link here to visit.
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Cryptocurrency Crypto.com Coin's Price Increased More Than 9% Within 24 hours - Benzinga - Benzinga
What to do if your Bitcoin, ether or other cryptocurrency gets stolen – CNET
Protect your cryptocurrency from cybercriminals.
If you've invested in Bitcoin, ether or any other cryptocurrency, here are two truths: Your savings are a target for thieves, and it can be tough to get your funds back if the worst happens.
Crypto exchanges are hacked surprisingly often. One of the biggest heists occurred in August, when cybercriminals stole $610 million in various cryptocurrencies from the Chinese platform Poly Network. The hackers eventually returned the funds.
That's an uncommon case. Mt. Gox, a Japanese exchange, was forced intobankruptcyin 2014 after crooks lifted $450 million in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Losses from crypto hacks, thefts, fraud and misappropriation totaled $681 million in the first seven months of this year, according to areport from crypto intelligence company CipherTrace. If losses continue on pace, they'd total $1.17 billion, though that would be a drop from last year's $1.9 billion.
Even if you store your crypto at one of the well-established exchanges, you might face a slog recovering your funds. After reportedly receiving thousands of customer complaints related to its customer service, Coinbase, one of the most popular exchanges, started a live phone support line in September, which doesn't appear to have pleased some of its unhappy customers.
Coinbase didn't respond to a request for comment butnotes on its website that it carries "crime insurance" protecting a portion of digital assets held across its storage systems against losses from theft, including data breaches.
In addition, the company confirmed Wednesday that it's started testing a new subscription service that will allow customers to buy, sell and convert digital currencies without paying a fee for each trade. Website The Blockreportedearlier that the service also includes features like additional account protection and "prioritized phone support."
Read more: Crypto security can be a pain, but a few safeguards will go a long way
Of course, that won't help if someone hacks your personal wallet -- the software and sometimes hardware used to store crypto -- rather than the exchange itself. No one's in charge of cryptocurrencies, which are decentralized. You might want to complain, but good luck finding someone to listen.
What's worse than having your funds robbed? Watching the money move around on the blockchain, the technology that powers cryptocurrencies by creating a public record of transactions.
"Your stolen funds are right there in plain sight, but there's no way to get them back," said Don Pezet, co-founder of the online IT training company ITProTV. "It's like someone stole your car and parked it right in front of your house."
The best approach, of course, is to make sure your crypto never gets stolen. That means moving as much of it as possible into "cold" wallets that aren't connected to the internet. Secure any funds you leave in "hot" wallets," which are hosted online, as tightly as possible.
Should something bad happen, don't lose hope. Here are some tips from the experts:
If there's anything left in your compromised wallet, transfer it out, Pezet says. Delete the wallet and get a new one.
Any passwords related to your exchange account should be changed as soon as possible, says Andrew Gunn, senior threat intelligence analyst at ZeroFox. Switch email accounts. If you think the device you used to access your account might be compromised, reformat it or, preferably, don't use it anymore.
If your exchange is larger and better known, you're more likely to get some help. Act fast, and your exchange might be able to freeze your funds, depending on what stage the theft is at, Gunn says.
Be aware, however, that many exchanges aren't under much obligation to help. Some exchanges are located in countries with few regulations that cover cryptocurrencies. Some countries don't consider crypto to be an asset, Pezet says, reducing the odds of help from the authorities even further.
It's unlikely a formal report will help in recovering stolen crypto, but it doesn't hurt to have a case number or documentation. You never know if there will be an insurance claim or lawsuit you can be part of. Having evidence you took the theft seriously will help you establish standing if you have to.
In some cases, the FBI and crypto-tracing companies have been able to recover cryptocurrency. For example, in the case of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, the FBI, with the help of tracing experts, was able to recover about $2.3 million of the $4.4 million paid in Bitcoin as ransom. But isn't likely federal authorities would go to those kinds of lengths for the average person.
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What to do if your Bitcoin, ether or other cryptocurrency gets stolen - CNET
Cryptocurrency ether hits all time high of $4400 – Reuters
The exchange rates and logos of Bitcoin (BTH), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Monero (XMR) are seen on the display of a cryptocurrency ATM of blockchain payment service provider Bity at the House of Satochi bitcoin and blockchain shop in Zurich, Switzerland March 4, 2021. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
HONG KONG, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Ether , the world's second largest cryptocurrency, hit an all-time high on Friday, a little over a week after larger rival bitcoin set its own record.
As cryptocurrency markets have rallied sharply in recent weeks, ether is up more than 60% since its late September trough.
The token, which underpins the ethereum blockchain network, rose as much as 2.6% to $4,400 in Asian hours, breaching the previous top of $4,380 set on May 12.
"It wouldn't surprise me if we go blasting through in European and U.S. trade," said Chris Weston, research head at Melbourne-based broker Pepperstone. "This is a momentum beast at the moment, and it looks bloody strong."
A recent technical upgrade to the Ethereum network seemed to have helped, he added.
"A lot of the time, with these technological upgrades and bits and pieces, this is news that fuels the beast, it's fodder for people to say, 'This is what we bought in for,' and as soon as it starts moving, it's like a red rag to a bull, people just go and buy."
Bitcoin, which hit its record high of $67,016 on Oct. 20, was last up 1.4% at $61,457, for an increase of about 50% since late September.
Among the biggest recent movers in cryptocurrencies, however, is meme-based cryptocurrency shiba inu, whose price has rocketed about 160% this week, and is the world's eighth largest token.
Shiba inu is a spinoff of dogecoin, itself born as a satire of a cryptocurrency frenzy in 2013, and has barely any practical use. read more
Reporting by Alun John in Hong Kong and Kevin Buckland in Tokyo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Cryptocurrency ether hits all time high of $4400 - Reuters
Commonwealth Bank to offer cryptocurrency trading in first for Australias big four – The Guardian Australia
The Commonwealth Bank will allow its customers to buy and sell cryptocurrency through its app, in the first move of its kind by a major Australian bank.
Australias largest bank announced on Wednesday it had partnered with US-based crypto exchange Gemini and blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis to offer the service to its 6.5m CommBank app users.
Customers will be able to buy up to 10 crypto assets including bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
The bank will conduct a pilot in the next few weeks, ahead of a wider launch in 2022.
We believe we can play an important role in crypto to address whats clearly a growing customer need and provide capability, security and confidence in a crypto trading platform, CBAs chief executive Matt Comyn said in a statement.
The bank said research on its customers found many had either expressed interest in crypto assets, or were already trading crypto through exchanges.
Customers have expressed concern regarding some of the crypto services in the market today, including the friction of using third party exchanges, the risk of fraud, and the lack of trust in some new providers. This is why we see this as an opportunity to bring a trusted and secure experience for our customers, Comyn said.
Dr Dimitrios Salampasis, a lecturer of fintech leadership and entrepreneurship at Swinburne Business School, said he was not surprised CBA had entered the cryptocurrency field.
He said the bank was trying to get first mover advantage in Australia, and hoped it would bring more legitimacy to the cryptocurrency space.
Having this coming from a systemic and the biggest bank in Australia, its definitely a move that will change a lot, he said.
And it will hopefully bring legitimacy, bring further harmonisation, push further regulation and also minimise debanking, which has been a massive pain for all cryptocurrency startups in particular.
Debanking is where financial institutions refuse to offer services to businesses in Australia.
A Senate select committee report on fintech services in Australia, tabled this month, cited several cryto businesses that had been rejected by dozens of financial institutions in Australia, such as the exchange Bitcoin Babe.
The committee, chaired by Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, recommended the government regulate the sector to allow it to fully operate in Australia, including a market licensing regime for digital currency exchanges, and for the government to develop a clear process for businesses to deal with debanking.
Salampasis said the committees report, along with CBAs gradual move into the sector, would likely foster regulation of cryptocurrency in Australia.
There has to be regulation, there has to be provisions, especially in relation to custody, especially in relation to licensing, he said.
I do believe that Australia has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become a leader in the space and really drive a complete regulatory framework around cryptocurrencies.
Bragg welcomed the announcement from CBA.
For too long, banks have cast aside cryptocurrency as an illegitimate fringe pursuit. I am pleased the tide is turning, as digital assets are mainstreamed, he said.
Now banks are adopting cryptocurrency, they should stop debanking hardworking Australians.
CBA told the committee that it does not have a policy around debanking due to competitive or market factors but when making a decision on lending to new customers, we take a range of risk considerations into account including the terms and conditions of any loan documentation and possible security provisions provided.
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Commonwealth Bank to offer cryptocurrency trading in first for Australias big four - The Guardian Australia
How Venture Capitalists Think Cryptocurrency Will Reshape Commerce – The New York Times
Decentralized finance and artificial intelligence
Crypto finance can sound like science fiction. But this is our reality. Right now, all over the internet, on decentralized finance programs like Uniswap, people are trading, borrowing and lending digital assets on platforms where computer code runs the show. There is now about $235 billion invested in DeFi, by one industry account.
On the DeFi protocol Compound, a recent programming snafu revealed vulnerabilities in systems deliberately designed to eliminate the middlemen regulators traditionally rely on to oversee financial transactions and guarantee consumer protection. After a bug was introduced during a software upgrade, $160 million worth of cryptocurrency was put at risk of improper distribution, and about $90 million of that was actually wrongly paid out, the company said.
Technically, Compound is not brokering trades, just programming software for transactions. But its founder, Robert Leshner, conceded in an interview with The New York Times this summer that he has long feared an error could result in major losses. For the first couple of years of Compound, I woke up in a cold sweat every morning, he said.
Started in 2017, the company now claims to have $18 billion worth of cryptocurrency earning interest on its platform. Mr. Leshners recurring nightmare was that somebody would find a flaw in the program, a line of bad code, and steal everything. All it takes is one bug, he said.
A16Z is backing a network called Helium. This decentralized wireless infrastructure company hopes to someday compete with established brands like Verizon or AT&T. Community members create a hotspot in their neighborhood with a special device and earn data and Heliums crypto tokens in exchange for helping to power this group 5G cellular system.
Popularitys value on social networks can now be calculated when you tokenize yourself and create an economy fueled by your own crypto.
On BitClout, every user gets a coin and its value suggests what the internet thinks of them. There is no company behind it its just coins and code, the developers claim. An account with the name Elon Musk is the top-valued token at about $115 dollars. But the projects launch was controversial, with crypto insiders calling out the dystopian social network for relying on data collected by giants like Twitter to calculate reputation, among other critiques. DeSo, short for Decentralized Social, is a blockchain network for developers to build decentralized social media programs.
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How Venture Capitalists Think Cryptocurrency Will Reshape Commerce - The New York Times
Ethereum cryptocurrency soars to an all-time high – Aljazeera.com
Ether underpins the affiliated Ethereum Network, the dominant blockchain used for thousands of decentralized applications.
ByEric Lam and Crystal KimBloomberg
Published On29 Oct 2021
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, soared to a record above $4,400 Friday on bullish sentiment surrounding the most used blockchain network.
The digital asset gained as much as 4.8% to $4,459.20, topping the previous record of $4,379.62 in May. The token traded around $4,387 as of 2:41 p.m. in New York. Other tokens including Binance Coin and Solana rallied. Ether is now worth more than $520 billion, according to data fromCoinGecko.com.
Ethers latest milestone comes as the digital token has far outperformed Bitcoin throughout this year with a sixfold increase amid surging retail and institutional investor interest in the space.
Ether underpins the affiliated Ethereum Network, the dominant blockchain used for thousands of decentralized applications. The system got a further boost this week after a successful upgrade designed to make it faster and more energy-efficient.
Outstanding futures in Ether soared to $12.5 billion, exceeding the May peak to notch a new record high, Bybt data show. Similar to Bitcoin, funding rates or the cost of keeping a bullish bet open have climbed this month on online exchanges. On CME, the futures curve has also steepened in a sign of optimism over the price trajectory.
On-chain activity metrics for Ethereum appear to have found support and are reaching multi-month highs, said Sean Farrell and Will McEvoy, digital asset strategists with Fundstrat in a report Thursday. Measures including transaction rate, new addresses and active addresses have shown strong growth this month after suffering declines in May, the strategists said.
Meanwhile, some analysts pointed to a connection between the rise in theuber-popularShiba Inu coin and Ethers record.
Ethereums EIP 1559 upgrade was implemented in August and this burns a portion of fees paid to miners, reducing net issuance as a function of network usage, said Sam Doctor, chief strategy officer and head of research at BitOoda, a regulated crypto brokerage.
So if Shiba Inu generates a lot of traffic, it increases network congestion and contributes to more ETH being burned, he said. That slows the net growth in ETH in circulation. Tighter ETH supply combined with high network usage likely drove Ethers price up.
Bitcoin rose some 40% this month to reach a record of almost $67,000 following the debut of the first Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund in the U.S. The worlds biggest digital currency was 1.6% higher in New-York trading at $62,405.
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Ethereum cryptocurrency soars to an all-time high - Aljazeera.com
Heres how to quickly convert your cryptocurrency into cash – The Indian Express
While Indians are flocking to earn quick profits out of the crypto frenzy, there are some practical issues with the cryptocurrency as it cannot be exactly used for daily transactions. Nevertheless, the crypto space in India has grown massively with Indian investments increasing to over $10 billion from $923 million in April 2020. If youre looking to convert your crypto assets into cash, heres what you need to know.
The first method to convert any cryptocurrency into cash is through an exchange or a broker, this is quite similar to the currency exchange system at airports of a foreign country.
You deposit your cryptocurrency into an exchange such as WazirX, CoinDCX, CoinSwitch Kuber, Unocoin , and request a withdrawal in the currency of your choice. The withdrawal will be paid into your bank account. Lets understand this by taking Bitcoin as an example of a cryptocurrency that you want to convert into cash.
Transfer your Bitcoins to the exchange that supports buying and selling in INR. In this case, we use WazirX, for demonstration purposes.
Step 1: Open the WazirX app, and tap on the Funds option.
Step 2: Click on the INR option and you will be able to see your account transactions, deposits, and withdrawals.
Step 3: At the bottom of the screen, you will be able to see two options, Deposit and Withdrawal.
Step 4: Click on the withdrawal option, where you will be able to enter the amount you need to withdraw. Now, enter the amount and submit.
Step 5: You will receive an email soon, where you have to authorise the withdrawal. Once you have verified, the funds will be reflected in your account shortly.
This method is considered the safest, but at the same time, the time for money to reach your account is about 4-6 days. In addition, crypto exchanges also charge a fee for the transaction, and it differs from broker to broker.
For a quicker, more anonymous withdrawal, you can use a peer-to-peer platform to sell Bitcoin for cash. One of the most popular peer-to-peer platforms is LocalBitcoins.
Sign up on a peer-to-peer exchange platformand choose the location of your ideal buyer. Then, use the marketplace to find buyers. Most peer-to-peer platforms have an escrow option where your Bitcoins are not released to the buyer until you have confirmed you have received payment.
While using the peer-to-peer selling method, it is crucial to be aware of fraudsters. Also, it is highly recommended to use a peer-to-peer platform that lets you keep your Bitcoins locked until you verify the payment has been obtained from the buyer.
It is worth noting that if you cash out your crypto assets, then you will need to pay taxes on your profits although crypto currently exists in a legal grey area in India, investing in this asset is not outside the ambit of taxes.
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Heres how to quickly convert your cryptocurrency into cash - The Indian Express
Ethereum Hit Another New All-Time High. Heres What Investors Should Do Next – NextAdvisor
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Ethereum hit another new all-time high price Wednesday when it went over $4,668. The second-biggest crypto has now hit several new all-time highs in recent days after it set a new record for the first time in months on Friday.
The latest Ethereum high comes a little over a week after Bitcoin notched its own new all-time high of $66,974, according to Coindesks Ethereum price tracker.
[READ MORE:] Ethereum: What You Should Know Before You Invest
The surge in crypto prices in recent days days follows the debut of the New York Stock Exchanges first Bitcoin ETF. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum the two cryptos experts recommend investors stick with over smaller coins have both seen price surges following the ETF launch.
Despite the jumps in the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum, experts advice for investors remains the same.
As with any long-term investment, experts advise to ignore the ups and downs. The latest high price doesnt mean Ethereums volatility has gone away.
The real question is, owning these coins, are they going to continue to experience compound, exponential growth? Nothing in the fundamentals of cryptocurrency tells me that answer is yes, says Jeremy Schnieder, the investing expert behind Personal Finance Club.
Because theres no guarantee that any cryptos value will increase, experts advise to never invest more than 5% of your portfolio in cryptocurrency. Never invest at the risk of not meeting other financial goals like paying off high-interest debt or saving for retirement.
If youve met all of those benchmarks, the best thing you can do is ignore the hype around new record highs or lows. Like with traditional, long-term investing, the best thing you can do is set it and forget it, Humphrey Yang, the personal finance expert behind Humphrey Talks, previously told NextAdvisor.
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Ethereum Hit Another New All-Time High. Heres What Investors Should Do Next - NextAdvisor