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Ketaki Dixit

Cameron Winklevoss Claims that Bitcoin Should be Substitute For Failing US Dollar

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The world economy at the moment was not in the best of shape. With a global pandemic killing thousands across the globe and the threat of recession looming large, countries were scrambling to reinforce their defenses.

During this trying period, many analysts and economists have talked about the solutions that can be taken to pull the economy out of a spiral. Just recently, Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of Gemini gave his reasoning as to why Bitcoin can be the alternative to the US dollar and serve millions of citizens. 

Cameron Winklevoss’s comments came in the wake of the US Treasury pumping billions of dollars into the country’s economy. This was seen as a bad move in the long term because of its effects on inflation rates. Winklevoss claimed that the dollar needed a switch-up soon with Bitcoin because of the cryptocurrency’s advantages. His latest tweet read:

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading for $7028 with a total market cap of $128.8 billion. A 2.87 percent drop in Bitcoin’s price over the previous day had brought down the 24-hour market volume down to $32.7 billion. Bitcoin’s dip also triggered the altcoin market to take a tumble towards the bear’s path. The Bitcoin Cash family and Litecoin were the biggest losers among the top 10 cryptocurrency club.

Bitcoin supporters have rallied behind the cryptocurrency since its inception and even after the recent bear crashes, the clamoring has not reduced. Cameron Winklevoss was just one among several Bitcoin evangelists who were out to prove the world’s largest cryptocurrency was indeed better than mainstream fiat currency. Some even claimed that Bitcoin has already made its mark as a global unit and will grow and surpass the US dollar in terms of transparency and accountability.

A recent analysis of all the global reserve currencies since the 16th century showed that Bitcoin’s era of dominance had started a few years after it came to the limelight. Bitcoin’s use case permits it to be used as a currency across borders. The main force of attraction towards Bitcoin was its decentralized nature, something that fiat currencies cannot boast of.

Singapore to go Easy on Crypto Taxation as New Release Addresses Payment, Utility and Security Tokens

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Singapore has been one of the few South Asian countries involved in boosting the presence of the cryptocurrency industry. Aside from being looking into the workings of the world of digital assets, the country has also been toying with blockchain technology.

A new release by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore talked about the tax laws that will govern payment tokens, utility tokens and security tokens. The body stated that there will be a new definition when it comes to the aforementioned taxes so that nothing is lost in translation between the government as well as crypto holders.

According to the latest e-tax guide proposed by the Revenue authority, it made better sense to tax the different tokens separately. The e-tax guide aims to provide guidance on the income tax treatment of transactions involving payment, utility or security tokens. The general income tax treatment for digital tokens is to be determined based on the nature and use of the tokens. This will ensure that the judgement is not based on the label that the token will take.

The latest report stated that Bitcoin and other payment tokens come under the ambit of intangible property. This negates its ‘legal tender’ tag customers paying for goods using Bitcoin will only be taxed on the good and not on the cryptocurrency. Singapore’s latest step was seen as a way to boost an industry that has been coming into its own over the past few months. The rate of adoption has slowed down because of COVID-19 but that only reinvigorated the true players in the industry.

Cryptocurrency holders in the past have found it difficult to calculate the tax rates for their holdings, a caveat clarified by the IRAS. The report detailed two steps to calculate an exchange rate that would best reflect the value of the receiving tokes. The two conditions were:

  1. The exchange rate must be reasonable and verifiable e.g. it is determined using an average of exchange rates available on payment token exchanges, such as Coinbase and Binance. Where the exchange rate is not available on exchanges, taxpayers can use other means to support their claim that the basis of the exchange rate used is reasonable.
  2.  The methodology used to determine the exchange rate should be
    consistently applied year on year.”

The latest rules also covered other events in the cryptocurrency space. In the future, the IRAS will not charge any income tokens against airdropped payment tokens or those that come from a blockchain hard fork. Changes were also made to the taxability process of ICO proceedings. The taxability of the ICO proceedings in the hand of the issuer depends on the rights and functions of the tokens issued by the investors.

Sources within the IRAS said that users can compare exchange rates using reputable platforms such as Coinbase or Binance. Singapore’s strict code of conduct has created a system where companies are made to double-check their processes before they can begin functioning within its borders. At the time of writing, Singapore does not levy capital gain taxes on securities. The only exception occurs when they come under the tag of “revenue asset”.

US Banks Fail to Cope With Increased Demands As Country Continues To Look For Solutions Against COVID-19

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The financial world has seen multiple ups and downs in the past but a second global recession threat in 12 years has set the sights firmly on the future. As the coronavirus spreads, multiple countries began providing stimulus packages to boost their lockdown affected economies.

The United States has the largest pool of coronavirus positive patients with the country reeling from a pandemic as well as an unemployment crisis. The financial situation in the US mainland became worse when banks failed to cope with the increased demands generated by national economic stimulus bills. 

Reports from within the financial sphere showed that multiple banks faced outages during trading hours. US Bank, PNC and Fifth Third Banks all witnessed their servers crashing due to an inability to handle the inflow of large stimulus funds. The issues within the industry were not just restricted to brick and mortar institutions but online repositories as well. Cryptocurrency evangelists have taken this opportunity to point out the lack of opportunity to scale, a sector that Bitcoin dominates.

Although the cryptocurrency market was still coming out of a bear crunch, its supporters were confident of its ability to recover. Bitcoin, the largest and arguably the most popular cryptocurrency in the market saw a rise this week that took its value above the $7000 mark. At press time, Bitcoin was trading for $$7108 with a total market cap of $130.3 billion. A weekly hike of 3 percent had elevated Bitcoin’s 24-hour market volume to $36.01 billion.

Many officials in the digital asset industry opined that the government’s move to keep printing move was utterly worthless. Alex Mashinsky, the CEO and founder of Celcius Network pointed out that governments do not realize how hard it is to scale. The government is still printing physical checks and sending it to people by mail and that is just not going to work, he said. Mashinsky added:

“They could do that [use blockchain technology instead]. So it’s not a technological issue. But, you know, when there’s friction, the banks make huge fees. When you eliminate friction with the blockchain, then the banks would have to charge less, not more.”

Mashinsky reiterated that the government had the chance to use blockchain technology in JPMCoin or Libra. Even while receiving flak from regulators, blockchain technology was being used to facilitate help during the time of coronavirus. Several applications have been launched based on blockchain technology, mainly acting as channels between COVID-19 hotspots and essential item delivery services.

The mainstream financial world has somewhat begun accepting decentralized technology, albeit in very concentrated areas. Governments across the world would do well if regulators looked at the cryptocurrency industry with an open mind as several exciting opportunities await in the pipeline.

Ripple and Chris Larsen Set to Donate $5 million to Combat Covid-19

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The spread of coronavirus has had a debilitating impact on the lives of millions of people across the globe. Reports also added that in the US alone, one in ten people has lost their jobs in the last three weeks.

To ensure that a few citizens can receive some form of support during these trying times, Ripple and its co-founder Chris Larsen have announced their intention to donate to the COVID-19 relief fund. The $5 million donations were seen as a way for public sources to channel capital and obtain essential resources for citizens. 

Ripple stated that people at the grassroots level need to be taught so that society as a whole does not crumble. Ripple for Good, which is the charity and goodwill wing of the tech company, has added that it will continue to donate funds and campaigns that are at the forefront of the fight against the virus. At the moment, the virus has led to widespread fear and uncertainty among the masses with some places even witnessing racial divides.

Just this week, the number of global coronavirus cases crossed the 2 million mark. The startling fact about this milestone was that the number had doubled in the span of just 12 days. As tests become cheaper and more people are checked, the number is only expected to grow exponentially over the coming weeks. Efforts taken by companies such as Ripple was appreciated by a system trying to safeguard citizen safety.

Ripple’s latest venture will look to tackle food scarcity in the Bay Area where one in five people have less than $400 in their bank accounts. An official release from Ripple said:

“To start, we are giving back in the Bay Area–food scarcity is dramatically increasing for tens of thousands in the wake of job losses, business closures and overdue rent payments. In response, Ripple and its cofounder Chris Larsen are donating $5M; $1M each to five food banks and meal service providers that are supporting families and individuals in the area.”

The company has chosen the five services by looking at the range as well as the number of people they will be able to help. One of the food banks supported by Ripple was the Alameda County Community Food Bank, where every dollar donated provides two meals for vulnerable families in the county. Loaves and Fishes Family Kitchen was selected because of its history with charitable food work. Since the kitchen was founded, it has provided meals worth $6.5 million to low-income families.

Ripple has also contributed to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation [SVCF]. The SVCF was responsible for amassing funds to help non-profits and small businesses in the Bay Area counties. Ripple’s involvement with the SVCF was seen as a positive marker for bolstering relief funds. The cryptocurrency company recognized that everyone needs to step up to help those in need.

The Ripple Insights blog appreciated the efforts made by technology companies in the fight against the coronavirus. Google has already donated a million dollars to families in the Bay Area with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai donating another million. Paolo Alto resident Apple was another major contributor to the relief funds, donating $15 million with additional contributions from employees.

Second Malaysian State Reveals Plans To Develop Native Digital Bank

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The start of the new decade has brought with it some new changes to the world financial markets. After decades of adhering to a single banking and capital transfer system, regions are now experimenting with new technologies such as blockchain and virtual assets.

Malaysia remains one of the financial powerhouses in the South Asian region and recently made news when its states announced their decision to conduct their own tests with blockchain. The latest member of that group was the state of Johor, whose chief minister announced that the government was planning its own digital bank venture.

Chief Minister Datuk Haji Hasni Mohamad took to the public forum of Facebook to reveal that the state government was working with developers to establish its own digital bank. This announcement comes in the

wake of several countries across the globe integrating blockchain technology into its inner workings. According to the government official, a digital bank possesses several advantages that will be useful for the common citizen.

The Chief Minister added that a digital bank under the watchful eye of the government will bear fruits for the economy. Citizens will also have access to a more inclusive financial ecosystem where they will be able to trade with worldwide channels.

Mr Hasni Mohamad urged all the governments to seriously look into the matter and ensure that they do not miss the opportunity that lies in new-age technologies.

Johor becomes the second Malaysia state after Sarawak to initiate a bid for a digital banking license. Sarawak had initially said that they will apply for a license from the Federal Government.

Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Abang Openg had said:

“If possible, the state government would like to obtain the license as we already have our own e-wallet application, the Sarawak Pay. I also hope the Federal Government will consider granting us this license.”

Sarawak Pay, the state’s native application also has its sights on the Chinese as well as the European markets. Abang Johar was confident that there would soon come a day when citizens will be able to use their own currencies to conduct transactions in European nations.

China’s ‘Blockchain Service Network’ Goes Live in the Country; Global Launch Set to Occur Towards End of Month

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China has been a surprise leader in the adoption of blockchain technology to address its national needs. Since last year, the Red Dragon has been in the news a good few times for its involvement in the world of emerging technology, notably the extensive use of blockchain to strengthen its financial ecosystem.

Xi Jinping, China’s premier, had previously stated that after consulting in-house experts, China would maintain a growth pattern with blockchain technology. Developments also culminated in the formation of the Blockchain Service Network, which was launched in China on 15 April, with a global launch scheduled for 25 April.

The initiative for the platform was taken by the State Information Center of China, with a vision to create a seamless ecosystem for developers and consumers. Sources close to its developments claimed that the BSN would enable users to build dApps in the simplest ways possible. BSN’s official release occurred on October 15, 2019, after which it went through a 6-0mopnth testing period.

BSN is also set to provide online training and customer service mechanisms for users. This training will be split into three parts: online live training courses, customer service consultation exchange meetings and online on-demand training courses. Users will be able to watch videos uploaded on the BSN Knowledge Base.

Reports from the BSN have said that regular online customer service consultation meetings for developers will be held. These meetings will be hosted by professional customer service members of the BSN Development Alliance. The plan has been so well thought out that the classes for users have a specific timing: every Wednesday from 19:00 to 21:00.

A whitepaper published by the BSN Alliance states:

“As the BSN takes hold in worldwide countries, it will become the only global infrastructure network that is innovated by China, whose gateway access is controlled by China.”

The BSN Alliance was supported by the government, blockchain firms as well as several state-owned entities. Some experts have called the entire plan similar to China’s One Belt One Road Initiative, a move where the country provides resources to other regions. China’s determination to establish its native blockchain system was made evident earlier when its national bank filed for more than 80 patents related to blockchain technology.

China‘s blockchain patent numbers are the highest in the world and that was created by building on infrastructures such as banks, telecom and internet giants. One of the founding members of the BSN is the Huobi Group. Huobi has already deployed multiple nodes in countries such as the US, Brazil and France.

 

Ripple Sets to Improve Payment for Malaysian SMEs with MoneyMatch Partnership

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Ripple is known within the cryptocurrency industry for its panache of partnerships and tie-ups. As the years have gone by, Brad Garlinghouse-led company has expanded by leaps and bounds to target payment corridors around the world.

The latest organization to join hands with Ripple was MoneyMatch, a cross border transfer service that helps SMEs in the country ton pay their global suppliers. MoneyMatch intends to use Ripple’s global presence to expand to the markets in 120 countries. 

MoneyMatch works with the ethos of providing quick service to SMEs who want to move capital quickly. MoneyMatch founder Adrian Yap first spotted the gaps that SMEs face when he worked in treasury roles in Malaysia’s established financial institutions. Yap claimed that banks made a lot of profit off SMEs, especially from high forex rates imposed on them.

In a recent interview, Yap said:

“Banks typically focus on larger customers who are sending higher volume transactions and can afford higher fees. SMEs don’t have much choice other than to accept these same rates, which adds to the cost of dealing with foreign suppliers. We worked with Ripple to create an improved cross-border payment process that offers these customers better rates and faster transaction times.”

According to the founder, all the banks in Malaysia charged the same fees and were happy by generating the revenue. He did not see these banks take the initiative of increasing their market share by reducing rates and making the system more accessible. With MoneyTap, Yap believed that offering lower prices and a simpler way to send money abroad was the key differential from the competition.

MoneyMatch admitted that they were a small startup that did not have enough capital and volume to gain global traction. This was the reason why RippleNet was chosen after lengthy discussions between the founders and the board members. RippleNet gave MoneyMatch access to hundreds of global partners with everyone plugged into the same network. Ripple helped MoneyMatch by cutting integration and operation costs while also providing a faster and more affordable service to customers.

Another issue that Ripple addressed was a matter of credibility. Becoming a part of the RippleNet allowed MoneyMatch to cut costs by more than 40 percent with customers reporting much faster settlement timings. This was in stark contrast to when MoneyMatch used the SWIFT network where settlements would be delayed on occasions. Despite the Ripple partnership, MoneyMatch still finds it difficult to convince some clients about a switch to a blockchain-based platform. Yap continued:

“SMEs are rightly cautious with their money. Gaining their trust quickly was not something we could hack – you have to earn it. We saw businesses start with lower value transactions. Once we had their trust and they saw how much they were saving, these customers began making 4-5 larger payments with us every month.”

Both companies expect the partnership to be fruitful in the long run because of all the positive financial implications it can have. At the moment, the cryptocurrency market is a bit on the stagnant end but developments continue behind the scene. Ripple would hope that all the aforementioned partnerships soon pan out to become an established ecosystem.

 

Bitcoin’s Upcoming Halving: What To Expect During the Unexpected

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Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency is also undoubtedly the most popular virtual asset as well. Since the cryptocurrency first came to the limelight over a decade ago, Bitcoin has not stopped being a fascinating story within the digital asset ecosystem. Now that we are less than a month away from the much-anticipated Bitcoin halving, let us look at how the even can change the course of the cryptocurrency as well as that of the industry’s.

New bitcoins are issued every 10 minutes by the Bitcoin network, Bitcoin Halving is an event where the number of Bitcoin rewards generated per block is halved (divided by 2). This event is programmatically scheduled every four years. The first halving took place in 2012, reducing the block reward from 50 BTC to 25 BTC. Four years later the coin’s block reward dropped again from 25 to 12.5 BTC. Now, in the 2020 halving, it will drop from 12.5 BTC to 6.25 BTC. With the upcoming halving, Bitcoin’s block reward is set to be slashed in half at block number 630,000. This will be the third halving in Bitcoin’s history.

One of the most popular theories in the cryptoverse was that Bitcoin will see a rapid increase in its price once the halving takes place. Although this is not a concrete fact, it still has not stopped members of the community from judging the peak till which Bitcoin could rise. A significant example to back this theory was the 2012 Bitcoin halving.

Bitcoin’s price witnessed more than $1000 a year growth after the 2012 halving. This pattern was repeated when the cryptocurrency’s value increase by $1400 one year after the 2016 halving. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading for $6,638 with a total market cap of $121.66billion.

A 3.9 percent decrease in value had brought the 24-hour market volume down to $34.18 billion. Investors and HODLers need to be careful with the market as it is not an established financial fact that Bitcoin’s price will definitely rise after the halving.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are expected to see a flurry of activities as they will be the focal point of trade. Popular exchanges can utilize that time to make positive market moves and affect changes that will be beneficial to the industry in the long run. May will also be the time when miners will see a massive shift in the way they make money. As the block rewards are going to be directly cut in half, the first people to be affected are the miners.

Conclusion

Experts stated that the miners who use outdated mining rigs will be left in the dust during Bitcoin’s halving. The halving comes during a period when world financial markets were facing its biggest recession since the Great Depression. Bitcoin’s hash rate may also dip as some operations may turn out to be unprofitable and eventually fold.

 

 

YouTube takes Tone Vays Off its Platform as Analyst Asks for Proper Explanation

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The cryptocurrency industry has seen backlash from various sectors of society, ranging from the financial world to the sentiments held by people. YouTube was the latest platform to come cracking down on the industry, a move that was halted by critics.

Despite YouTube promising not to tamper with content related to crypto, the video streaming channel has gone ahead and done exactly that with Tone Vays’ account. On April 16, the digital asset analyst informed users on Twitter that his account was suspended right after a warning.

Vays became popular for his trading calls on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin price predictions. The former Bear Stearns and JP Morgan Chase employee claimed that YouTube did not give him any prior intimation that his account would be taken down. The video streaming platform had sent him just a warning which Vays appealed almost immediately.

The analyst was evidently angry at YouTube’s decision and admitted that he may have to consider a “career change” if his account was not restored. One of Vays’ latest tweets read:

“So that escalated quickly. From a single video warning to the ENTIRE CHANNEL Being taken down by YouTube. If @TeamYouTube can’t resolve this, might be a career change in the near future. Will just trade during the day and have a nutrition @ytcreators channels at night.”

YouTube’s latest move comes after the company assured the cryptocurrency community that it would not remove videos pertaining to the field as per a decision made in December 2019. All the videos that were taken down in that period was eventually restored with a YouTube spokesperson admitting that the company made a mistake.

Vays revealed in public that he was logged out of his YouTube mobile application, banning him from watching any form of content. YouTube seems to have even removed Vays’ curated playlists from other creators in the space. The cryptocurrency analyst is currently waiting for a reply from YouTube after he appealed the takedown.

Tesla, BMW Jump on Board Blockchain Bandwagon as Companies Focus on Process Improvement

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The financial world, at the moment, was going through one of its worst crisis periods in history. With stocks falling to all-time lows and Bitcoin going against the ‘safe-haven’ concept, 2020 has been nothing short of dramatic.

As the world learns to cope with the coronavirus crisis at hand, some companies were venturing into uncharted territories to create a more sustainable financial ecosystem. Tesla and BMW, two of the biggest names in the automobile industry were the latest entrants to the blockchain technology. The organizations intended to use decentralized technology to improve their native processes. 

Elon Musk’s Tesla was recently involved in a blockchain pilot project that sought to improve sea waybill information. This was done so that all the participants in the program who owned large shipping companies could easily transport goods without the logistical hassle. Using blockchain technology, shipping containers filled with Tesla auto parts were able to be released faster with accelerated cargo pick-up.

According to reports, Tesla used CargoSmart which claimed to improve features such as display, appointment date fixtures, and terminal release date fixtures. With this inclusion, shippers will be able to have better visibility and track of all their cargoes. Lionel Louie, the Chief Commercial Officer of CargoSmart stated:

“The GSBN aims to accelerate digital transformation of the shipping industry. It intends to provide a platform for all shipping supply chain participants to work collaboratively to accelerate technology innovation and develop solutions through trusted and secure data exchange platforms.”

CargoSmart uses Hyperledger Fabric to cater to customer needs across the board. Hyperledger was used so that global connectivity could be achieved quickly. Aside from Tesla, BMW was the other automobile honcho wading into blockchain waters. The German carmaker revealed that they will be looking into blockchain to optimize their processes from A to Z.

Andreas Wendt, a member of the BMW AG board of management informed shareholders that their latest blockchain initiative will be called ‘PartChain’. PartChain is set to take care of the digitization aspect of BMW Group’s purchasing wing. The company envisions to create an open platform that will allow data within supply chains to be shared in total security and privacy.

Using PartChain, BMW plans to add an extra layer of secure and verifiable data. As an initial test, BMW used the technology to trace parts such as the front lights with later tests set to cover other sectors as well. BMW has partnered with 10 other companies, to begin with as the Bavarian company reiterated on its mission to change the manufacturing game.

Experts have said that blockchain technology would enable big companies to cater to a larger customer base. New technologies such as smart contracts and blockchain come with benefits such as improved cost savings and traceability. The cryptocurrency community now has to wait with bated breath to see if more companies will follow suit and adopt disruptive technologies such as blockchain.