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Bitcoin, Ethereum, And Other Coins Find Shelter At 177-Year-Old Bank

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The cryptocurrency industry has been gaining traction across the globe. Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], and an array of currencies were seen skyrocketing. All these assets were finding a place in several platforms all over the world. Several mainstream companies were seen diving into the crypto shores.

Traditional and centralized systems were also getting on par with the existing trend. A 177-year-old Swiss bank seems to be the latest to jump onto the crypto bandwagon.

Bitcoin Gets Back In Action

The driving demand for cryptocurrencies has forced platforms to onboard these digital assets onto their systems. Following a similar trend, Bordier & Cie SCmA revealed that cryptocurrencies were the latest addition to their services list. This would allow its users to trade cryptocurrencies as well as buy and hold them. Currently, the bank has added support to Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Tezos [XTZ], and Bitcoin Cash [BCH].

The bank in its press release stated,

“We have seen increasing demand from our clients to diversify into alternative asset classes such as digital assets.”

The bank intends to incorporate Sygnum’s B2B banking platform to allow users to make use of the digital assets offered by the platform.

Bitcoin, at the time of writing, was seen trading for $51,526 and its market cap was once again trying to make it past $1 trillion. BTC witnessed a five-fold increase within a period of three months. This undoubtedly steered heads and Bordier & Cie SCmA seems to be making the right use of its resources.

Elaborating on the same, the managing partner of Bordier & Cie’s SCmA, Evrard Bordier said,

“We have seen increasing demand from our clients to diversify into alternative asset classes such as digital assets. By partnering with Sygnum Bank, we are providing our clients* with a one-stop, integrated solution while empowering them to invest in this new, high growth asset class with complete trust.”

The bank’s latest move could even spruce up the adoption of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

New York Bids Adieu To Tether And Bitfinex

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Cryptocurrency trading in the United States of America, especially New York has been comparatively tougher than it is in other countries as well as states. Several crypto platforms have been rolling out trading platforms exclusively for the citizens of the US. However, the state seems to be stringent particularly with platforms that have had a bad past. Bitfinex as well as the stablecoin, Tether seem to be reaping the mistakes of their past.

Bitfinex’s parent company iFinex’s tiff with the New York State has been going on for about two years now. Earlier this week, the case sought a conclusion through a settlement, which coerced the platform to get out of the American state.

New York State Attorney General Calls Out Bitfinex And Tether

On Tuesday, the New York Attorney General Letitia James revealed that the iFinex case had finally come to an end. Both Bitfinex and Tether reportedly agreed to pay a fine of $18.5 million. With this, both these platforms were required to stop any trading activity in the state.

The Attorney General of the state further said in her statement that both the parties had “recklessly and unlawfully” concealed major damages to prolong their scheme.

The statement read,

“Tether’s claims that its virtual currency was fully backed by U.S. dollars at all times was a lie. These companies obscured the true risk investors faced and were operated by unlicensed and unregulated individuals and entities dealing in the darkest corners of the financial system.”

Just when the crypto industry is moving past its nascent stage in terms of adoption, Bitfinex and Tether would be losing a major region.

Attorney James even went on to tweet about the latest event and stressed the fact that those who engage in activities surrounding crypto would be subject to laws of the state. The tweet read,

Furthermore, New York Attorney General James suggested that this case and its legal repercussions could be used as a message against “corporate greed”.

Indian Crypto Ban Receives Endorsement From Billionaire Jhunjhunwala

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The Indian government seems to be steering away from the path that several countries have been opting for. The surge in the value of the crypto market has paved the way for an array of countries to dive into the industry. While it all started with the acceptance of cryptocurrencies, currently several governments have been working towards incorporating crypto into the system.

Amidst this, a highly populated country like India revealed that it would be banning crypto very soon. Voicing his support for this move, prominent billionaire, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala aka India’s Warren Buffet appeared in an interview with CNBC.

Indian’s Could Be Banned From Using Crypto

Bitcoin was on the brink of hitting $60K, the latest crash posed as a major setback for the king coin. Yet, BTC emerged as one of the most valuable assets in the globe. Currently priced at $51K, BTC sits on the top as the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

While India’s Bitcoin ban was looked down upon by many, Jhunjhunwala was seen urging the government to speed up the process and rather focus on rolling out the digital rupee. CBDC’s have interested several governments across the globe. As nations like China and the Bahamas have already rolled out their central bank currencies, Jhunjhunwala seemed to be yearning for the launch of the digital rupee.

In the interview, the billionaire also suggested that he would steer clear of buying BTC. He added,

“I think it’s speculation of the highest order. I don’t want to join every party in town. I think the hangover is much worse.”

Earlier this month, news pertaining to the possible ban of crypto surfaced. This was when BTC was at its peak. The news undoubtedly shocked the Indians as they were given a time frame of three to six months to liquidate their funds in crypto. The former CTO of Coinbase, Balaji Srinivasan also commented on the potential ban and compared the Indian government’s move to an internet ban.

South Korea To Levy 20% Tax On BTC

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South Korea has been emerging as a global leader with its pop culture. The country decided to jump on the crypto bandwagon by recognizing these digital assets. South Korea has time and again revealed its intention of taxing cryptocurrencies, now the government has announced a date that it would start taxing these assets.

While this law is soon to be implemented, a prominent member of the country’s central bank has exhibited angst about the volatile nature of cryptocurrencies.

South Korea To Tax Profits Acquired By Crypto in 2022

The price movement of Bitcoin in the past few days has certainly spruced up the adoption of crypto. While some governments are outrightly banning these assets, a few others seem to be reaping benefits by taxing them. South Korea joined the list of an array of countries that have levied a tax on crypto.

In a recent report by the Korean Herald, the Ministry of Economy and Finance of the country reportedly proclaimed that a 20% tax would be levied on the profits acquired by trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. This would commence from 1 January 2022. However, those individuals who make profits lesser than $2,300 or 2.5 million won are exempted from this rule.

While this law helped recoginze Bitcoin as a part of the financial structure, 20% was a bit too much several officals believed. A police officer reportedly said,

“I sold stocks I was holding recently and started to invest in (digital) coins after seeing my colleague made a lot of money from them. I think it’s unfair to charge that much (cryptocurrency) tax when compared to taxes on stocks”

Furthermore, the government had expressed interest in going on board with tax rule in 2020, however, it seems to have been pushed to 2021.

Additionally, as these crypto-assets recorded a massive slump,  Lee Ju-yeo the Governor of the Bank of Korea. Once again, another authority has commented on the highly volatile nature of Bitcoin,

Switzerland Embraces Bitcoin By Accepting Crypto For Tax Payments

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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been emerging as extremely valuable assets. While Switzerland had previously revealed that it was considering accepting crypto for tax payments, its recent announcement affirmed that it had commenced this process.

The Swiss canton of Zug had reportedly entered into a partnership with Switzerland’s prominent crypto services provider, Bitcoin Suisse.

Switzerland’s Zug Canton Takes A Leap Towards Crypto Adoption

As the crypto industry’s market cap reaches a high of $1.5 trillion, several countries have started to embrace or accept cryptocurrencies. However, Switzerland had been steering towards digitalization when the crypto industry hadn’t become a trillion-dollar industry. Back in September 2020, the canton had stated,

“Tax settlement by means of cryptocurrency will be available to both companies and private individuals up to an amount of 100,000 Swiss francs ($109,670).”

More recently, Bitcoin Suisse took to Twitter to announce that the canton of Zug had started accepting crypto assets like Bitcoin [BTC] as well as Ethereum [ETH] for cantonal tax payments. While this might be a new convention for several, the canton provided instructions through a video on its website.

This isn’t the first time that Bitcoin Suisse had helped a region in rolling out Bitcoin tax payments. Previously, a district in the canton of Valais, Zermatt had also begun accepting crypto for tax payments.

Speaking about the spruce in the adoption of crypto, Bitcoin Suisse wrote on Twitter,

“This step forward for crypto adoption has been enabled by the pioneering work from the Zug cantonal tax office using the Bitcoin Suisse Crypto Payments solution. It is yet another sign of innovation in Blockchain Nation CH!”

Several regions in the United States of America had also included BTC and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method. Ohio jumped on the bandwagon and failed at its attempt as those using crypto for paying tax were limited. Just months after setting this up, the state took it down.

Sweden Takes A Plunge Into CBDCs As It Prolongs Its Pilot Till 2022

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Central bank digital currencies aka CBDC have been making the rounds around the globe. Sweden seems to be the latest country to explore the prospects of these currencies.

The value of the cryptocurrencies as well as their functions have time and again proved to be extremely propitious. Therefore, the governments decided to take things up a notch by rolling out their own regulated digital asset. China’s progress in the field agitated several other countries to begin their research on CBDCs.

Sweden’s Steer Towards Digitalization

In a recent announcement, the central bank of Sweden, Riksbank revealed that the country was going to prolong its pilot program until 2022. The bank specified that it had partnered with Accenture to carry out the e-krona pilot program. With this partnership, the bank intends to find ways that the e-krona could be on par with the fiat in Sweden.

The announcement further read,

“The main aim of the pilot is for the Riksbank to increase its knowledge of a central bank-issued digital krona. The project is now being extended to the end of February 2022. The aim for the coming year is to continue developing the technical solution, with the focus on performance, scalability, testing of off-line functions and bringing external participants into the test environment.”

While the central bank suggested that it was veering into the whole CBDC scene, it also revealed that it wasn’t issuing an e-krona any time soon. The bank has still not decided on the design or the technology the digital asset would be using.

In other news, payments giant Mastercard had announced the launch of the Bahamian Sand Dollar CBDC card with Island Pay. This affirms that both China as well as the Bahamas are well ahead in the CBDC game. The Sand Dollar has been functioning since October 2020 the latest move could attract more users.

The co-founder of Island Pay, Richard Douglas said,

“By working closely with the Central Bank of The Bahamas and Mastercard, we are able to issue a prepaid card unlike any other in the world. We are now able to bring immediate, critical benefits to our customers at a time when they are looking to find new, innovative ways to pay.”

Russia To Soon Tax Profits Acquired By Trading Crypto

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The surge in the value of cryptocurrencies has alarmed a few countries like India. But countries like Russia seem to be steering towards the industry by regulating digital assets. The country has been portraying itself as a crypto-friendly country for quite a while now. With an array of investors diving into the business, the government intends to tax the benefits acquired from trading crypto.

The Russian State Duma recently revealed that a bill pertaining to the taxation of crypto was approved.

Russia Now Recognizes Crypto As Property

The draft bill issued by the Russian Federation to tax cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], and the others received a thumbs up from the Committee on State Building and Legislation of Duma. The bill which was approved on 15 February 2021 helped crypto assets in being perceived as property in the country. This would mean that all the profits garnered by the citizens of Russia from trading crypto would be taxed.

With the crypto industry currently valued at a high of $1.54 trillion, several have started trading different cryptocurrencies. However, Russians would have to deal with taxes only if their yearly transactions exceed $8,100 or 600,000 rubles.

The announcement further read,

“The authors of the bill point out that cryptocurrency is often used for tax evasion, money laundering and financing illegal activities. And now the tax authorities do not have information about cryptocurrency wallets opened by Russian legal entities and citizens of the Russian Federation and the operations carried out on them.”

Furthermore, pointing out the repercussions of avoiding these taxes or providing false information pertaining to their crypto transactions, the bill announced a 40% fine on the former and a 10% fine on the latter.

While this seems to be taking off, the central bank digital currency [CBDC] aka the digital ruble of the country could be gaining momentum. Prominent wireless service platforms of the country, MegaFon as well as Beeline are reportedly considering including the digital ruble wallets on to the phones of the citizens of the country.

India Could Miss Out On Trillion Dollar Profits By Banning Crypto, Suggests Former Coinbase CTO

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The crypto scene in India has always been uncertain. Just as the crypto-verse was traversing into a trillion-dollar industry, rumors around India considering banning crypto spread like wildfire. While nothing is on paper, still, certain authorities from the Asian country have been stringent about banning the digital asset industry.

More recently, an official from the Finance Ministry in the country affirmed that the government was going to outlaw the industry in the next couple of months. Further giving crypto holders about three to six months to convert their cryptocurrencies.

With Bitcoin surging up to a high of $50K, India’s latest move could be a potential loss for the country. Appearing in a recent interview, Balaji Srinivasan, the former chief technology officer, Balaji Srinivasan had a similar outlook.

India’s Trillion-Dollar Mistake

Several digital platforms have been venturing into Asia, specifically India. The population of the country along with its steer towards digitalization has made the market a promising one. Speaking about the possible ban of crypto in the country, Srinivasan said,

“It’s really important that the ban (India’s plan to ban owning, trading, mining, or investing in cryptocurrency) should not go through. It would be a trillion-dollar mistake for India, without exaggeration. It would be a reversal of economic liberalization in many ways. It would basically be banning the financial internet from entering the country. And it wouldn’t even achieve the desired objective.”

Just when every other country is loosening up its laws pertaining to the crypto industry, the country’s potential ban could make the country about 20% poorer than it would have been in the next five years, Srinivasan added.

While the Asian country has just started veering into the world of crypto, the latest move could act as a dead-end for various crypto startups as well as crypto investors.

At press time, Bitcoin was trading for $49K while its market cap soared to a high of $916 billion.

Andrew Yang Is The Latest Official To Step Up His Bitcoin Game

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Cryptocurrencies have turned into every investor’s favorite asset now. Presidential candidate, Andrew Yang has time and again exerted his interest in crypto, especially Bitcoin. Once again, as the value of the asset as well as the crypto industry is booming, Yang seemed to be getting back into the game.

Andrew Yang Wants Bring BTC Into NYC

After his bid to become the President of the United States failed, Yang has reportedly decided to run for the role of the New York City Mayor. However, now Yang wants to turn NYC into a crypto-friendly city. Yang tweeted about the same and said,

“As mayor of NYC—the world’s financial capital—I would invest in making the city a hub for BTC and other cryptocurrencies,” he wrote today.”

This tweet had unquestionably engrossed the crypto community. The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance’s CEO CZ suggested that the exchange could help Yang achieving the same.

While Yang seemed to be securing good numbers in the poll, his sudden interest to transform NYC could take time. The regulatory climate in the US hasn’t always been favorable for the crypto-verse. Bitlicense has been a major roadblock for crypto platforms to function in the state of New York. Therefore, in the comment section of Andrew Yang’s latest tweet, people urged him to end Bitlicense. One such tweet read,

Andrew Yang

Just as the crypto industry hit $1.40 trillion, the market cap of Bitcoin took over prominent platforms like Tesla and Facebook. The price of the king coin did not shy away either as it is currently trading for a high of $47K. This seemed to have lured in a host of people. Earlier this month, the Mayor of Miami Francis Suarez expressed his interest in BTC and even hopes to pay the employees of the city in cryptocurrency.

Several from the community went on to laud Suarez for this move. But, Yang went on to face an array of questions, with regard to Bitlicense.

‘Bitcoin Should Be Banned,’ Former British MP Proposes

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With the surge in Bitcoin in recent times, many are still against the cryptocurrency for various reasons. One of them is the former Member of Parliament Nick Boles. The minister who served from 2010 to 2019 went on Twitter to express his criticism of the currency.

Recently, Bitcoin overtook Argentina in annual energy consumption according to the data compiled by the University of Cambridge. Nick Boles retweeted a tweet from BBC correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones about the data presented in the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. Boles commented,

“Central banks should ban the trading of it, and force anyone who holds Bitcoin and wants to use it in any transaction, to exchange it for another currency that does not have such a damaging side effect. There are other cyber currencies that do no harm in the real world at all.”

The rise in the value of Bitcoin and its growing importance has lead to increased mining of the currency which directly impacts the levels of energy consumption. The rise in Bitcoin’s energy consumption has created a deliberation within the crypto industry on how to negate the ecological impact of mining. The current estimates suggest that the flagship digital currency is estimated to consume 77.9 TWh per year.

Astonishingly, the greenhouse gas emissions from mining are projected to reach levels comparable to a country as big as New Zealand. This statement remains to be Boles’ only view about Bitcoin at the moment. The United Kingdom currently treats BTC as a foreign currency and has no stringent regulations on the currency. A former lawmaker of the conservative party in 2019 is of a strong belief that governments should ban the use of Bitcoin since it has its fair share of detractors.

At the time of writing, BTC was trading for $47,180. While the community speculated the asset to surge to a high of $50K, the king coin was experiencing dainty changes of 1% in the last 24-hours. The total market cap of the asset was close to hitting $1 trillion, at press time BTC was still the largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $869.81 billion.