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| Take a look at the hits from today's Inside Cryptocurrency briefing: - New crypto tax reporting obligations taking effect with the start of the new year in the U.S.,
- Michael Saylor's four-month plan of selling MicroStrategy shares to buy more Bitcoin,
- The $1T threshold in the total monthly trading volume of crypto exchanges, and more.
Enjoy your reading! Doğa
p/dogayurduneri | |
| 1 | | The amended rules of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2021, have taken effect with the start of the new year, introducing new crypto tax reporting obligations. The updated rules aim to reduce tax avoidance across the U.S. More: - The amended provisions require any individual or entity receiving at least $10,000 in crypto as part of a trade or business to report this transaction information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. tax watchdog.
- The rule only mentions cash transactions worth over $10,000, but the amendments, which took effect on Jan. 1, extend the definition of cash to include digital assets.
- Required data includes the sender's name, address, and social security number, as well as the transaction amount, date, and nature.
- The rules confront those who fail to report the required information within 15 days of the transaction with felony charges.
- The self-executing rule also requires individuals and entities with reporting obligations to file a relevant form, which will be sent to both the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Zoom Out: - The crypto advocacy group CoinCenter filed a lawsuit against the bill's crypto-related provisions in June 2022, defining them as unconstitutional and impossible to comply with.
- CoinCenter said the case is still working its way through court.
- The group pointed out that some parties, such as blockchain validators and crypto miners receiving rewards in crypto or decentralized exchanges, do not have an identifiable sender to report.
- The lawsuit also argued that FinCEN does not have the authority to demand data on crypto transactions.
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What the numbers say: The data compiled by the crypto news outlet The Block has revealed that crypto exchanges' monthly trading volume surpassed the $1T threshold last month for the first time in over a year. The last time total volume reached that level was September 2022, and it was recorded as $1.03T. December's volume also became the highest monthly figure since May 2022, when total trading volume hit $1.35T. Relevance: The upward trend in monthly crypto exchange trading volumes was mainly triggered by optimism around the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications in the U.S. The positive expectations related to the applications created enthusiasm in the industry as the deadline of Jan. 10 for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the qualified applications approaches. The same enthusiasm also recently triggered a price jump in Bitcoin (BTC), causing the popular cryptocurrency's value to surpass the $45,000 mark for the first time since April 2022. Analysts believe that the approval of spot Bitcoin ETF applications could bring significant amounts of capital and millions more investors to the crypto market, causing a further price increase in Bitcoin. Besides, the potential approvals are expected to pave the way for the first time traditional finance adopts crypto on such a scale since the applicants include traditional financial services giants like Grayscale Investments, BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, and Wise Origin. Brands that should care: Binance became the crypto exchange with the highest monthly trading volume in December, making up 39.3% of the total and maintaining its leading position. In the top three, the exchange was followed by Upbit and OKX, respectively. | | | |
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| 3 | | Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy's crypto advocate co-founder and executive chairman, Michael Saylor, has recently commenced a four-month process of selling 315,000 MicroStrategy shares (MSTR) worth nearly $216M. The businessman said he plans to use a certain portion of the proceeds to purchase more Bitcoin (BTC), increasing the amount of Bitcoin he owns. More: - The funds will also help Saylor meet his personal financial obligations.
- Saylor first announced the four-month plan during MicroStrategy's earnings call for Q3 2023.
- The company executive began the process on Jan. 2, selling his 5,000 MSTR shares.
- As part of the plan, Saylor will sell 5,000 shares on each trading day until April 25.
- However, Saylor's stake in the company's equity will remain significant despite his personal sales.
Zoom Out: - Saylor and MicroStrategy are most famous for their Bitcoin-friendly approach.
- MicroStrategy, the largest corporate Bitcoin holder, began its Bitcoin purchases in 2020 and boosted its reserves, especially this year.
- The firm recently took its Bitcoin reserves to 189,150 by buying an additional 14,620 BTC for around $615.7M.
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| 4 | | The first-ever block mined on the Bitcoin blockchain network, Genesis, officially turned 15 today. It has been exactly 15 years since Bitcoin's anonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, mined the Genesis block on Jan. 3, 2009, marking the materialization of Bitcoin as a transferable currency. More: - The blocks on a blockchain serve as data structures where the crypto transactions on the network are permanently recorded.
- Following the creation of the first block, Bitcoin miners have continued to mine new blocks to protect the network from external attacks while receiving rewards in return.
- Since then, around 825,000 blocks have been mined on Bitcoin, taking the total number to nearly 1 million.
- The move made Bitcoin one of the first inventions to use cryptography to separate money from the state, allowing users to effectively bypass banks and traditional financial institutions worldwide to transact with others.
- The network's token is currently among the top 10 most valuable assets in the world by market cap.
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| 5 | | Japan-based multimedia entertainment company and video game publisher Square Enix has announced its plans to modify its organizational structure and optimize its resource allocation to boost its efforts toward cutting-edge technologies, including Web3. The modifications will support the company's shifted focus on implementing AI, blockchain-based entertainment, Web3, and cloud technologies in 2024. More: - The ongoing changes were announced in a New Year letter by Square Enix's president, Takashi Kiryu.
- Kiryu pointed out that they redefined their mission and goals for Web3, AI, and cloud last year.
- The company's president also said they would embrace AI in content development and publishing processes more aggressively, though he did not specify the firm's ambitions in blockchain and Web3.
Zoom Out: - Square Enix is most famous for its Final Fantasy video game series.
- The company previously hit the headlines in the crypto space several times when it integrated blockchain and Web3 technologies, including NFTs, with its traditional video games.
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| 6 | | The U.S.-based Bitcoin payments app Strike's CEO, Jack Mallers, has announced that he would no longer own any U.S. dollars (USD) and shift his holdings completely to Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Mallers cited his concerns about the current state of the U.S. economy and the devaluation of the USD while explaining his decision. More: - In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mallers clarified that he loves his country but opposes the nation's money and monetary policies.
- Strike CEO added that printing more money makes those who own assets richer and those who cannot afford them poorer.
- The firm executive also underlined that Bitcoin embodies American values like personal freedom and innovation, defining the popular cryptocurrency as the money for the land of liberty, opportunity, democracy, rights, and equality.
- Besides, the CEO said Bitcoin represents the best alternative against the devaluation of the fiat currencies due to its fixed supply and decentralized nature.
Zoom Out: - In an interview in March 2023, Mallers also forecasted that Bitcoin's price would hit $1M due to hyperinflation worldwide.
- At the time, Strike CEO also criticized the Federal Reserve (Fed), the U.S. central banking system, for harming its reputation by printing excessive money.
- The national debt recently surpassed $34T in the U.S. for the first time.
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- The U.S.-based crypto mining firm CleanSpark has announced its plans to launch an in-house trading desk in 2024 to maximize the returns from its crypto holdings.
- Crypto wallet solution Nest Wallet's co-founder and CEO, Bill Lou, has fallen victim to a phishing attack resulting in $125,000 of losses in crypto.
- Hackers have stolen $4.5M of Ether (ETH) by exploiting the cross-chain lending protocol Radiant Capital.
- The NFTs minted on the Solana blockchain network surpassed the Ethereum-based NFTs in monthly sales volume in December for the first time in history.
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 | Staff Writer | | Doga is a tech and science editor who has been writing news for nearly 10 years. She worked for leading tech platforms and mainstrem media channels as an editor and presenter throughout his career. Then, she carried her know-how to more than one platform. She is a part-time cat lover and binge-watcher, and also fond of science, space, and emerging tech. She always has a story to tell. She is a bit addict to the laughter and -unfortunately- the '90s culture. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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