- First Mover Asia: Crypto Prices Rise on Better-Than-Expected US Inflation News
The bitcoin market may have gotten a boost from a U.S. Labor Department report Wednesday showing that the Consumer Price Index, a key inflation gauge, rose to an annual clip of 7% in December, the highest since the early 1980s. But there had been fears in the market that prices might have climbed even faster, which would have put additional pressure on the Federal Reserve to move more aggressively to tighten monetary conditions and cool down the economy. In cryptocurrencies beyond bitcoin, the Near Protocol’s NEAR token rose Wednesday to an all-time high, on signs the up-and-coming blockchain might be undervalued as it attracts more activity.
- SBP’s committee for ban on cryptocurrency
A committee, constituted under supervision of deputy governor State Bank of Pakistan and other officials to consider functioning of any form of cryptocurrency in Pakistan, recommended a complete ban on cryptocurrency and other related activities in Pakistan. Filing compliance report before the SHC on a petition against restrictions on trading virtual currencies, the committee suggested a complete ban on all cryptocurrency and other related activities in the country. The committee was constituted by the Sindh High Court under the supervision of SBP’s deputy governor to consider issues as to whether any form of cryptocurrency should be permitted under the Pakistani law.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/924769-sbp-s-committee-for-ban-on-cryptocurrency
- Kim Kardashian sued in crypto ‘pump and dump’ case
Kim Kardashian is among three celebrities being sued by investors in the EthereumMax crypto-currency. Other defendants include boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr, basketball player Paul Pierce, and the currency’s creators. The class action claims EthereumMax operated a “pump and dump” scheme – where misleading marketing is used to inflate the price of an asset then sold to unwitting investors at a profit. The legal action alleges the celebrities collaborated with EthereumMax to “misleadingly promote and sell” the crypto-currency. The defendants “touted” the ability of “investors to make significant returns”, it alleges, resulting in an artificial increase in the price of the crypto-currency.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-59964648
- Trump White House had a secret crypto booster in Jared Kushner, new Mnuchin file dump shows
New documents show that one of former President Donald Trump’s most trusted and senior advisors was secretly pushing the White House to lean into crypto, well before skyrocketing crypto prices reignited mainstream interest in the space. The information was gleaned from a 250-page dump of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s crypto-related e-mail correspondence from his four years in the job, which was was obtained by CoinDesk through a Freedom of Information Act request. In 2019, when crypto was in the midst of a multiyear bear market, Jared Kushner was quietly advocating for a U.S. digital dollar, in which the Fed would launch its own central bank currency.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/jared-kushner-is-a-bitcoin-and-crypto-fan-mnuchin-emails-show.html
- Solana could become the ‘Visa of crypto’: Bank of America
The Bank of America strategist stated that Solana is set to take a slice of Ethereum’s market share thanks to its low transaction fees, scalability and ease of use. The Solana network launched in 2020, and its native token, SOL, has since grown into the fifth-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $47 billion. Bank of America digital asset strategist Alkesh Shah has predicted that Ethereum competitor Solana could become the “Visa of the digital asset ecosystem” in a Tuesday research note. An order of magnitude faster than Ethereum, it has been used to settle over 50 billion transactions and mint over 5.7 million nonfungible tokens (NFT).
https://cointelegraph.com/news/solana-could-become-the-visa-of-crypto-bank-of-america
- Torus Kling looks to launch India’s first crypto futures ETF in Gift City
Torus Kling Blockchain IFSC, an equal joint venture between Sam Ghosh-promoted Cosmea Financial Holdings and Kling Trading India has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India INX to launch the country’s first bitcoin and ethereum futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs). As per the MoU, India INX will be the trading platform and Cosmea Financial Holdings will be the distributor, while Kling Trading will be the technology partner. India INX, BSE’s international arm, started trading activities on 16 January 2017 and is India’s first international exchange set up at the GIFT IFSC.
- The IRS will ask every taxpayer about crypto transactions this tax season — here’s how to report them
The IRS takes the position that cryptocurrency is “property” for federal income tax purposes. That means you’re supposed to recognize and report taxable gain or loss whenever you exchange cryptocurrency for U.S. dollars, Euros, goods or services, real estate, a new Tesla, a different cryptocurrency, or whatever. To arrive at the federal income tax results of a cryptocurrency transaction, the first step is to calculate the fair market value (FMV); measured in U.S. dollars, of the cryptocurrency on the date you received it or paid it. If you fail to report cryptocurrency transactions on your Form 1040 and get audited, you could face interest and penalties and even criminal prosecution in extreme cases.
- Can You Still Mine Bitcoin and Other Crypto From Home?
Bitcoin was the world’s first globally accessible cryptocurrency to popularize mining – the process of using computational power to generate a winning code before anyone else in order to be selected to add a new block to the blockchain. When you mine a cryptocurrency, you need to be mindful of the liabilities that will cut into your profits: namely, bitcoin’s market price, the cost of electricity and the cost of your mining equipment and how long it is likely to stand up against increasingly powerful miners. If you are mining bitcoin using one of Nvidia’s newer graphics cards, like the RTX 3080, you’ll generate $139 a month in bitcoin, according to Nicehash.
https://www.coindesk.com/learn/can-you-still-mine-bitcoin-and-other-crypto-from-home/
- Visa survey shows that 24% of SMBs plan to accept crypto payments
Back in 2021, a study showed that there is a high demand for cryptocurrency payment abilities among both crypto holders and non-holders. However, in the same study, 50% of participants noted that there are not enough businesses that accept crypto. This may change very soon. The survey also included a consumer section where 1,500 adults across nine markets participated. In this section, more than half of the respondents expressed that they are expecting to go completely cashless within 10 years. About 2,250 small business owners located in nine countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, the United States and Canada participated in the study.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/visa-survey-shows-that-24-of-smbs-plan-to-accept-crypto-payments
- Chipmakers are set to be ‘winners’ as the metaverse takes off
The metaverse, which requires a massive amount of computing power, is set to benefit global chipmakers— but other tech-related industries could also gain from it, analysts say. Through the metaverse, users can engage in virtual activities such as gaming, virtual concerts or live sports. Widely seen as the next generation of the internet, the metaverse refers broadly to a virtual world where humans interact through three-dimensional avatars that can be controlled via virtual reality headsets like Oculus. Other main areas set to support the metaverse infrastructure that investors could consider would be firms that are supplying the “key building blocks,” such as cloud computing.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/13/analysts-on-metaverse-benefiting-chipmakers-big-tech-crypto.html
