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Author: Reuters
U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday requiring the government to assess the risks and benefits of creating a central bank digital dollar, as well as other cryptocurrency issues, the White House said. Bitcoin surged on the news as the administration’s holistic and deliberative approach calmed market fears about an immediate regulatory crackdown on cryptocurrencies. In midday trading, bitcoin rose 9.1% to $42,280, on track for its largest percentage gain since Feb. 28. Biden’s order will require the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department and other key agencies to prepare reports on “the future of money” and the…
Thailand’s cabinet on Tuesday relaxed tax rules for investments in digital assets to help promote and develop the industry following a surge in cryptocurrency trading in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. The rules, in line with an earlier announcement, will allow traders to offset annual losses against gains for taxes due on cyptocurrency investments, and exempt a value-added-tax of 7% for cryptocurrency trading on authorized exchanges, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith told a news conference. The tax exemption, effective from April 2022 to December 2023, will also cover trading of retail central bank digital currency to be issued by the central bank,…
U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign a long-awaited executive order this week directing the Justice Department, Treasury and other agencies to study the legal and economic ramifications of creating a U.S. central bank digital currency, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. The White House last year said it was considering a wide-ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market – including an executive order – to deal with growing threat of ransomware and other cyber crime. Biden’s order sets an 180-day deadline for a series of reports on “the future of money” and the role that cryptocurrencies…
Utah-based cryptocurrency exchange CoinZoom is pausing applications for new accounts within Russia following the country’s escalating conflict in Ukraine, the company’s chief executive officer told Reuters. While CoinZoom is a lesser known crypto exchange, it is one of the first to halt new business operations in Russia, with most exchanges thus far resisting calls to block Russian users despite pleas from the Ukrainian government. Coinbase, Kraken and Binance have said that while they will comply with Western sanctions, they would not block Russian users without a legal requirement to do so. CoinZoom Chief Executive Todd Crosland said the company decided…
The U.S. Treasury Department is launching an initiative to raise awareness about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies as the digital asset moves from the fringes of the financial system to the mainstream, a top official said. The Treasury’s Financial Literacy Education Commission will create educational materials and organize outreach to inform the public about how crypto assets work and how they differ from other forms of payment. Populations that have limited access to mainstream financial services is a key group the Treasury will look to reach, Nellie Liang, Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, said in an interview. “We’re hearing…
Bitcoin’s been known to freak out when Elon Musk tweets a broken-heart emoji. So why isn’t it flying off the handle as we seem to stand on the precipice of World War 3? That could be down to the new HODLers, in part. Young retail investors betting on bitcoin as a long-term proposition rather than for quick gains are swelling the ranks of these true believers, whose name emerged years ago from a trader misspelling “hold” on an online forum. This trend could help stabilise the notoriously volatile crypto market and potentially provide a long-term floor, according to some market…
The European Union should introduce measures to plug loopholes that could allow investors in cryptoassets to bypass sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, a senior lawmaker said on Friday. As Russia’s invasion escalates in its second week, Markus Ferber, a senior German centre right member of the European Parliament, said there might be ways to circumvent the bloc’s sanctions which have severed the EU financial system from Russia. There has been a noticeable uptick in rouble-crypto transactions, Ferber said. read more “The European Commission must come up with specific proposals on how to close any loopholes in the sanctions…
Cryptocurrencies in a time of war
Cryptocurrencies have been close to the headlines since Russia invaded Ukraine, with the ever-volatile bitcoin in demand in Russia and beyond. Here are some charts that look at how cryptocurrencies have fared during the largest attack on a European country since World War Two. CORRELATION CONUNDRUM Correlated or not? That’s long been the question for bitcoin , with the original cryptocurrency at times marching to the equity beat — and at other times not. Bitcoin initially slumped after Russia launched its assault on Ukraine as investors dumped riskier assets, falling as much as 8% on Thursday before clawing back losses…
U.S. regulators can largely use existing laws to bring digital assets such as cryptocurrencies under their supervision without new congressional legislation, one of Washington’s most influential liberal think tanks said on Tuesday. Agencies including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) could use the report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) to inform their decisions on how to govern cryptocurrencies. Regulators have not yet determined how best to regulate cryptocurrencies, in particular so-called “stablecoins” whose creators say they have pegged their values to the dollar and other fiat currencies. The U.S. Treasury Department…
Bitcoin gains conflict currency credentials
Bitcoin has leapt since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, bolstered by people in those countries looking to store and move money in anonymous and decentralised crypto. Bitcoin trading denominated in the Russian rouble went into overdrive when the invasion began on Thursday, with daily volumes rising 259% from a day earlier to 1.3 billion rouble ($13.1 million), according to data from CryptoCompare. In Ukraine, meanwhile, crypto exchange Kuna saw its daily trading volume more than treble to 150 million hryvnias ($5 million). Bea O’Carroll, managing director at Radkl, a digital asset investment firm, said the war and Western sanctions had seen…