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XRP has soared more than 40% in the last month.
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CRYPTO MARKETS
Bitcoin broke $10k while XRP also continued its strong, upward trend this week, climbing to a new 2020 high in the wake of bitcoin’s recent gains.
On Thursday, the XRP token was trading at $0.3399, its highest since July 21.
“Most of these gains can be attributed to the overall market sentiment turning positive and bitcoin steadily rising in price from under $6,500 on December 18 to above $10,000 today,” said Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund manager BitBull Capital.
GUIDE TO CRYPTOCURRENCY TAX RULES
How many bitcoin investors are not up to speed with the IRS crackdown? Millions, probably—Coinbase has 35 million customer accounts. The number of taxpayers reporting crypto trades was, until recently, in the hundreds.
If it was once hard to plead ignorance of tax laws regarding crypto, it’s now impossible. The new Form 1040 demands that taxpayers say whether or not they own any virtual currencies. Luckily, here are 15 tax lessons for bitcoin investors, covering everything from taxable transactions to forks and airdrops to staking.
COINBASE, POLYCHAIN AND PARADIGM BET ON ASIAN CRYPTO MARKET
The crypto market is thriving in Asia—today it’s home to at least 80% of global crypto trading. Now top U.S. crypto investors, including Pantera Capital, Paradigm, Polychain, Coinbase and Dragonfly, are lunging at an opportunity for a piece of that market. They’re sinking $28 million into Hong Kong-based crypto trading firm Amber at a $100 million valuation.
For a crypto startup, being in Hong Kong comes with two key benefits: First, sitting geographically closer to the largest exchanges in the world—including Singapore-based Binance, Beijing-based Huobi and Hong Kong derivatives exchange Bitmex—lets Amber more easily develop relationships with them. Second, Hong Kong has a friendlier regulatory environment than that of the U.S., where uncertainty about whether the SEC will deem some cryptocurrencies unregistered securities weighs heavily on entrepreneurs.
BITCOIN ATMS BRANCH OUT
Bitcoin has made a comeback since the “crypto winter” of 2018, and with more retail investors wanting a piece of the cryptocurrency, some bitcoin ATM providers are reaping rewards. After taking four years to rent space in stores for its first 300 machines in 44 states, bitcoin ATM company Coinsource has doubled that number to 600 after introducing a new whiteglove licensing service.
The bitcoin ATM industry has been stigmatized as a vehicle for money laundering, with bad actors using the machines to clean cash quickly and conveniently. Compliance and regulation have been a roadblock keeping ATM manufacturers from expanding into cryptocurrencies. Coinsource says its bitcoin ATM licensees will gain access to all of its compliance and regulatory software.
FORBES FINTECH 50 2020: THE FUTURE OF BLOCKCHAIN
With the price of bitcoin nearly tripling from $3,400 to $10,000 since last year’s Fintech 50 list, it’s no surprise to see some of the largest and most innovative cryptocurrency companies still holding onto their place on the annual list of startups blazing new trails in financial technology.
Crypto investigation startup Chainalysis returned to the list, while Coinbase, Ripple and institutional blockchain outfit Axoni held onto their spots. Everledger and MakerDAO both made their first appearances.
ELSEWHERE
Treasury to Roll Out Cryptocurrency Rules [New York Times]
DOJ charges Ohio man with laundering over $300 million via bitcoin [The Verge]
Crypto Sphere Begins to Feel Ill Effects of Coronavirus Outbreak [Bloomberg]
