Crypto Guides, Knowledge & Insights

Ethereum becomes a ‘first-class currency’ on Sotheby’s for Banksy auction

For the first time ever, Ethereum was listed as a payment option on Sothebys price table during the auction of two Banksy paintings.　　While the auction house has been accepting cryptocurrency payments since May this year, this was the first time ETH has both been listed as a first-class currency and used as payment.Banksy‘s legendary pieces put Ethereum on the map on Sotheby’s　　Two legendary Banksy paintings, “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air”, have been bought with Ethereum on Sotheby‘s this Friday. And while major art purchases made with cryptocurrencies have long stopped being news, Banksy’s latest auction was rather unique.　　This was the first time Sothebys, the 250-year-old British-American auction house, accepted Ethereum (ETH) as payment. The company officially began accepting payments in cryptocurrencies in May this year, but the Banksy auction was the first time ETH was used in an auction.　　Sotheby‘s also made history by listing ETH as an official payment method on the auction’s price table, with the cryptocurrency joining the ranks of the USD, EUR, GBP, HKD, and other fiat currencies. The two pieces, called “Trolley Hunters” and “Love Is In The Air”, sold for 1,696 ETH ($6,698,400) and 1,397 ETH ($8,077,200), respectively. The sale was part

2021-11-20Deep Dive

Bitcoin Price Plummet As SEC Rejects VanEck’s Spot ETFs Proposal

The second week of November crowned the digital currency market a fresh rise in overall market Cap with a total net profit of $3 Trillion after the price of Bitcoin made it to the top while hitting its first-ever highest (All-Time high) price of $69k since the last bullish run towards $67K in October. With this being a positive attraction for Bitcoin to defend its title as a hedge against inflation. The market had several institutional investors holding firm to their opinions in association with the value of Bitcoin reaching the $100K target before the year-end.　　With lots of favourable fundamental news around Bitcoin, positive market performance. The past few weeks have been a great deal for investors to view Bitcoin as the most suitable strategy for hedging against inflation.　　The El Salvador legalisation of Bitcoin, in combination with the positive speech made by the feds chair Jeremy Powell for banning cryptocurrency activities in the US, has been deemed unnecessary as the policymakers don‘t have any intention of terminating cryptocurrency trading in the United States. Alongside, the rise in the value of Bitcoin towards achieving its previous ATH of $67K in October was labelled following the Bitcoin ETFs that was approved by

2021-11-19Deep Dive

Argentina Introduces New Tax on Cryptocurrency Effective Immediately

Argentinas central bank has introduced a new tax rule for cryptocurrency exchanges, effective immediately. The 0.6% tax on cryptocurrency transactions affects exchanges that have bank accounts in Argentina.　　Argentine authorities have announced a new taxation rule for crypto exchanges, according to an official notice released on November 16.　　The taxation is effective immediately and is subject to the governments cheque tax. This is its tax on credit and debts. As a result, this tax will come from purchases and sales executed on cryptocurrency exchanges.　　Up until this declaration, the classification for cryptocurrency transactions was as cash transactions. Therefore, they were exempt from taxation. This new decree taxes them at a rate of 0.6%. However, cryptocurrency transactions have been subject to capital gains tax since 2017.　　The notice reads,　　“The exemptions provided for in this decree and in other regulations of a similar nature will not be applicable in those cases in which the movements of funds are linked to the purchase, sale, exchange, intermediation and/or any other operation on cryptoassets, cryptocurrencies, digital coins, or similar instruments, in the terms defined by the applicable regulations.”　　The users will bear the cost of this new taxation as exchanges are likely to pass the burden onto them. It will

2021-11-19Deep Dive

Understanding the Metaverse and How it Relates to Cryptocurrency

What is the connection between the metaverse and crypto and how does crypto play a role in it？　　Sina Kian, VP of Strategy at Aleo, a blockchain platform for fully private applications, told that crypto is a fundamental part of the metaverse because it allows ownership of digital assets, and ownership will create incentives to invest.　　Kian added, however, that one of the greatest threats to the metaverse is the prospect of being captured by an oligopoly, thus recreating the menace of monopolies in the digital world.　　“The most important thing that crypto offers is a potential alternative to that world, in which ownership is more decentralized,” Kian said.　　Phillippe Bekhazi, co-founder and CEO of XBTO Group, a global cryptofinance firm, echoed the sentiment, telling that crypto is poised to play an immensely important role in the metaverse.　　“Obviously, there are the emerging technologies, such as NFTs and social tokens, that could be used for everything from playing games and earning money to even serving as incentives for holding virtual concerts for influencers and their fans,” Bekhazi said.　　“What I think is under-appreciated is the role that major cryptocurrencies could play. Digital currencies are primed to be used as a payments system between various parties within

2021-11-19Deep Dive

Time Magazine will hold ETH as part of Galaxy Digital partnership to support metaverse newsletter

Time Magazine, the media company that has been an American institution for almost a century, is partnering with Mike Novogratzs Galaxy Digital in an effort to allow its readers to explore the metaverse.　　In a Thursday announcement, Time said the partnership with the investment management firm was aimed at educating its readers about the metaverse. The long-running magazine will be releasing a weekly newsletter on the metaverse, hosting educational resources on its website, and including the virtual space as a category in its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.　　Novogratz said the partnership was part of a move to “bring readers, creators, and the curious into the metaverse and demystify the tremendous amount of transformation happening within.” Galaxy Digital is already seemingly focusing on expanding into the metaverse, having raised $325 million in an October fundraising round aimed at virtual endeavors.　　In addition, Time said the partnership with Galaxy Digital was conducted using Ether (ETH), which the media firm plans to hold on its balance sheet — the magazine has been holding Bitcoin (BTC) since April as part of a partnership with Grayscale. Time also previously announced it would be allowing readers to pay for digital subscriptions using

2021-11-19Deep Dive

Hillary Clinton says cryptocurrencies have the potential to destabilize entire countries

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took a swipe at cryptocurrencies, saying they have the potential to weaken entire countries eventually.　　The former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took aim at cryptocurrencies, saying they have the power to weaken entire countries eventually. Clinton said via video during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economic Forum on Friday in Singapore that governments worldwide faced a range of new challenges, including disinformation and artificial intelligence. Authorities around the world have expressed concerns regarding the dangers of cryptocurrencies.　　“Mining new coins to trade with them has the potential for undermining currencies.”　　“One more area that I hope nation-states start paying greater attention to is the rise of cryptocurrency — because what looks like a very interesting and somewhat exotic effort to mine new coins in order to trade with them has the potential for undermining currencies, for undermining the role of the dollar as the reserve currency, for destabilizing nations, perhaps starting with small ones but going much larger,” Hillary Clinton noted during the conference. Clintons comments came while criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of deploying “a very large stable of hackers and those who deal in disinformation and cyberwarfare.”　　Governments around the world

2021-11-19Deep Dive

10 US Congress Members Say Current Crypto Tax Rules Can Kill Industry Innovation

10 members of the US Congress have voiced their dissatisfaction with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.　　The group expressed their dissatisfaction with the legislation in a strongly worded letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives　　A part of the law is widely believed to have unfair negative effects on the cryptocurrency industry.　　While the Infrastructure Investment Act has garnered accolades from several key players, the cryptocurrency ecosystem has kicked against a certain provision embedded within the law. A group of lawmakers voices out their frustrations through a letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives.　　Amend The Provision　　10 Congressmen penned a letter on Monday to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Reps to express concern over the wordings of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework. The bill that was recently passed by the Senate contained certain provisions that the lawmakers believe could hinder the growth of the burgeoning industry.　　“As it is written today, however, the BIF would increase uncertainty in the cryptocurrency industry, pick winners and losers and thwart Internal Revenue Service (IRS) efforts to accurately tax cryptocurrencies, all while eroding our countrys competitive edge against other countries in the digital asset marketplace,” the letter reads. “We must have reasonable

2021-11-19Deep Dive

Binance CEO Says Dogecoin Demonstrates The Power Of Decentralization

Dogecoin was something of an outlier when it first started to gain traction in the market. It changed the way the crypto market sees and perceives the value of an asset despite what utility it may or may not have. The digital asset was only propelled forward by memes and community love. But in less than a year, the asset became one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the market.　　Dogecoins developers have since tried to introduce use cases for the crypto. Its use as a payment method has given it a somewhat compelling utility in the space. However, this still does not change the fact that at its core, Dogecoin was not created to do anything besides be a joke, and this, says Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, demonstrates the power of decentralization.　　People Determine The Value　　Changpeng Zhao participated in a Q&A with Associated Press where he shared his thoughts on the most popular meme coin in the market. For Zhao, he does not understand Dogecoin or how it works really but explains that what he thinks of the digital asset does not matter in the grand scheme of things. This is one of the advantages of a decentralized ecosystem.　　Dogecoin has

2021-11-19Deep Dive

India May Ban Cryptocurrencies Lacking Government Approval

Cryptocurrencies may soon have to be approved by the Indian government for investors to hold or trade them on exchanges, according to a Reuters report that cites a source in the know.　　Such a requirement would likely make hundreds of digital traders unavailable for the Indian crypto community.　　Not complying with the stringent rules will result in penalties, the source says:　　“Only when a coin has been approved by the government can it be traded, else holding or trading it in may attract a penalty.”　　The long-awaited cryptocurrency bill is likely to be introduced during the winter session of the parliament.　　While the government has reportedly backtracked on its plan to impose a blanket ban on holding, trading and mining crypto, it appears to be far from making a complete U-turn.　　A government official cited by Reuters that India might clear the way for a central bank digital currency while prohibiting privately-issued coins.　　As reported by U.Today, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das recently reiterated his reservations about cryptocurrencies.　　For more blockchain news, please download WikiBit - the Global Blockchain Regulatory Inquiry APP.

2021-11-19Deep Dive

Dogecoin Adoption Is Likely Exaggerated, Says Australian Central Bank

While Dogecoin undoubtedly captured the hearts and minds of investors earlier this year, it may not be as popular as people think it is, according to a Reserve Bank of Australia official, The Canberra Times reports.　　Tony Richards, head of payments at the RBA, has questioned the veracity of polls that display high rates of cryptocurrency adoption.　　He particularly mentioned one recent survey, which shows that 5% of all Australians own meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin.　　Richards explains that such online polls likely exclude older people and areas with poor internet connectivity.　　The RBA official pointed to the fact that the market cap of the meme cryptocurrency reached a staggering $88 billion earlier this year, which he believes illustrates the state of the market.　　No threat to the Aussie dollar　　Despite the rapid proliferation of cryptocurrencies, Richards does not think that they pose a threat to the Australian dollar since he does not believe that it will reach widespread adoption as a means of payment:　　“I cant see shops posting their prices in cryptocurrencies or companies doing their annual reports in cryptocurrencies or lots of people wanting to get paid in cryptocurrencies.”　　He believes that investors may also become more vigilant about the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, such as regulatory

2021-11-19Deep Dive

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