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Zermatt Switzerland Accepts Tax Payments In Bitcoin Source: https://cointelegraph.com/ According to an announcement by Bitcoin Suisse, Zermatt started accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment for local taxes and transactions on Jan. 28, 2020. By partnering with Bitcoin Suisse, the authorities of Zermatt are now able to convert taxpayers’ Bitcoin into Swiss francs through Bitcoin Suisse which then transfers the amount in fiat curren cy to the municipality’s bank account. Bank of Japan Must Be Prepared To Release Digital Currency Source: https://www.coindesk.com/ The deputy governor of the Bank of Japan has said the institution must be ready to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC) should public demand surge in response to technical developments. In a strong statement of a future-oriented vision for the bank, Masayoshi Amamiya told attendees at a seminar — as per a Reuters report on Jan. 30 Bittrex Secures UDS 300 Million Insurance For Cryptocurrencies In ...

Oracles feed the smart contract with external information that can trigger predefined actions of the smart contract. This external data stems either from so ware ( Big-data application ) or hardware (Internet-of-Things) . Such a condition could be any data, like weather temperature, successful payment, or price fluctuations. However , it is important to note that a smart contract does not wait for the data from an outside source to flow into the system . The contract has to be invoked, which means that one has to spend network resources for calling data from the outside world. This induces network transaction costs. In the case of Ethereum, this would be “gas.” There are different types of oracles: Software Oracles handle information data that originates from online sources, like temperature, prices of commodities and goods, flight or train delays, etc. The so ware oracle extracts the needed information and pushes it into the smart contract. Hardware Oracles Some sm...

Established in 2002, DMCC aims to enhance commodity trade flows through the country. Its free zone offers a range of benefits including 0% personal and corporate income tax. Members can also remit all profits made back to their home countries without restriction. In October 2019, DMCC received the Financial Times Fdi magazine’s “ Global Free Zone of the Year ” award for the fifth consecutive years. A total of 85 global free zones were nominated in the 2019 competition. Situated in the heart of Dubai, DMCC is home to over 100,000 people and 17,000 member companies representing more than 170 countries and 20 business sectors. The companies range from startups to multinational corporations. Every month, 170 more companies join DMCC, 95% of which are new to Dubai, the authority says. DMCC (Dubai Multi Commodities Centre), a Dubai government entity, announced at Davos 2020 on Thursday that it is launching a crypto valley in its free zone, at the heart of the city’s leading...

Cash is unlikely to disappear anytime soon despite declining use as a payment method and the surge of digital currencies, Germany’s largest bank says. Deutsche Bank, a German multinational investment bank that previously predicted that cryptocurrencies will replace fiat by 2030 , now claims that cash “ will be around for a long time ” as a preferred method of payment. The bank has forecast a tentative future for cash in one of its recent “ The Future of Payments ” reports carried out by Deutsche Bank’s research arm Deutsche Bank Research. Titled “Cash: the Dinosaur Will Survive … For Now,” the report was issued on Jan. 21 and represents the first part of a series of reports on the future of payments. The second part, called “Moving to Digital Wallets and the Extinction of Plastic Cards,” was published on Jan. 23, while the third and final part of the series, “Digital Currencies: the Ultimate Hard Power Tool,” was issued on Jan. 27. Despite expressing its confid...

In the traditional world of finance, the performance of different assets could vary under different market conditions. For example, real estate investment trusts could outperform general equities in a turbulence market, and defensive stocks could disappoint investors when the appetite for risk is heightened. That’s when diversification comes in. The main purpose of exposure to different asset classes is to balance risk and return in a portfolio. In the cryptocurrency space, diversification could also be one of the ways to manage risk exposure . However, some would argue that it is impossible to diversify a crypto portfolio due to the fact that major altcoins are highly correlated with Bitcoin . However, with a carefully selected basket of altcoins — in conjunction with stablecoins — investors could able to navigate the market more effectively with manageable risk. There has always been a debate about putting all your eggs in one basket. While in some cases concentrating on on...

Canada Issues Guidelines For Cryptocurrency Exchanges Canadian authorities have issued new direction to regulate which digital currency trading platforms fall under derivatives law. The Canadian Securities Administration (CSA) clarified new provisions in the “Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets” published on the 16th of January, 2020 . To know more check out our previous blog . Canadian Teen Charged For Cryptocurrency Theft A Montreal resident, age 18 if facing 4 criminal charges connected to a $50 million SIM Swap scam that targeted cryptocurrency holders. “Eighteen-year-old hacker Samy Bensaci is accused of being part of a crime ring that stole millions of dollars in crypto-currency by gaining unauthorized access to the cell phones of crypto-currency holders in America and Canada.” —  Infosecurity Magazine . 17th January, 2020 To know more check out our previous blog . South Korea...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of South Korea, is considering levying a 20% tax on the incomes made through cryptocurrency transactions. According to a news report published by The Korea Times on the 20th of January, 2020, the ministry had reportedly ordered its income office to review cryptocurrency taxation. The Korea Times cited an anonymous official who reportedly said that the ministry has not finalized its plan, but noted that the government may impose a 20% tax on crypto income. “A government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the finance ministry has not finalized its plan to tax cryptocurrencies.” stated The Korea Times article. Some have speculated that the government may categorize gains obtained through cryptocurrency trading as “other income” and not capital gains. The other income category also includes gains made from lectures, lottery purchases and prizes. A clear scheme for crypto cryptocurrency taxation is much nee...

A Montreal resident, age 18 if facing 4 criminal charges connected to a $50 million SIM Swap scam that targeted cryptocurrency holders. “Eighteen-year-old hacker Samy Bensaci is accused of being part of a crime ring that stole millions of dollars in crypto-currency by gaining unauthorized access to the cell phones of crypto-currency holders in America and Canada.”  —  Infosecurity Magazine . 17th January, 2020 Among the purported victims were Don and Alex Tapscott, renowned Canadian crypto entrepreneurs and co-authors of the book “Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World.” “We can confirm that last year a hacker attempted steal crypto assets from our company and its employees,” Don Tapscott said in an email to ‘The Star’ . “That attempt was unsuccessful. We cooperated with the police (and) have been impressed with their determination to bring those responsible to justice.” Bensaci was arrested in Victori...

The Dow theory is a theory that says the market is in an upward trend if one of its averages (industrial or transportation) advances above a previous important high and is accompanied or followed by a similar advance in the other average. For example, if the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) climbs to an intermediate high, the Dow Jones Transportation Average (DJTA) is expected to follow suit within a reasonable period of time. The Dow theory is an approach to trading developed by Charles H. Dow who, with Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser, founded Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and developed the DJIA. Dow fleshed out the theory in a series of editorials in the Wall Street Journal , which he co-founded. Charles Dow died in 1902, and due to his death, he never published his complete theory on the markets, but several followers and associates have published works that have expanded on the editorials. Dow believed that the stock market as a whole was a reliable measure o...

Canadian authorities have issued new direction to regulate which digital currency trading platforms fall under derivatives law. The Canadian Securities Administration (CSA) clarified new provisions in the “Guidance on the Application of Securities Legislation to Entities Facilitating the Trading of Crypto Assets” published on the 16th of January, 2020 . In general, the agency drew a line between trading platforms that make an immediate delivery of a crypto assets to its users, and those that hold the transaction of crypto assets until the user makes a later request. Following an analysis of trading techniques on different platforms, the CSA concluded that some of them only provide their users with a contractual right or claim to a crypto asset , and do not immediately transfer it to a user. Such crypto trading platforms are subject to securities legislation, and thus fall under derivatives laws. The CSA will not apply securities laws to crypto exchanges on whic...

PwC Switzerland Partners With Chain Security Smart contract auditing team ChainSecurity partnered with the Swiss branch of Big Four auditing firm PwC to enhance the services the global auditor provides. In an email sent to Cointelegraph, a PwC spokesperson explained that no acquisition took place and multiple ChainSecurity teams joined the firm. According to a press release published by the firm on Jan. 5, PwC hopes that, with ChainSecurity’s team, the firm will become “the world’s leader in smart contract auditing.” FTX Launched Bitcoin Option Trading Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange FTX has launched Bitcoin (BTC) options trading on Jan. 11. FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried announced in a tweet on 11th January, that options were listed on the trading platform. Furthermore, later the same day he also claimed that options trading volume on the exchange reached $1 million in about 2 hours. Student Wins Satoshi Nakamoto Scholarship Bitcoin SV (BSV)-promoting Bitc...

As we’ve already explored in the last blog , Web 3.0 is slated to be the new paradigm in web interaction and will mark a fundamental change in how developers create websites. To recap, on Web 3.0 Every time you buy something on Amazon, the website’s algorithm will look at the other items that people who have purchased your product went on buy and then recommends that to you. So, think about what is going on here. The website is learning from other users what your preferred choices can be and then use it to recommend to you what you may like. In essence, the website itself is learning and becoming more intelligent. That, in a nutshell, is the very philosophy behind web 3.0. Web 1.0 was primarily driven by content that came from the business or the institution for its customers. Web 2.0 took things a little bit further by allowing users to upload and share their content on the website itself. Web 3.0 allows online applications and websites to receive information that’s on the W...

Web 3.0 is slated to be the new paradigm in web interaction and will mark a fundamental change in how developers create websites, You have probably heard the term “web 3.0” floating around the internet. Simply put, web 3.0 is the new phase of the internet’s evolution. The changes that web 3.0 is bringing to the internet is going to take it to a whole new level. Computer scientists and Internet experts believe that these changes are going to make the internet smarter and our lives easier. So, to understand these paradigm-shifting changes, let’s first look at the evolution of the internet as we know it. Web 1.0 Believe it or not, there used to be a version of the internet that existed before social media and video streaming! This was a time before Google in the mid-to-late ’90s. The internet used to be dominated by AltaVista and Netscape. Back then the internet existed to only advertise their brick-and-mortar companies. These websites were “read-only web,” meaning you were...

The past few years have been a crisis for security in crypto . As the asset class has increased popularity, more and more security breaks have been highlighted and more institutions targeted. The burgeoning industry is ripe with opportunity, but also with risk. Two incidents that highlight this lapse in security spring to mind. Back in January 2018, Coincheck Japan was targeted, with attackers succeeding in stealing $530 million worth of NEM tokens from the crypto exchange . It is one of the biggest crypto exchange heists in the relatively short history of the industry and stands alongside the infamous attack on Mt. Gox, when around 800,000 BTC was stolen — a sum worth over $6 billion today. Further back in February 2016 , the Bangladesh Bank was targeted. Thieves tried to steal a total of $850 million via properly authenticated transactions in ordering the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to transfer the money through the SWIFT network . While “only” $101 million was t...

Dark pools are an ominous-sounding term for private exchanges or forums for securities trading . However, unlike stock exchanges, dark pools are not accessible by the investing public. Also known as “dark pools of liquidity,” these exchanges are so named for their complete lack of transparency. Dark pools came about primarily to facilitate block trading by institutional investors who did not wish to impact the markets with their large orders and obtain adverse prices for their trades. Dark pools were cast in an unfavorable light in Michael Lewis’ bestseller Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt , but the reality is that they do serve a purpose. However, their lack of transparency makes them vulnerable to potential conflicts of interest by their owners and predatory trading practices by some high-frequency traders. Why Use a Dark Pool? Contrast this with the present-day situation, where an institutional investor uses a dark pool to sell a one million share block. The lac...