WAN CHAI, HONG KONG, HONG KONG ISLAND - 2018/04/07: A Bitcoin ATM machine in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. ... [+] (Photo by Miguel Candela/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Popular virtual currency Bitcoin has been a news fixture since its introduction in 2009. If fact, Bitcoin is the worlds leading virtual currency, with a market capitalization over $175 billion. This explosive growth has led donors and their advisors to explore various charitable giving opportunities using virtual currencies.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) describes virtual currency as a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and / or a store of value. Its creators designed it to operate like legal tender, and as a medium of exchange, although very few governments currently recognize it as legal tender anywhere in the world.

Currently, Bitcoin and other virtual currencies, such as Ethereum and Ripple, represent a total market capitalization of over $250 billion. Many large charities, including large donor-advised funds and community foundations, are eager to tap into this market or have already received virtual donations. For example, United Way, American Red Cross, and the American Cancer Society accept donations of Bitcoins. Most major donor-advised funds accept Bitcoin, and some accept other cryptocurrencies as well.

Smaller nonprofits have begun accepting the currency as well. Technology and financial strategies involving the asset have only grown more complex with time, as concepts like proof-of-stake, forks, and decentralized finance (DeFi) all have become more prominent in the cryptocurrency world.

Ryan Raffin

With this explosion in value, many owners of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies have significant appreciation in these assets. This makes cryptocurrency a very appealing candidate for charitable giving. This article discusses the tax treatment of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies under current IRS rules. It has a particular emphasis on the tax results for donations of virtual currency.

2014 Bloomberg Finance LP

IRS Positions on Bitcoin The Internal Revenue Service was quicker than many organizations when it came to consideration of the financial and tax implications of virtual currency. In March of 2014, the IRS issued a Notice on the tax treatment of transactions involving virtual currency. This was its first official statement on cryptocurrency, although its published guidance since then has confirmed that treatment. Most importantly, the IRS stated that, for tax purposes, virtual currencies are property and not currency.

This property treatment means that traditional gain and loss principles will apply therefore treating these assets as securities or business property. A party selling, spending, or otherwise disposing of virtual currency may be subject to capital gains or ordinary income tax. Although the charity will be selling the currency, exempt organizations are not generally taxed on income, even from the sale of appreciated property.

The major tax implications for donations of virtual currency, therefore, involve the donor rather than the charity. The main consideration for donors is the charitable income tax deduction received. As a preliminary matter, note that in answering questions on donated cryptocurrency, the IRS refers multiple times to its general publication on charitable contributions. This supports the assumption that the standard noncash charitable deduction rules will apply.

The gain can be ordinary, or capital, depending on the source of the virtual currency to the donor. The determination on the type of gain or loss the taxpayer recognizes depends on whether that person held the virtual currency as a capital asset for investment purposes. If the donor did not hold the property as an investment, it would be subject to ordinary gain or loss treatment. This is more likely to be the case if the donor is a so-called miner or where the virtual currency is otherwise income paid for services rendered.

Results for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Donors These possibilities lead to three potential tax results for donors of virtual currency. First, a donor giving virtual currency held short-term (i.e., less than one year) as a capital asset will be able to deduct the lesser of cost basis or fair market value up to 50 percent of adjusted gross income. However, if the donor held the Bitcoin or other currency for more than a year as a capital asset, the deduction would be the fair market value of the gift up to 30 percent of adjusted gross income. Finally, if the currency is subject to ordinary gain or loss treatment in the hands of the donor, the donor may deduct the cost basis of the gift up to 50 percent of her adjusted gross income.

If the donor received Bitcoin as ordinary income as payment for services rendered or property sold, the donor may only deduct the cost basis under the ordinary income reduction rules. The IRS defines the cost basis of the virtual currency as its fair market value when the owner receives it. So if a third-party pays the donor Bitcoin worth $500 for professional services, and that Bitcoin later appreciated to $1,000 USD, the donors charitable income tax deduction would be limited to $500, or cost basis.

These rules are very favorable to donors holding appreciated virtual currency as capital assets, allowing them to avoid incurring a tax for capital gains on the Bitcoins or other currency. This is especially true following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which limited Section 1031 exchanges to real estate only, meaning owners of virtual currency could not simply exchange them for other virtual currencies to avoid recognizing gain. Note that this donation would also allow the donor to avoid the potential 3.8 percent Medicare surcharge on investment income. The extreme appreciation in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency makes the asset class a very strong candidate for charitable giving. Better still, IRS commentary has clearly laid out the tax results and requirements for substantiating such donations. Although there are some hoops to jump through to get a fair market value deduction, those difficulties can be minimal in comparison to the benefits of optimizing tax efficiency in giving. These tax items are of course not the only considerations for donations of Bitcoin or altcoins, but they can provide a powerful motivation for the right donor holding appreciated cryptocurrency.

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Tax Implications For Donations Of Bitcoin - Forbes

The CEO of financial advisory firm Devere Group believes that 2020 will be a breakout year for bitcoin, fueled by the U.S. presidential election and the weak dollar. Amid political uncertainty and the Feds new inflation policy, investors will pile into safe-haven assets not tied to any specific country, such as bitcoin.

Devere Group CEO Nigel Green predicted last week that the U.S. presidential election and a weak dollar will drive the price of bitcoin for the rest of 2020. Following the Federal Reserves policy shift on inflation, he also warned about investing in the stock market. Devere Group, established by Green in 2002, describes itself as one of the worlds leading independent financial advisory organizations with more than $10 billion under advice from 80,000 clients in 100 countries.

Noting that Bitcoin is already one of the best-performing assets of the year, up around 70% year-to-date, Green asserted, We can expect the worlds largest cryptocurrency to be further fuelled for the rest of 2020 by the U.S. presidential election and the weakness of the U.S. dollar, which will serve as high-octane price drivers. The price of bitcoin stands at $11,613 at the time of writing.

A U.S. presidential election always stirs uncertainty but 2020 is seen by many as particularly important as not only will whoever wins be the CEO of the worlds largest economy, they will be in that role as the world economically readjusts following the global fallout of coronavirus, Green opined. As uncertainty heightens, investors will pile into safe-haven assets, in particular those not tied to any specific country, such as bitcoin and gold.

Recently, news.Bitcoin.com also reported that analyst and consultant Dan Popescu predicted how the outcome of the November presidential election could lead to a dollar collapse and a boost in the gold market. While the 2020 presidential election polls currently show Joe Biden in the lead, the analyst explained that the U.S. dollar stands to lose regardless of whoever wins the election and becomes the next president of the United States.

According to Green, Bitcoin is currently realising its reputation as a form of digital gold. Up to now, the precious metal has been perceived as the ultimate safe-haven asset, but bitcoin which shares its key characteristics of being a store of value and scarcity could potentially in the future knock gold from its long-held top spot as the world becomes driven by the tech revolution Decentralized, non-sovereign, secure digital currencies, including bitcoin, will become more attractive to investors as they will offer a hedge against turbulence in traditional markets.

Analysts have been questioning golds safe-haven status and Goldman Sachs recently warned that the U.S. dollar risks losing its status as the worlds reserve currency.

The Devere Group CEO added, Printing of historic sums of helicopter money thats pushed into the financial system has devalued the dollar and prompted inflation fears, emphasizing:

You cant just print bitcoin.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve announced a major shift in policy to push up inflation. Many investors will pile into equities, Green noted, warning of the lack of balance in the stock markets. This will add fuel to global equities which are already on fire, Green described, adding that In this climate, holding bonds and sitting on cash will simply not provide the returns investors seek.

The market has been expecting this inflation policy announcement by the Fed, prompting some companies to move cash reserves into bitcoin to hedge against inflation. One of them is the Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy, which moved $250 million of its cash reserves into bitcoin. The Feds new policy is also expected to boost the price of bitcoin, which some predict could be driven past $500K.

As for the U.S. dollar, Green continued: The greenback could be in for a short-term boost, but in the longer term there are expectations its on a downward trajectory and that it could ultimately lose its global reserves status and this environment will provide a powerful boost for the price of bitcoin. The CEO concluded:

This explosive combination together with a growing number of millennials and Gen Z investors moving into digital assets could provide the perfect landscape for a multi-year bull market History will show that 2020 was a breakout year for bitcoin.

Do you agree with Green? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, CNN

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Bitcoin Will Break Out This Year, Says Devere CEO | News - Bitcoin News

When he first presented his research on Satoshis alleged treasure trove of untapped Bitcoin in 2013, Sergio Demian Lerner was met with a fair amount of pushback. Opponents felt that attributing some 1 million BTC to its creator would be prejudicial to the adoption of Bitcoin and anathema to the acceptive narrative of Satoshi as a benevolent creator, Lerner told CoinDesk.

Lest the image of Bitcoins immaculate conception be tarnished, Satoshis coins were better left untouched, both literally and empirically through research, the detractors argued.

That didnt deter Lerner, though, who didnt buy what he called the feeble arguments that these coins were simply lost to the wallet amnesia of early Bitcoin adopters.

So the IOV Head of Innovation and RSK designer has spent the past seven years decrypting the mystery of how many coins Satoshi may have mined and why his mining technique differed from his peers methods in Bitcoins early days. Lerners weekend project, as he calls it, has spawned a body of supporting research from anonymous community members, the research team at BitMex, Kim Nilsson and Jameson Lopp, among others.

Collectively, Lerner et al. have chipped away at the mysteries surrounding the hoard of some 1.1 million BTC mined in the first two years of the network and which remain stashed away, untouched. While most believe the $12.65 billion horde belongs to Bitcoins pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto, Lerner ascribes it to Patoshi. Its Lerners way of signaling that, even with painstaking research, we cannot be 100% sure these coins belong to Satoshi.

Caveats aside, most researchers assume the Patoshi pattern, as its called, represents Satoshis mining activity. And while the total number of coins under Patoshis control has been subject to debate over the years as new evidence has come to light, this empirical researcher has led to other, more philosophical findings.

Principally, Satoshis mining activity in the early days was likely motivated more by ideology than by profit.

The miners time machine

Im looking for the truth, and with the forensic evidence we have today Im more convinced than ever that Satoshi cared about the network security much more than becoming bitcoin rich, Lerner wrote to CoinDesk over email.

His sentiment speaks to the results of his latest (and potentially final) research regarding the Patoshi pattern.

Most recently, Lerner decided to do something he originally wrote off: re-mine Bitcoins first 18,000 blocks with the hope of churning up new data on how Satoshi mined.

When he originally cooked up the idea in 2014, Lerner assumed that Patoshi would be using a software to mine Bitcoin similar to the public code in the first Bitcoin release. But as his (and others) research colored in the gray area of unknowns surrounding the Patoshi pattern, Lerner learned Patoshis mining software was nothing like the public [software] other early miners were using.

The degree of difference between Patoshis setup and everyone elses is at the core of Lerners recent research. One theory is that Patoshi was using 50 or so CPUs together in a less powerful, proto-form of the pooled mining that dominates Bitcoins ASIC-fueled mining landscape today. The other theory, which Lerners research corroborates, is that Patoshi was using a hashing technique known as multi-threading.

In Bitcoin mining, multi-threading is a process whereby a miner can search for multiple nonces at the same time (a nonce is the cryptographic number that miners are searching for when mining for a new block). This is accomplished either by using each core processor in a CPU individually to search for a blocks nonce or by processing multiple nonces through a Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) instruction, a technique for intensive computer processing.

Put simply, instead of using the CPU to do one sweep for the nonce, Patoshi used his CPU to conduct multiple sweeps.

Lerner came to this finding by re-mining the Bitcoin blockchains first 18,000 blocks. The idea is to re-scan the blockchain to find all of the nonces (solutions) that Patoshi did, while also discovering all of the solutions that they did not find (technical note: its possible that each block has more than one solution).

When this process is repeated thoroughly, Lerner explained, it gives you an idea of Patoshis own hashing patterns.

What I did is to uncover all solutions for every block in the first 18K blocks in order to detect the scanning direction of the algorithm Patoshi used, he explained.

More specifically, Lerner discovered Patoshis mining algorithm typically found higher value nonces rather than lower value nonces. This reveals the order in which the nonces were tested, Lerner said, lending credence to the theory that Patoshi was multi-threading to search for multiple nonces simultaneously given the pattern is unique to the blocks Patoshi mined.

Thats why we know Patoshi used a more powerful system than the rest. Not because he had a super-computer, but because he used his computer better, he told CoinDesk.

Mining for the common good, not for the goods

Lerner mentions in his research that Patoshis mining logic is the opposite [of] the Satoshi client version 0.1, the original mining software released with Bitcoin Core 0.1.0. In fact, the multi-threading Patoshi was using wasnt integrated into Bitcoins mining script until 2010, Lerner told CoinDesk.

So, assuming Patoshi is Satoshi, why did Bitcoins founder not bake multi-threading into Bitcoins initial client release? Looking back to Lerners second-most recent findings may help us find the answer.

In June, Lerner pointed out that Patoshi reduced his hashrate in several steps during the first year and that its likely he turned off his miner for five-minute intervals each time he mined a new block. Patoshi took these measures, Lerner posits, to foster healthy competition and to make sure he didnt hog all the new blocks.

Conversely, he may have multi-threaded in the early days to keep the network ticking, picking up the slack when blocks were not being mined on schedule, Lerner told CoinDesk.

I support Lopps thesis that Patoshi cared about the network security much more than the number of bitcoins mined. It seems he turned his miners only when the network wasnt producing blocks at the expected rate. It was also proven by OrganOfCorti that Patoshi reduced his hashrate on purpose on several occasions to let others mine more blocks, when he thought there was enough diversity of miners.

I conclude that the most plausible explanation is that he was protecting the network.

On Twitter Casa CTO Jameson Lopp pushed back against the notion that Satoshis mining advantage was leveraged in self-interest. Quite the contrary, Satoshis more sophisticated mining process likely protected the network in the early days when there were so few miners actively participating in block propagation. With so few actors on the network, Satoshi could have been playing watchdog to make sure the network was strong enough to sustain itself before allowing his mining activity to wane.

Lessons learned

Lerner agrees with this explanation, calling his recent research life changing for the understanding it has given him of Bitcoins founder and its earliest users.

The research on how Patoshi proceeded to decentralize Bitcoin taught me a lot about ideals. The first Bitcoiners were believers who cared a lot less about money that we all care now. Most of them mined to help the project see how far it could grow against all odds. Most of them donated bitcoins, received and paid with bitcoin to show its potential and never bother to speculate. Some of them mined just for fun.

The fun may be done for Lerner, though, who told CoinDesk that his years-long weekend project is drawing to a close with his recent findings. Hell instead turn his energy toward the work RSK and IOV are conducting in the realm of Bitcoin sidechains.

As for other outstanding mysteries his research didnt solve like the double-helix pattern Patoshis hashing strategy created from blocks 1400 to 1916 hell leave these to the community of gumshoes who have contributed to the Patoshi research thus far.

Because for Lerner, perhaps the most pressing question and the one that caused so much pushback when his research began has been answered: namely, why Satoshi mined so many coins in the early days, and why he had to use techniques that werent available to the rest of the fledgling Bitcoin community.

I think the discovery of the Patoshi pattern led to a more coherent conception of Satoshi as the person or group that was prepared to guard the network against 51% attacks during the first years, focusing on the long-term sustainability of the project and without selfish economic interest nor trading activity.

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Protection Over Profit: What Early Mining Patterns Suggest About Bitcoins Inventor - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

A new trojan called Krypto Cibule uses infested computers power to mine cryptocurrency, steal crypto wallet files, and redirect incoming digital assets to a hacker address. The malware rides on the Tor network and the Bittorrent protocol to perform attacks, according to an extensive report by cybersecurity company, ESET.

Krypto Cibule is spread through malicious torrents for ZIP files whose contents masquerade as installers for cracked or pirated software and games, researchers Matthieu Faou and Alexandre Cote Cyr, detailed in their report published September 2.

The malware is mostly active in the Czech Republic and Slovakia where it has been responsible for hundreds of attacks. Most victims downloaded the malware from files hosted on a torrent site popular in the two countries called uloz.to.

The mining operations of the malware, which ESET researchers trace back to 2018, are written into XMRig, an open-source program that mines monero using the CPU, and kawpowminer, another open-source program that mines ethereum (ETH) using the GPU, with both programs set up to connect to a hacker-controlled mining server over the Tor proxy.

Researchers have attributed the little attention previously given to the trojan to the discretion of its operations. To keep the owner of the computer unsuspecting, the malware recalls the GPU miner when the battery is under 30% and stops operations altogether when the battery is under 10%.

The clipboard-hijacking operation masquerades as SystemArchitectureTranslation.exe. It monitors changes to the clipboard in order to replace wallet addresses with addresses of controlled by the malware operator in order to misdirect funds. The researchers noted:

At the time of this writing, the wallets used by the clipboard hijacking component had received a little over $1,800 in bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum.

Exfiltration works by walking through the filesystem of each available drive to look for filenames that contain certain terms. ESET researchers linked the trojan to terms mostly referring to cryptocurrencies, wallets, or miners, as well as more generic ones like crypto, seed, and password. Files that could provide data such as private keys are also targeted.

According to the research team, the use of legitimate open-source tools as well as a wide range of anti-detection methods is likely to have kept the malware under the radar this far. Krypto Cibule is still being actively developed, with new features having been added in its two-year-old life.

As news.Bitcoin.com reported recently, hackers have already been plundering bitcoin through the large-scale use of malicious relays on the Tor network. Tor is a privacy-oriented network popular with bitcoin investors throughout the world.

What do you think about the new malware exploiting Tor and Bit Torrent? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Research: New Malware Employs Tor and Bittorrent To Steal Bitcoin and Ether | Security - Bitcoin News

According to Max Keiser, host of popular RT show the Keiser Report, it is only a matter of time before Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway will invest in Bitcoin (BTC).

Not long ago, Buffett sold most of his positions in major banks and bought shares in Barrick Gold a large gold mining company. For Keiser, this represents a U-turn in Buffetts investing strategy:

This will be the beginning of a huge transition out of financials, which he dumped recently into gold. And then, therefore, he, or whoever takes his place, will soon be moving into Bitcoin.

After years of bashing both gold and Bitcoin, Keiser says that Buffett realized these are now the go-to assets for preservation, for protection against the depreciation of the U.S. dollar. According to Keiser, people shouldnt spend time trading in the altcoin market, which he equatedto gambling.

You may make money over one month, two months. But are you going to make money over five, 10, 15 years gambing? [...]The answer is a big fat no.

Keisers rant didnt spare Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, which has come under fire recently due to allegations around itsoutstanding supply.

Its still on beta, it shouldnt even be trading!Keiser said. Instead, people should be focusing on hodling Bitcoin.

According to Keiser, one of the major causes of global inequality is caused by the uneven way money is distributed throughout the economy by central banks.

Keiser pointed out that this phenomenon has been particularly evident since the United States Federal Reserve injected a massive amount of cash into the economy to counter the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Keiser pointed out that most of the money was used to bail out large firms, while end-consumers see little benefits.

On the contrary, Bitcoin goes directly from God to the consumers,Keiser said.

To watch the full interview with Max Keiser, check it out on our YouTube channel, and dont forget to subscribe!

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Max Keiser thinks Warren Buffett will move to Bitcoin soon - Cointelegraph

ZUG, Switzerland, Sept. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Bitcoin Association, the global industry organization which works to advance business with the Bitcoin SV blockchain, has today named three finalists in its 3rd Bitcoin SV Hackathon to compete for a share of a USD $100,000 prize pool paid in BSV. The announcement follows yesterday's release of a shortlist of ten semi-finalists, selected by a preliminary judging panel as the ten best entries from all projects submitted.

One of the premier events in Bitcoin Association's developer education programme, Bitcoin SV Hackathons are global coding competitions designed to challenge developers to both learn about the technical power of Bitcoin's original protocol and innovate on the fly. Organized by Bitcoin Association, run by leading blockchain research & development firm nChain, and sponsored by CoinGeek, Bitcoin SV Hackathons task entrants with developing an application or service within the parameters of a given theme that leverage the unique capabilities of the Bitcoin SV blockchain, all within a set period of time.

The theme for the 3rd Bitcoin SV Hackathon was 'Connecting the world to one global blockchain'. A distinguishing feature of the Bitcoin SV blockchain is its ability to scale unbounded, enabling greater data capacity and high volumes of low-fee transactions sent instantly across the globe. These capabilities support the rise of a single digital currency (BSV) for micropayments, break down historical industry data silos, and facilitate technical interoperability in ways never before possible. Entrants were challenged to utilise these capabilities in their project, using the Bitcoin SV blockchain to establish new efficiencies and opportunities for interconnectivity.

This edition of the Bitcoin SV Hackathon was the most competitive to date. In all, 418 people from 75 countries took part over an eight-week coding phase, with 42 final projects submitted for consideration.

The three finalists will be invited to present their projects at the upcoming CoinGeek Live 2020 conference, September 30 October 2. The Hackathon Final Round presentations will be on Day 1 (September 30) of the conference, with winners announced on Day 3 (October 2). The finalists will compete for a share of a USD $100,000 BSV prize pool $50,000 for 1st place, $30,000 for 2nd, and $20,000 for 3rd.

Final placings will be determined by a combination of a Final Round judging panel and audience voting through an augmented reality experience for online attendees of CoinGeek Live.

The finalists for the 3rd Bitcoin SV Hackathon are:

KyrtKyrt integrates Bitcoin microtransactions with subscribable events available via Zapier a major platform enabling easy integration workflows across more than 2000 applications. Zapier is an incredibly powerful tool and by integrating a micropayment rail into any application interaction, the possibilities are endless.

RepZipIdentity on-chain is a fiercely discussed topic in Bitcoin SV and a key missing piece of infrastructure. RepZip not only provides a real solution to the problem, but also integrates with Paymail and existing Bitcoin data infrastructure in a way that can satisfy a plethora of use cases. Identity is powerful and is a core link between the digital and the physical world. When the solution integrates 3rdparty attestation, this will become a core and central part of day to day Bitcoin interactions.

STOTASKSTOTASK is a new entrant in the 'gig economy' that allows owners of datasets to leverage the idle time of anyone to apply human interpretation to tag data. This is a missing link between human classification and machine learning. Classification tasks that are easy for humans but hard for machines can become machine-learned with an initial human input. Bitcoin SV is used as the payment rail for STOTASK, enabling work to be paid out in very small increments. Coupling this with Metanet data structuring in the future has huge potential.

Speaking about the finalists, nChain CTO Steve Shadders, said:

"With each iteration of the Hackathon, we're seeing the quality and creativity of entries continue to improve. This time around, with the extended coding phase of the competition, it's clear that the additional time has been put into really developing these ideas into high-quality, well-thought-out submissions. I'm excited to see each of the three finalists present their project at CoinGeek Live, but it's certainly not going to be easy determining a winner!"

Also commenting on today's announcement, Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen, said:

"The standard of submissions for the 3rd Bitcoin SV Hackathon has raised the bar once again and reflects the continued maturing of Bitcoin SV development. What impressed me the most is the diversity of projects entered business and consumer applications that each have a unique take on our theme of 'Connecting the world to one global blockchain' but all with the common thread of leveraging the distinguishing powers of the Bitcoin SV blockchain. I'd like to thank all of the more than 400 people who took part in the competition. While we select a champion in a few weeks' time, all the participants win by building on BSV."

About Bitcoin Association

Bitcoin Associationis theSwitzerland-basedglobal industry organization that works to advance business on the Bitcoin SV blockchain. It brings together essential components of the Bitcoin SV ecosystem enterprises, start-up ventures, developers, merchants, exchanges, service providers, blockchain transaction processors (miners), and others working alongside them, as well as in a representative capacity, to drive further use of the Bitcoin SV blockchain and uptake of the BSV digital currency.

The Association works to build a regulation-friendly ecosystem that fosters lawful conduct while facilitating innovation using all aspects of Bitcoin technology. More than a digital currency and blockchain, Bitcoin is also a network protocol; just like Internet protocol, it is the foundational rule set for an entire data network. The Association supports use of the original Bitcoin protocol to operate the world's single blockchain on Bitcoin SV.

SOURCE Bitcoin Association

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3rd Bitcoin SV Hackathon Finalists announced to compete for USD $100,000 - PRNewswire

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla TSLA , has confirmed the electric car-maker was targeted by a ransomware hacker demanding millions of dollars in bitcoin.

The attack, foiled by the FBI, was planned by a Russian national, court documents unsealed last week have shown.

Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, said the bitcoin ransomware attack was "serious."

Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet that an employee at a Tesla factory in Nevada was offered $1 million and an upfront payment of 1 bitcoin to install ransomware software on Tesla's computer network.

However, the employee didnt carry out the plan and instead alerted other Tesla staff who contacted the FBI. The FBI arrested Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, a 27-year-old Russian man, on August 22 in Los Angeles. Kriuchkov was charged last week and faces up to five years in prison for his role in the scheme if found guilty.

"This was a serious attack," Musk, who was among many high-profile Twitter users to be targeted in a bitcoin-based scam in July, said via the micro-blogging network, replying to a news report posted by a Tesla-focused website.

Bitcoin, despite its growing mainstream popularity, is a favorite tool of cyber criminals, with victims thought to have paid out over $140 million to ransomware operators over the past six years, according to the FBI.

Ransomware hackers, who encrypt their victims' files before demanding bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to unlock them, have increased their attacks during the coronavirus pandemic, Interpol reported in April, with criminals taking advantage of an influx of remote workers.

Tesla, now boasting an eye-watering market capitalization of around $465 billion, became the world's biggest car company by value in July after a near six-fold increase in the value of its shares this yearpropelling Musk's personal fortune past $100 billion.

The Palo Alto-based company, whose output is dwarfed by most of its established rivals with General Motors GM shipping 7.7 million cars last year compared to Tesla's 360,000, plans to use cash from a share sale conducted this week to expand production and build new factories near Berlin, Germany and Austin, Texas.

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Elon Musk Confirms Serious Russian Bitcoin Ransomware Attack On Tesla, Foiled By The FBI - Forbes

Kraken's head of intelligence, Thomas Perfumo, and XBTO Group's head of trading, Paul Eisma, weigh ... [+] in on bitcoin's price falling if stocks crash again, as occurred in March.

Bitcoin (BTC) crashed in price largely alongside the stock market back in March 2020 around Covid-19 pandemic concerns and prevention measures. If stocks crash again, will bitcoin follow? The answer is part of a mixed bag, according to Thomas Perfumo, head of intelligence for crypto exchange Kraken, and Paul Eisma, head of trading at XBTO Group.

Weve observed a high positive correlation between S&P 500 and bitcoin this year, Perfumo told me via email correspondence on August 24, pointing toward bitcoins price action traveling in step with a popular mainstream financial market barometer. Longer-term, I dont see a stock market crash impairing the value of bitcoin, much like companies arent strictly impaired because their stock price goes down.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

In March, the U.S. braced for the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, putting restrictive measures in place in an attempt to slow the viral spread. In turn, the U.S. stock market suffered its harshest fall in more than 20 years. Between March 4 and 23, the S&P 500 fell approximately 30%a drastic decline for mainstream financial markets, based on TradingView.com data.

Bitcoin also spiraled downward in similar fashion, dropping around 58% between March 7 and 13. Although BTC often sees price moves much larger than mainstream markets, accounting for the asset dropping nearly twice as much as the S&P 500 at their bottoms, the two clearly fell in price around the same time period.

Bitcoin posted a fast recovery, however, bouncing approximately 162% in the 55 days following its crash, while the S&P 500 only bounced about 47% in 77 days.

Compared To Other Markets

What weve seen since March is outperformance in several safe haven, assets like gold, bitcoin, and even bonds, where equities havent matched, Perfumo explained. In equities markets specifically, the largest companies like AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, etc. are key contributors to the overall market performance, he said, referencing the stock ticker symbols for Apple AAPL , Amazon AMZN and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL , Googles parent company.

In fact, I think if you removed the performance attributable to the top ten constituents in many large indices, you may actually see more pain than the headline suggests, he added, referencing struggles faced by many smaller companies.

The crypto industry largely views bitcoin as a store of value asset, often compared to gold. As Perfumo noted, people view such assets as a hedge to stocks, cash, etc. Bitcoins place as a hedge independent from mainstream markets, however, still holds as a debatable concept, as seen in its correlation to other markets at times.

Correlation Metrics

Over at crypto finance company XBTO, Eisma has noticed mainstream market prices traveling in line with bitcoin. The recent correlation of equities and bitcoin is alarming, Eisma told me in an August 25 email. Correlations are stochastic, extremely challenging to model and even more difficult to trade.

Eisma pointed toward a measurement from data company Coin Metrics for tracking bitcoins price correlation with the S&P 500, while using the Pearson setting, which essentially reveals how similarly two things act. Looking over 2019, applying the 90-day setting, Eisma cited mixed results, seeing positive correlation between BTC and the S&P 500 for the first several months of the year, followed by negative correlation.

Correlations in 2020 were insignificant at around +1%, until the violentBlack Thursday/Friday the 13th selloff in March, when BTC sold off along with equites, driving correlations to approximately +50%, he said referencing bitcoins dramatic fall amid Covid-19 fears.

As explained simply in an April 2020 article from blockchain industry media and data site LongHash: A coefficient of 1 indicates perfect correlation, a coefficient of 0 means there is effectively no correlation, and a coefficient of -1 points to a perfectly inverse correlation.

The subsequent rally in risk and similar uptrend in BTC has stabilized correlations in the +35% to +45% range, Eisma said pointing out continued similar price action between the two assets. If the current rally in BTC occurred with flat to downwards equity/risk markets, this correlation dynamic would be less worrying, and the price action very bullish for BTC, he added.

Amid Government Economic Actions

During the majority of 2020 so far, governments have taken several actions, including money printing and a $2 trillion stimulus package, in an effort to solve the economic issues brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Eisma, such actions make bitcoin look appealing, given its proposed role as a store of value or hedge asset. Empirically so far this year though, when large equity drawdowns occur, BTC sells off, he added, which shows the asset is not acting as a hedge against traditional markets.

Eisma added:

There is discussion in the community about whether BTC is a risk asset or digital gold.At times bitcoin seems to have characteristics of both, but it cannot be bothor perhaps it's some new hybrid asset.Ultimately the characteristics that BTC provides to a portfolio are critical in driving institutional and retail investment.

Bitcoin has come a long way since its inception more than a decade ago. The asset has achieved a sizable audience of proponents, many of which lobby it as a store of value. Some parties still do not like the asset, however, such as financial commentator Peter Schiff, who prefers gold over bitcoin.

Disclaimer: I actively trade cryptocurrencies, as well as hold a small amount of BTC, ETH, LTC, XMR, NEO, ZEC, BEAM, BCH, DASH, LINK, XTZ andvarious insignificant other altcoin positions.

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Will Bitcoin Dump If Stocks Have Another COVID-19-Scale Crash? - Forbes

Atupri, a Swiss health insurance provider, said Monday that its 200,000 customers will now be able to make payments using bitcoin and ethereum. The 110-year old firm claims it is the first insurer in Switzerland to accept cryptocurrencies.

In a statement, Atupri said payments will be made through local regulated crypto financial firm Bitcoin Suisse, with which it has partnered. The Bern-based health company will not hold any bitcoin (BTC) or ether (ETH), only the converted cash it receives from Bitcoin Suisse.

As digital pioneers in the health sector, we anticipate social trends and offer insurance solutions with long-term prospects, said Caroline Meli, Atupri head of marketing and sales.

Blockchain technology and the associated use of cryptocurrencies will become increasingly important, she added.

Founded in 1910 as a company health insurance fund for the Swiss Federal Railways, Atupri has grown into one of the biggest health insurers in the central European country. In 2019, the firm reported a premium income of $885 million.

Armin Schmid, head of Bitcoin Suisse crypto payments, said: We are pleased about the partnership with Atupri and guarantee secure and uncomplicated payment options with cryptocurrencies.

Among other things, Bitcoin Suisse handles the trading of digital assets for customers. It also offers crypto custody services.

In May, the company added gold, silver, and platinum to its platform, allowing users to trade the precious metals against both BTC and ETH, as well as five other major fiat currencies. The precious metal trades are available for 24/7 trading with immediate cash settlement, it said.

Switzerland, with its crypto tax haven of Zug, has taken a progressive stance toward crypto assets by legalizing its use and formalizing crypto transactions in a range of different contexts. The country sees virtual money and blockchain technology as strategic innovations in global finance.

What do you think about Atupri accepting bitcoin payments? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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Major Swiss Insurer Adds Bitcoin and Ether Payments | News - Bitcoin News

Warren Buffett has made another major investment shift, one that reduces Berkshire Hathaways dependence on the U.S. economy. This news followed the Federal Reserves policy announcement to push up inflation, which is seen as bullish for bitcoin, with some predicting that the price of the cryptocurrency will soon reach an all-time high.

Warren Buffetts Berkshire Hathaway has invested over $6 billion in Japans five biggest trading houses. The company has taken a 5% stake in Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co. Ltd., and Sumitomo Corp. The stakes could rise to 9.9%, the company said on Sunday, Buffetts 90th birthday. Reuters described:

The investment will help reduce Berkshires dependence on the U.S. economy, which in the last quarter contracted the most in at least 73 years as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.

Buffetts choice in Japan, however, surprised market players as trading houses have long been far from investor favorites, the publication added. Tokyo-based Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, pointed out that it is un-Buffett-like to buy into all five companies rather than selecting a few.

Most of Berkshires operating businesses are American. The company owns more than 90 businesses outright and invests in dozens of companies, such as American Express Co., Bank of America Corp., and Coca-Cola Co. Moreover, Berkshire has a roughly $125 billion stake in Apple Inc. (APPL), accounting for about 43% of its total portfolio.

Berkshire already made a surprise investment move about two weeks ago when it invested in Barrick Gold. Crypto exchange Gemini founder Cameron Winklevoss tweeted on Sunday:

When Buffett buys stake in gold mining company you know he knows somethings up inflation is coming. Hell find Bitcoin in a decade. It took him until 2016 to find APPL, but now its his biggest investment ever.

Many people joined into the discussion, pointing out that Buffett is already 90 so it will be difficult for him to find Bitcoin during his lifetime. Overall, the opinions are split, with some believing that the Berkshire CEO will eventually buy bitcoin while others say he will never do so in his lifetime.

Not sure Buffett is ready to wade into Bitcoin just yet, global macro investor and Gold Bullion International co-founder Dan Tapiero tweeted last week. Perhaps his younger deputies might be. BRK [Berkshire Hathaway] is a public company so difficult for them to take too many non-equity outlier positions. In 2-3 years, I think its possible they could allocate.

The Oracle of Omaha has repeatedly said that he will never own bitcoin, calling the cryptocurrency rat poison squared, as he does not see any value in it. He was gifted a bitcoin in February by Tron founder Justin Sun during a dinner which Sun won for $4.57 million at a charity auction. However, Buffett later said that all cryptocurrencies gifted to him were immediately regifted to his charity.

Some people are more optimistic about the prospect of Buffett investing in bitcoin. Popular television personality and bitcoin proponent Max Keiser, for example, believes that Buffett will panic-buy bitcoin at $50K just like gold bug Peter Schiff and veteran investor Jim Rogers will do. Commenting on Buffetts new investments in non-U.S. companies, he tweeted Monday:

Buffetts move into Japan, along with his gold investment, confirms hes getting out of USD bigly Bitcoin gold silver will all make new ATH [all-time high] in the near term.

Many people on social media believe Buffett anticipated that inflation was coming to make the investment decisions he did. The Federal Reserve announced a major policy change last week to push up inflation. Several experts expect bitcoin to benefit from this policy shift as well as from the weakness of the U.S. dollar and the political uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidential election.

Devere Group CEO Nigel Green believes that bitcoin will break out this year, as news.Bitcoin.com reported. Responding to the Feds inflation policy shift, the founders of Gemini Exchange explained how bitcoin will ultimately [become] the only long-term protection against inflation, potentially driving the price of the cryptocurrency above $500K.

Meanwhile, to hedge against inflation, several companies have already begun reducing their cash holdings and moving their reserves into bitcoin. Among them is the Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy, which recently moved $250 million into bitcoin, and Canadian restaurant chain Tahinis, which moved all of its cash reserves into the cryptocurrency.

What do you think of Buffetts strategy? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, CNN

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Warren Buffett Shifts Funds From US Amid Inflation Fears, Bitcoin's New All-Time High Expected | News - Bitcoin News

The court has declined to continue interim injunctions granted in respect of a 'coin depot account' holding bitcoin over which the claimants asserted a proprietary right.

On this occasion, the balance of convenience in respect of continuing the injunctions did not lie with the claimants, including because damages would be an adequate remedy (Toma v Murray(1)).

In 2015, the two claimants, Mr Toma and Mr True, sold bitcoin to an account in the name of BTC OTC on LocalBitcoins, an onlin trading platform based in Finland. Although the claimants had initially been paid for the bitcoin, the relevant payments were reversed leaving them without the bitcoin or the relevant payments.

The BTC OTC account was controlled by the defendant, Mr Murray. Similar amounts of bitcoin had been transferred from the BTC OTC account to a coin depot account he also controlled, giving rise to the inference that the claimants' bitcoin had been transferred from one account to the other. Mr Murray's position was that his accounts had been hacked.

The claimants had obtained interim injunctions restraining the defendant from dealing with the bitcoin in the coin depot account and applied to continue those interim injunctions.

The relevant legal test for granting interim injunctions

The relevant legal test for interim injunctions was recently set out in cyber-fraud case AA v Persons Unknown & Ors(2) (more commonly known as Re Bitcoin):

On these facts, the court found that there was a serious issue to be tried. A full hearing would be needed to determine whether or not the defendant had committed a fraud; this was not a matter for an interim application where the court should not conduct a mini trial or even express a view on the merits of either party's case.

So, did the balance of convenience justify continuing the interim injunctions?

The balance of convenience

The court needed to consider:

As to the damages question, the claimants submitted that the significance of that question is reduced where there was a proprietary claim, citing AA v Persons Unknown and Madoff Securities International Ltd v Raven.(3)

The court held that those cases merely established that claimants would more readily be afforded interim remedies in such circumstances, not that they inevitably would. The cases could be distinguished on the basis that on their facts, if a proprietary injunction had not been granted, the claimants were likely to have had no realistic possibility of recovering any loss they had suffered. In this case, the defendant was a known individual with a substantial unencumbered asset worth many times more than the value of the claim. Furthermore, although the claimants' claim was put on the basis of a proprietary tracing claim, they were essentially seeking the value of the bitcoin contained in the coin depot account which was capable of being satisfied in monetary terms rather than necessitating a proprietary remedy.

Further, by the claimants' own admission, they would have had difficulty satisfying any cross-undertaking as to damages and therefore the defendant would potentially have been exposed to any loss suffered as a result of the injunctions being continued.

Finally, the court considered whether the injunctions might be continued with a protective mechanism added whereby the defendant would be able to sell the bitcoin in the cash depot account subject to the consent of the claimants. However, the court did not consider this practical as a long-term solution given that obtaining consent expeditiously might be difficult, recognising that the volatile nature of bitcoin meant that its value could fall very quickly. The court also considered that the claimants could potentially use any requirement for consent as settlement leverage.

The court therefore concluded that the balance of convenience did not lie with the claimants and declined to continue the interim injunctions.

Comment

This case adds to the growing body of caselaw relating to the injunctive relief that may be granted in respect of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It is interesting that bitcoin's characteristic volatility was one factor that the court considered militated against an injunction. It should be noted that while the court did not consider that an injunction containing a mechanism permitting the sale of the bitcoin by the defendant subject to the claimants' consent was a viable long-term option, it acknowledged that it might be an appropriate short-term solution where claimants were seeking an interim injunction on a without notice basis (as was initially the case here). Accordingly, claimants seeking short-term injunctive relief should consider making such a proposal to maximise the probability of obtaining such relief.

More generally it is interesting to note the divergence between the court's approach in this case, where the identity of the defendant is known, and in AA v Persons Unknown where it was not. There is clearly a strong logical basis for providing claimants who do not know the identity of a potential fraudster with greater ammunition to protect their interests than those who do.

For more information on the AA v Persons Unknown please see RPC's article on that case here.

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No interim injunction over bitcoin account where damages would be adequate - Lexology

Venezuelans have become increasingly interested in cryptocurrency as their country faces dire economic crisis and hyperinflation, a new study by blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis shows. The firms Global Crypto Adoption Index ranks Venezuela third as The country has reached one of the highest rates of cryptocurrency usage in the world.

Chainalysis published its study of Venezuelas bitcoin usage Thursday, which is part of its upcoming 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report.

Venezuela is suffering through one of the worst economic crises in modern history, with its national currency, the bolivar, becoming practically worthless, the firm wrote. Under these circumstances, cryptocurrency has taken on an important role in Venezuelas economy As the Venezuelan bolivar has lost value in the midst of hyperinflation, Venezuela has become one of the most active cryptocurrency trading countries on earth. The firm elaborated:

The country has reached one of the highest rates of cryptocurrency usage in the world, placing third on our Global Crypto Adoption Index, as many Venezuelans rely on cryptocurrency to receive remittances from abroad and preserve their savings against hyperinflation.

Most of the crypto activity in Venezuela is driven by peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange activity, specifically on Localbitcoins, Chainalysis noted. Venezuela is the third-most active country on the platform, or second-most active when we scale by the number of internet users and purchasing power parity per capita. Venezuela ranks 3rd for P2P trading volume in USD, after the U.S. and Russia. Venezuelans are also using Bitcoin.coms P2P marketplace to buy and sell bitcoin cash.

Chainalysis also discussed Venezuelas national cryptocurrency, the petro, launched by the countrys contested government, led by OFAC-sanctioned Nicolas Maduro and known for its corruption and human rights abuses. In May, the U.S. put a $15 million bounty on Maduro and charged a number of top Venezuelan government officials with narco-terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking and other criminal charges.

Superintendencia Nacional de Criptoactivos y Actividades Conexas (Sunacrip) is the regulator of crypto activities in Venezuela. So far, seven crypto exchanges have been licensed to trade the petro. According to the Maduro government, petro adoption has been rising significantly. Recently, 305 Venezuelan municipalities agreed to collect tax in petro.

One of the approved exchanges is Criptolago. According to financial intelligence provider Sayari, the exchange is owned by Venezuelas Zulia state, with the states governor, Omar Prieto, occupying a top management position. Prieto is a staunch Maduro ally who is personally under U.S. sanctions for refusal to deliver humanitarian aid, Chainalysis asserted.

Over the last year, Criptolago addresses received more than $380,000 worth of bitcoin over 3,916 transfers and sent more than $360,000 worth over 2,297 transfers. While the platforms transfer volume grew over 13x in the past year, it doesnt appear that Criptolago is helping the Venezuelans struggling most, the Chainalysis claims. The firm pointed out that crypto transactions worth $1,000 or more accounted for more than 75% of total transfer volume, but the average Venezuelan earns just 72 cents per day, meaning very few of them could afford such transfers. Furthermore, the overall number of transactions was under 1,000 per month.

An expert on Venezuela told the firm that Criptolagos transaction activity suggests the platform may be used primarily by individuals connected to the Maduro regime seeking to launder funds or move them out of Venezuela. Nonetheless, Chainalysis affirmed:

We do however, have a lot of anecdotal evidence that people in Venezuela have become increasingly interested in cryptocurrency.

That fits with our interviews of cryptocurrency experts on the ground in Latin America users not just in Venezuela, but in other countries facing harsh economic conditions, turn to cryptocurrency to preserve their savings in the face of monetary devaluation, the firm emphasized. News.Bitcoin.com has also reported on several crypto initiatives to help people in Venezuela.

What do you think about Venezuelas crypto adoption? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Chainalysis

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

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Venezuela's Bitcoin Use Soars Amid Hyperinflation: 3rd on Global Crypto Adoption Index | News - Bitcoin News