Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

JACKSON, Tenn. In May, Jackson Mayor Scott Conger announced that the City of Jackson will possibly pay employees or contractors in cryptocurrency.

However, there are a few concerns over the legality of this potential move.

The Comptroller, Jason Mumpower, sent a letter to Mayor Conger basically advising him that this needs to be carefully reviewed. Its possible that this might actually violate certain laws, including the Fair Labor Standard Act, said John Dunn, Director of Communications at Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.

The Fair Labor Standards Act says wages must be paid in cash or a negotiable instrument payable at par. However, Conger says he doesnt plan on paying employees directly, but will give them the option to invest.

We pay employees in U.S. dollars through a third party platform or company, then they can payroll deduct their money into an investment account, Conger said.

Conger says this is possibly the best way of a deferred compensation option for Jackson employees, if they choose to participate in it.

We wouldnt be holding. We wouldnt be paying. The RFP is pretty extensive on the education piece, of how to invest, what to offer, and letting the employees know what their options are if they choose to invest in any cryptocurrency or Bitcoin, Conger said.

Conger says cryptocurrency in Jackson can attract and open doors for new residents, businesses, people in tech, and more.

Those tech companies, those tech workers, those entrepreneurs, small business owners, we dont want to put all of our eggs in one basket. Say, Hey we want to land in Georgia Pacific. We want to diversify. Just like when you invest, you want to diversify. We want to diversify how we attract people to Jackson, Conger said.

You can find more local news through the WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News app.

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Concerns raised about paying city employees in cryptocurrency - WBBJ TV - WBBJ-TV

Cryptocurrency miners in Russia may have a new ally: President Vladimir Putin.

Bloomberg today reported that Putin wants to "tax and regulate" cryptocurrency mining rather than banning the practice. "We also have certain competitive advantages here, especially in the so-called mining," Putin reportedly said. "I mean the surplus of electricity and well-trained personnel available in the country."

Putin's stance appears to be more nuanced than that assumed by Russia's central bank, which called for all cryptocurrencies to be outlawed, even as the Ministry of Finance argued in favor of regulating this digital money instead. Bloomberg said Putin has ordered the central bank and the ministry to reach an agreement.

Regulating the crypto market and cryptocurrency mining has been a hot button issue around the world for the last year. China banned mining from most of its provinces in early 2021, which prompted many of the country's mining operations to move to other countries (or try to evade detection while they continue to mine).

China's displaced mining operations mostly sent their rigs to the U.S., Canada, Kazakhstan and Russia. This migration pushed Russia's share of the Bitcoin mining industry from 7% in November 2020 to 11% in October 2021, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, which puts the country in third place.

Swedish regulators have called for cryptocurrency mining to be banned from their country, too, and India has considered similar restrictions. But it hasn't all been doom and gloom: El Salvador has devoted itself to Bitcoin by using volcanic energy to mine the cryptocurrency, making it legal tender, and planning a full Bitcoin City.

Putin seems to be somewhere between China and El Salvador. Bloomberg reported that he wants to confine mining to regions with a surplus of electricity, so the rules wouldn't beas permissive as they are now, but he also doesn't back a ban on the practice. Now it's up to the central bank and the Ministry of Finance to walk that line.

BitCluster co-founder Vitaliy Borschenko reportedly told Bloomberg that Russia's government invited cryptocurrency miners to join a working group after the central bank published its report and that "most ministries and agencies are against radical measures."

This is largely similar to the U.S. government's approach to cryptocurrency regulation. The country doesn't seem poised to limit mining, despite concerns about its environmental impact, but it has been more strict about taxing the crypto industry. (And has considered even more stringent regulations in the past.)

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Report: Putin Wants to Tax Cryptocurrency Mining, Not Ban It - Tom's Hardware

Coinbase, one of the largest and most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, is adding a new tax center to its app and website to help US customers work out how much they might owe to the IRS as a result of their crypto transactions, the company has announced. The section is designed to gather every taxable transaction into one place to simplify matters come tax day.

Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin often appear similar to the fiat money were accustomed to, in the eyes of the IRS, the digital assets are actually property, according to this FAQ from the federal agency. That means cryptocurrency transactions may need to be reported as capital gains or losses, and that means keeping track of a cryptocurrencys value as its bought and sold over time. Documenting these transactions can get complicated quickly if youre regularly buying and selling.

According to Coinbase, its new section will show a personalized summary of [a customers] taxable activity on Coinbase, broken out over time by realized gains/losses and miscellaneous income. This information can then be taken to an accountant or used with tax software like TurboTax. If youre someone whos transferred crypto to external exchanges, wallets, or other DeFi (decentralized finance) services, then Coinbase says its customers can also get tax reports for up to 3,000 of these transactions free with CoinTracker.

CNBC reported last year on suspicions that a lot of the taxes due on cryptocurrency transactions are going unpaid. Although confusion about the evolving tax rules about cryptocurrencies is one reason for this, another is that exchanges like Coinbase have historically not given as much help as traditional brokerage houses to customers when it comes to reporting their gains and losses for tax purposes.

The new Coinbase tax section is accessible from the profile icon in the top right-hand corner of the interface, where Taxes will appear as a menu item. In its app, the Taxes section is accessible from the Profile & Settings menu, accessible from the top left of the apps interface. In addition to the new tools, Coinbase is also planning to offer written guides and help videos in the coming weeks to explain cryptocurrency and digital asset taxes, but for now, this overview from CNET is a helpful place to start.

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Coinbase makes it easier to report cryptocurrency taxes - The Verge

While the cryptocurrency buzz is still unsettling, NFTs are acquiring a fast pace in the virtual ecosystem

Since Bitcoins inception in 2009, blockchain technology has evolved above and beyond. In 2022, it has reached far more than what people originally expected. Blockchain technology houses any form of digital assets and keeps them safe in an encrypted key. It has the potential to give value to everything like fiat currencies and artworks in the digital world. For example, fiat currencies are converted to stablecoins like Tether and USD Coin while artworks are called NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). While the cryptocurrency buzz is still unsettling, NFTs are acquiring a fast pace in the virtual ecosystem.

Cryptocurrencies have been stealing the stage for three straight years now. Since the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed and people started trying their hands on virtual tokens, cryptocurrencies became extremely popular. More than the popularity, they gained prominence and made many people rich over the years. However, 2022 doesnt seem to be the year for cryptocurrency. Since the beginning, even major digital assets like Bitcoin and Etheruem are experiencing a bullish trend. On the other hand, NFTs are taking the center stage. According to a report by DappRadar, consumers spend about US$100 million on NFTs in 2020. But it has drastically risen to US$22 billion, which is a 21,9100% growth in just a year. Today, interested people are buying Non-Fungible Tokens on digital platforms like OpenSea, Rarible, etc.

Both Cryptocurrency and NFTs are lucrative investments. If you think digital tokens are extremely volatile, then Non-Fungible Tokens is not your thing. Although NFTs and cryptocurrencies share the same baseline called blockchain technology, they are different in nature and carry diverse features and values. But the recent trending topic is NFTs. Big Non-Fungible Token sales like Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitters Tweet, for US$2.9 million and Beeples artwork for US$69 million is making headlines everywhere. When NFTs are gaining prominence like never before, lets explore the possibilities of these digital artworks during the cryptocurrency market upside down.

Non-Fungible Tokens represent anything that is unique like furniture, artwork, jewelry, etc. NFTs basically represents a unique object or an artwork that can be sold online. They are different from cryptocurrencies because they are not interchangeable, but fungible. However, similar to virtual tokens, they can be traded via a blockchain network and all the transactions and movement of NFTs are closely kept in context.

When a product is brought into the NFT world, it gets private ownership and tradeability. When somebody buys the Non-Fungible Token, the ownership of the product moves, which is the private key, is given to the other person. One thing that makes NFTs unique is their ability to promote the originality of the product. You can sell the same artwork on social media or any physical medium, but there are chances it might get copied by others. However, on NFTs, the owner of the artwork remains at the help and the works cant be copied. It gives owners an option to brag about the uniqueness they possess. Since there is only one original work on NFTs, its value also increases based on the demand and interest.

Recently, people are using a new method called scholarships to rent the Non-Fungible Tokens to make money. These are basically virtual tools, creatures, or skins for games that are much required to participate. They lend them to players and collect rent.

Cryptocurrencies are increasingly used in everyday life. Over the past couple of years, people are using digital tokens as money that can help them make transactions on a daily basis. On the other hand, even well-known brands are coming forward to accept cryptocurrency payments. However, NFTs are not this lucrative. They are unique so they cant be traded very often. Most importantly, NFTs cant be traded for each other like cryptocurrencies. Both cryptocurrency and NFTs are accessible through a digital ledger that makes transactions and ownership shifts transparent.

As mentioned earlier, an NFT cant be traded for another while we can do the same with a cryptocurrency. Yes, we can trade a Bitcoin to buy Bitcoin as they carry the same value. But we cant do the same with NFTs as the value differs.

Bitcoin marks the most remarkable success of blockchain technology implementation. Yes, BTC has emerged as the first cryptocurrency in 2009, paving the way for more digital assets to come. Today, nearly 80 million people are investing in Bitcoin and most of them are using it as a store of value or an option to trade. BTC is the best option for people who wants to avoid government regulations and tax issues. NFT is a branch of blockchain technology that puts collectibles on the network so they can be easily traded.

In 2022, Bitcoin still seems to be the winner even after losing value for three consecutive months. Although NFTs have some solid features and advancements, they are similar to altcoins. More than being a store of value, NFTs are emerging to be speculative. On the other hand, Bitcoin has actually helped many people become millionaires over the years.

According to the New York Times, Non-Fungible Tokens have been around since the mid-2010s. It is just that they gained popularity recently. The recent buzz around NFTs is solely created because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the digital evolution. Just like how we cant predict what will happen in the cryptocurrency sphere, the NFT world also remains behind the shadow. But one thing for sure is that it wont go away any time soon.

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Will NFTs Step Over the Cryptocurrency Buzz in 2022 and Beyond? - Analytics Insight

The cryptocurrency market lost momentum on Wednesday as valuations of top virtual coins slid further due to global uncertainty amid rising inflation and the ongoing Covid-19 situation.

Bitcoin, the worlds most popular cryptocurrency, traded at $41,761.80 or 1.22 per cent lower than its value 24 hours ago at 12:10 pm. Bitcoins market capitalisation fell below $800 billion and the 24-hour trade volume remained steady at $900 million.

Ether, the native token on the Ethereum platform and the second-most popular cryptocurrency, also fell over the past 24 hours. It traded just above $3,100 or 2.80 per cent lower at the time of publication.

Crypto highlights | Check yesterdays prices

The popular cryptocurrencys market capitalisation fell to $356 billion and the 24-hour trade volume was $734.10 million.

All other smaller cryptocurrencies took a hit due to the weak momentum seen across the virtual coin markets across the globe. Market watchers have asked crypto investors to proceed with caution as the situation remains volatile.

Also Read | Cryptocurrency Bill unlikely to be introduced in upcoming Budget session

Commenting on the current trend in the cryptocurrency market, Edul Patel, CEO and Co-founder of Mudrex, a global algorithm-based crypto investment platform, said, The global crypto market cap dipped by 1 per cent, while the market volume has increased by 1 per cent in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin and Ethereum continued to trade below $42,000 and $3,400. BTC's price has steadily declined since reaching its all-time highs of $69,000 on November 10. Large crypto investors seem to be accumulating BTC amid flat price action, he added.

The other cryptocurrencies are also experiencing a similar dip. Cardano, which outperformed BTC and ETH, has also been down by 7 per cent. Meanwhile, Stacks picked up nearly 13 per cent, ETC and THETA increased by 7 per cent.

Cryptocurrency

Price (US Dollar)

24-hour change

Market cap

Volume (24 Hours)

Bitcoin

41,769.73

-1.23%

$790.84 billion

$912.67 million

Ether

3,105.50

-3.06%

$365.40 billion

$734.10 million

Dogecoin

0.167027

-2.80%

$22.19 billion

$906.67 million

Litecoin

135.93

-8.14%

$9.44 billion

$58.32 million

XRP

0.742613

-2.41%

$74.25 billion

$2.17 billion

Cardano

1.40

-10.33%

$46.16 billion

$360.49 million

DISCLAIMER: The cryptocurrency prices have been updated as of 12:30 pm and will change as the day progresses. The list is intended to give a rough idea regarding popular cryptocurrency trends and will be updated daily.

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Cryptocurrency prices today: Bitcoin slides further as global crypto market dips - India Today

Special Report

The Future of Money

From blockchain and bitcoin to NFTs and the metaverse, how fintech innovation is changing the future of money.

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We are on the precipice of a new form of finance that will use a range of technologies to change the way we use and manage one of our most fundamental tools: money.

Gone are the days of taking out cash from an ATM, applying for a mortgage by visiting a bank branch, or shopping in a department store. Now, for many, conducting financial transactions of any kind is a purely online experience, escalated over the past two years by the COVID-19 pandemic. Increasingly, the future of money exists in the Ether, via phones and laptops.

But there's a bigger future for money, the early stages of which are now taking place. Cryptocurrencies and faster, more powerful financial technologies are transforming our concept of money and challenging the financial institutions that currently manage it. The year 2021 was a transformative year for finance, and 2022 is shaping up to bring more change. ZDNet looks at two categories that are diving into the future of money: blockchain and fintech innovations.

See also:What is digital transformation? Everything you need to know about how technology is reshaping business.

Cryptocurrency is a digital token that's secured and transferred cryptographically using blockchain technology. Bitcoin -- the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 -- is the biggest and most popular, with a market cap valued at $786 billion as of early January 2022. Plenty of people have heard about Bitcoin, but few know how it truly functions.

The first thing to remember: Bitcoin and blockchain are not synonymous. Blockchain -- often defined as a shared, immutable ledger that securely links blocks of encrypted data transactions in a network -- is the medium for recording and storing Bitcoin transactions. Bitcoin operates on its own blockchain network.

There are currently more than 16,000 cryptocurrencies, of which Bitcoin is the biggest, followed by Ether, which operates, along with all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, on the Ethereum blockchain. Estimates suggest the total value of cryptocurrencies is about $2 trillion.

But already this year, the value of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies dropped after the Federal Reserve took a more hawkish stance on its monetary policy, scaling back on the amount of bonds it holds and indicating that it'll raise interest rates. Cryptocurrencies, which operate outside of central banks and government organizations, certainly aren't impervious to the shocks of the global banking system and marketplace.

In addition to their market risk, cryptocurrencies remain highly controversial because critics point out they aren't tied to a regulated central bank or a sovereign institution, which makes them much harder (or even impossible) to regulate. That means cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin, in particular, have already been seized on by those who want to use them for money laundering, buying illegal goods or circumventing capital controls.

But despite such controversies, crypto's popularity and use are growing rapidly as of late, to the point that it's well on its way to becoming a significant disruptor to the world economy in the next few years.

As a result, many corporations, financial institutions and investors -- many with a big case of FOMO-- are trying to calculate the potential financial rewards of getting involved with crypto.

Currently, about 300 million people, or 4% of the world's population, are using cryptocurrencies in some form, and some industry players hope and believe that could rise significantlyby the end of the decade.

According to Gartner, by 2024, for example, at least 20% of large enterprises will use digital currencies for payment, store of value or collateral, which will disrupt current financial networks and business models. Stablecoins -- a token that's pegged to a fiat currency, such as the US dollar, and therefore more 'stable' than that of a decentralized currency -- havemore than quintupled in value from $29 billion to $163 billion in the past year. Credit their popularity to the fact that they're stable in value and that they're capable of supporting more transparent and efficient value transfers than legacy payment networks.

Avivah Litan, distinguished analyst and VP at Gartner, who also co-authored its report, Predicts 2022: Prepare for Blockchain-Based Digital Disruption, told ZDNet that you'll see cryptocurrencies being used for retail payments in about three to five years. Now and in the next couple of years, you'll see a lot of interest and adoption of cryptocurrency by investors as an investment tool, namely as a hedge against inflation and as an alternative to gold. However, it remains an extremely volatile investment. Currently, a Bitcoin is valued at around $31,187, well below its all-time high of $68,223 on November 10, 2021.

Despite this, there's little sign that investors or companies are backing down from the potential reward crypto has to offer.

That's not just down to speculating on the price of cryptocurrencies. Some investors and companies are also interested in crypto to get into decentralized finance or DeFi. "Companies want to get in on the action; even the hedge funds are putting more money into cryptocurrency," says Litan.

Banks have to serve these companies, becoming digital asset custodians, and it's a global phenomenon, not just in the US. "DeFi's starting to attract institutional finance; cryptocurrency is about 0.08% of assets held, and some surveys say, for example, that hedge funds will hold 7% of their assets in cryptocurrency in five years," Litan said.

Governments throughout the world are also opening up to blockchain and crypto now. So far, 83 countries are experimenting with or implementing so-called Central Bank Digital Currencies, or CBDCs, which represent 90% of global GDP, according to the Gartner study. China, which recently banished miners from mining all forms of decentralized cryptocurrency in favor of implementing its own the 'digital yuan' has distributed more than $5 billion of digital yuan to its people as of June 2021, and India's government is scratching its head over how to tax cryptocurrencies as its central bankdevelops its own CBDC.

See also:Cryptocurrency scams pose largest threat to investors.

Clamping down on crypto scams and misuse will be key to gaining mainstream legitimacy. By 2024, Gartner predicts that successful cryptocurrency thefts and ransomware payments will actually decrease by 30% due to criminals' inability to move and spend funds off of blockchain networks. That's welcome news today as cryptocurrency-related crimes -- primarily scams and stolen funds -- hit an all-time high of $14 billion in 2021, up from $7.8 billion the previous year, according to research from Chainalysis. Among the more recent types of scams are so-called 'rug pulls' in which developers build crypto projects that appear legitimate only to then abscond with investors' money, never to be seen again. Meanwhile, cybercriminals in North Korea extracted close to $400 million of digital assets in 2021 after it issued at least seven attacks on crypto platforms, targeting investment firms and centralized exchanges.

But with the dramatic growth of cryptocurrency use in 2021, there is encouraging news: illicit activity is at its all-time low. Only 0.15% of cryptocurrency transaction volume in 2021 involved illicit addresses, down from 0.62% in 2020, Chainalysis says.

Another benefit blockchain is having with regards to the future of money is in customer loyalty rewards programs. For years, loyalty and rewards programs were met with hostility by customers for being inflexible with customers' needs. Sign up thinking you can redeem points for a product or a discount on a service, and you're met with conditions and constraints about how and when to spend those points. The frustration and disappointment ultimately lead to loss of revenue and customers. As online shopping becomes the preferred choice for consumers, retail businesses are adopting blockchain technology to help them track and manage transactions in hopes of elevating the user experience by providing more dimension, flexibility, clarity and transparency.

Perhaps the most technically innovative, financially lucrative, and most misunderstood blockchain-based crypto asset is the Non-Fungible Token, or NFT. Like a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork valued for a large amount of money, such as a painting in the analog world, NFTs are their digital counterpartand can be anything -- from a tweet to a video clip to physical property such as real estate. It all comes down to tokenizing the asset in the digital landscape, be it an algorithm or code for a video or JPEG, to the digitized paperwork of the deed to a piece of land. Whatever it is, it's unique and can be identified as such in the virtual world. (Cryptocurrencies, however, are fungible in that another cryptocurrency of equal value can replace them.)

NFTs are one of the more creative waves of the future of money. Although most people still see very little value in the existence of NFTs, by 2026, Gartner predicts that NFT gamification, or GameFi which takes video game elements such as point scoring and applies blockchain tech, so users can trade or swap game assets will have the ability to propel an enterprise into the top 10 of highest value companies. What's more, NFTs are expected to become a more powerful digital marketing tool in the coming years and that more traditional enterprises may 'auction' limited digital use rights for some of their unique intellectual digital property, according to Gartner's report. And this is not just in video games but also in sports, financial services, social media and manufacturing.

There's plenty of debate about what the 'metaverse', the next-generation virtual reality-powered version of the Web, might look like. Yet despite the uncertainty of this hybrid physical/virtual landscape, the metaverse is inevitably going to be a fully functioning marketplace among other things where users can dart around from one place to another as digital replicas of themselves, purchasing products in virtual stores.

Although not owned by any one company Google, Microsoft, and Samsung are also participating with Facebook with their involvement in the XR Association Facebook has placed the biggest stake in this virtual land with an elaborate marketing campaign, which included renaming itself,Meta. It claims that its concept of this digital marketplace will be "a set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren't in the same physical space as you." Hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create, and much more.

See also: CIO priorities: 10 challenges to tackle in 2022.

Where there is plenty of skepticism, fear and downright hostility toward the metaverse concept, many argue that it will be the place where retail shopping and cryptocurrency converge. Gartner's Litan believes that while businesses start making money in DeFi, consumers in a few years will notice the effects of spending digital currencies through the metaverse. "Facebook is taking us there, NFTs are there, so we're going to have to start paying for things with virtual, digital cryptocurrency. I think consumers will start feeling the crypto world through Facebook, the metaverse and play-to-earn games," Litan said.

"I think what we'll see in the metaverse in the next couple of years is going to be confusing to a lot of people because there's going to be a lot of talk, a lot of hype and initially very little to see," says Tal Elyashiv, founder and managing partner of blockchain-focused venture capital firm SPiCE VC. Elyashiv equates the metaverse of today with where we were with the Web in the 1990s when it took seemingly forever to download an email attachment. Elyashiv believes the issue with the metaverse is that a lot of technology needs to evolve to make it smooth and accessible for everybody, and it will evolve exponentially so that the early years will feel very slow. "I think we'll look back then years from now and will not understand how we lived before it," he says.

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The future of money: Where blockchain and cryptocurrency will take us next - ZDNet

Cryptocurrency is all the rage today, but in 2022 there's a big debate surrounding two of the most popular Shiba Inu and Dogecoin. Both are based on internet meme dogs so their popularity skyrocketed, and even Elon Musk tweeted at some point that Dogecoin would be the currency on the Moon.

But, before you throw your life savings into a "meme coin," make sure you know what you're buying. Learn more about the difference between Dogecoin and Shiba Inu below.

Dogecoin is essentially the same technology as Bitcoin. Both Dogecoin and Bitcoin use a proof-of-work consensus protocol to verify transactions on their networks. However, Dogecoin is possibly a better option for making everyday payments, as its transactions are processed faster and at a lower cost than Bitcoin transactions.

However, Dogecoin is not an exact clone of Bitcoin. Dogecoin has a much larger circulation supply than Bitcoin, and there is no maximum supply for the dog-themed cryptocurrency. With over 129 billion DOGE in circulation, the supply is far more plentiful than Bitcoin's 21 million maximum supply. In addition, 10,000 Dogecoin are minted every minute.

Dogecoin is a proof-of-work cryptocurrency, so it uses computing power to secure its blockchain in a similar way to Bitcoin. DOGE is mined with Litecoin, which means that anyone who mines Litecoin or Dogecoin can choose to mine the other coin. This allows your network power to be more stable.

Shiba Inu is a token on the Ethereum network. Fungible tokens like Shiba Inu are ERC-20 tokens, (as opposed to non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, which use the ERC-721 token standard). Since the token is powered by Ethereum, the Shiba Inu can leverage smart contracts to create decentralized finance (DeFi) products.

The DeFi sector has picked up steam this year with tokens like Uniswap, yearn.finance, and Aave skyrocketing in both price and adoption. These cryptocurrencies use smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain to create decentralized exchanges (DEX), lending protocols, and even interest-bearing accounts.

The Shiba Inu has also entered the NFT space with Shiboshis, a collection of 10,000 NFTs themed after their pet Shiba Inu. The decentralized program uses the Ethereum network that allows NFTs to be auctioned, substituting a third party for smart contracts for transactions.

ShibaSwap allows you to deposit your Shiba Inu tokens for high returns in a variety of ways. However, this will cause an inflation of the token which can drive the price down. The platform has no clear benefits over its competitors in the space.

Both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are highly speculative investments. Both cryptocurrencies have market caps well above $1 billion.

Both Dogecoin and Shiba Inu are highly speculative investments. Both cryptocurrencies have market caps well above $1 billion

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Shiba Inu vs Dogecoin: Which is the best cryptocurrency to buy in 2022? - MARCA.com

Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trumps son-in-law who acted as a senior advisor during Trumps time in the White House, was apparently interested in the idea of whether the federal government should make a cryptocurrency in 2018. In an email to then-US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Kushner asked if he could have a group of people brainstorm about the government creating its own digital currency, as revealed by a Freedom Of Information Act request from CoinDesk.

While we havent seen the idea come to fruition, its interesting that someone who had a lot of status in the White House (and also acted as the director for the Office of American Innovation) was thinking about it years ago.

Heres the email in full:

Steven

Would you be open to me bringing a small group of people to have a brainstorm about this topic?

http://blog.samaltman.com/us-digital-currency

My sense is it could make sense and also be something that could ultimately change the way we pay out

entitlements as well saving us a ton in waste fraud and also in transaction costs...

The link included by Kushner goes to a 2018 blog post titled US Digital Currency, which was written by Sam Altman, a former president of startup incubator Y Combinator and currently the CEO of OpenAI. The post discusses how the US should create a cryptocurrency and make it legal tender in the country. (While it suggests naming the coin USDC, for US Digital Currency, there actually is currently a stablecoin named USDC, short for US Dollar Coin, but that it wasnt created by the government.) Altmans post suggests that the US cryptocurrency could have taxes built-in and that building it could help give America some power over a worldwide currency.

For his part, Kushner suggests it could be a way to cut down on waste, fraud, and transaction costs when paying out entitlements. The outcome of his request is unclear the emails dont show whether Mnuchin ever responded, or if there was ever a meeting about the idea.

The government hasnt been ignoring cryptocurrency in the time since Kushner sent the email. The IRS and the treasurys Financial Crimes Enforcement Network have been active in monitoring the crypto space, as well as trying to get legislation passed on crypto data collection and regulation. Mnuchins emails also reveal that the US Treasury had meetings with executives from several companies that deal in cryptocurrency, including Coinbase, Jack Dorseys Square (now Block), and Xapo Bank.

While the US doesnt have an official digital currency, there are other countries that do. Bitcoin is now an official currency in El Salvador, alongside the US dollar, and China has introduced a digital yuan, though its not based on the blockchain. Venezuela established its own cryptocurrency called the Petro in 2018 (in 2019, Mnuchin emailed two other Treasury secretaries, saying they should discuss the countrys plans to use crypto for international commerce), though the currency doesnt seem to have been particularly successful, and Trump banned Americans from buying it during his tenure as president.

While it doesnt seem like well be getting an official US cryptocurrency anytime soon, there was one last thing I noticed while reading through the trove of emails that Coinbase obtained; Mnuchin got some truly eyebrow-raising spam about crypto while heading the treasury (that may be one of the few things I have in common with him). My favorite was one from someone who... I think was claiming to represent all of humanity? The subject line reads Bitcoin Is Unrecognized By The Central Government Of The World (On Which We Live): The True Creator Of Bitcoin (In The Said World) Can Be Known.

The documents dont show if Mnuchin ever responded to that one. You can read the full cache of emails CoinDesk obtained right here, if youre so inclined.

Read more:
Jared Kushner floated the idea of a federal cryptocurrency, documents reveal - The Verge

Up until now, footballs relationship with cryptocurrency sponsorship has felt like a complete and utter free-for-all, with no rules whatsoever. Slowly but surely that is starting to change.

This week the UK government announced plans to crackdown on misleading ads for cryptocurrency companies, which would treat them like ads for other financial products, a move that could have far-reaching implications in the world of football which is increasingly dependent on the booming sector. Meanwhile Spain is leading a similar charge in the EU.

Cryptoassets can provide exciting new opportunities, offering people new ways to transact and invest, said Rishi Sunak, the UK chancellor. But its important that consumers are not being sold products with misleading claims. We are ensuring consumers are protected, while also supporting innovation of the cryptoasset market.

Volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum boomed in value in 2021, leading to big financial gains for some people, but also generating huge amounts of hype which may mean latecomers are exposed to losses. Most cryptocurrencies have declined in value in recent months and nobody can predict what they will do next.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) a type of digital asset also based on blockchain technology with a lot of similarities to the examples outlined above, are excluded from the new rules.

But given there were almost literally no rules before this week, the shift from a Wild West to a very-slightly-less Wild West is a notable one.

Online betting ads have long been a huge revenue stream for football clubs, but that murky world is coming under increasing scrutiny and regulation. For example Italy imposed a strict ban on gambling firms recently.

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Football and cryptocurrency sponsorship: is the free-for-all over? - The Athletic

This article features the top ten cryptocurrency prices today on January 19, 2022

The crypto world witnessed turbulence last week as another variant of Covid-19, omicron had emerged. Bitcoin, the worlds most popular cryptocurrency, was trading at US$41,712.17 or 0.66 percent lower than its price 24 hours ago. Even though eight out of ten major cryptocurrencies are in red today, the total crypto market volume over the last 24 hours is US$78.87 billion, which makes a 3.64% increase. Here are the top 10 cryptocurrency prices you should check before investing.

Analytics Insight lists the top 10 current cryptocurrency prices on January 19, 2021

Bitcoin (BTC)- US$41,744.34(down by 0.66%)

Ethereum (ETH)- US$3,109.21(down by 2.18%)

Binance Coin (BNB)- US$464.38(down by 1.36%)

Solana (SOL)- US$138.69(up by 0.21%)

Tether (USDT)- US$1.00(down by 0.01%)

Cardano (ADA)- US$1.44 (down by 7.94%)

XRP (XRP)- US$0.7431(down by 1.46%)

Polkadot (DOT)- US$24.70(down by 2.26%)

Terra (LUNA)- US$78.55(upby 3.02%)

USD Coin (USDC)- US$0.9998 (down by 0.02%)

According to CoinMarketCap, the global crypto-market cap is US$1.97T with a volume of US$78.87billion over the last 24 hours with an increase of 3.64%.

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Another Red Flag! Top Ten Cryptocurrency Prices on January 19, 2022 - Analytics Insight