Digestibles — The News, in Brief #001 (originally published on 22.1.2019 on Medium)

1.Tax Max

There has always been a lot of talk around tax when it involves cryptocurrency, and more importantly, Bitcoin. Recently, a Swedish trader was told to pay tax amounting to almost 300 times of his Bitcoin investment. Of course, the Tax Authority in Sweden stated that his bracket is higher because he had failed to deduct the price of his initial investment and/or purchase.

The question is then if the Authorities are so ready to tax crypto profits, why not have proper regulations in place? (bear in mind that the taxation regulations on crypto profits are also very vague in most countries).

Source: CCN — https://www.ccn.com/tax-nightmare-10000-bitcoin-trades-net-swedish-man-nearly-1-million-in-taxes/

1. Bullishly Bearish

After the rollercoaster that was December 2017 to January 2018, a lot of people have been hard done by Crypto and the incredible Bear Market. It is not unforseeable then that 2019 may be a more sideways year for Cryptocurrency and people get more cautious in their investments. When the market sky rocketed its way close to the elusive 1 Trillion USD Market Cap, a lot of people were skeptical that Cryptocurrency had actually earned such a valuation. Fast forward a year later, and the market is at $120 billion.

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing as with a more stable market, and smarter investors, we may see a huge reduction in exit scams and dud projects — hopefully.

Source: CCN — https://www.ccn.com/why-crypto-is-en-route-to-the-longest-bear-market-in-history/

1. Banks feeling the heat?

Time and time again, we’ll see a bank official or an advisor, CEO, and the lot, criticizing Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, despite having gone through hundreds of Bitcoin funeral since its birth 10 years ago.

Huw van Steenis, senior adviser to Bank of England said:

“I’m not so worried about cryptocurrencies. They fail the basic tests of financial services. They’re not a great unit of exchange, they don’t hold value, and they’re slower.”
Are the banks finally admitting subtly (but also, publicly) that they are feeling the heat of competition brought to the table by Cryptocurrency?

Source: Cointelegraph — https://cointelegraph.com/news/bank-of-england-adviser-cryptocurrencies-fail-basic-financial-tests-lack-value

1. Let’s trust ourselves, for a (ex)change

Another bad thing in the Crypto space that is all too familiar is fake trading volume on exchanges. Two executives from South Korean exchange Komid was recently found guilty of faking trades and deceiving investors by creating fake accounts and with the assistance of a trading bot, made millions in false transactions, pocketing the trading fees in the sum of $45 million.

This is a good reminder to always be vigilant of exchanges and always be wary of your investments, whether you day trade, or HODL.

Source: Coindesk — https://www.coindesk.com/crypto-exchange-ceo-sentenced-to-3-year-jail-term-for-faking-trading-volume