Selection of the best ideas from the most influential media

Organised as a weekly newsletter, it presents an overview of the current international blockchain debate. You may find below a selection of the best ideas from the most influential media.

When the Taxman Comes Knocking, Will Americans Report Crypto Gains? Cryptocurrency investors appear to be skirting their taxes. Whether keeping with crypto’s anti-establishment roots or for lack of ability, American cryptocurrency practitioners are testing the IRS’s tolerance for crypto tax evasion. Tax day in the United States is tomorrow, April 17, 2018, but according to the popular tax filing service Credit Karma, few cryptocurrency holders have reported earnings or losses on their 2017 tax documents. Out of the company’s 250,000 new filings, under 100 have disclosed capital gains from cryptocurrency investments, figures that are in line with the company’s former reports on cryptocurrency tax documentation. Certainly, Credit Karma’s user base does not constitute the whole of America’s crypto investor populace. But it could reflect the demographic’s general resistance to paying taxes on their investments, and this could have something to do with the IRS’s policy. In 2014, the IRS released an official notice regarding its cryptocurrency tax policy. First and foremost, the IRS treats virtual currencies as property, subjecting them to the same capital gains taxes that affect traditional investments like stocks, bonds and real estate. These taxes are applicable to anyone who has received payment for goods and/or services in crypto (as part of a salary, for instance), as well as miners, who must account for gains as part of their income. April 16, 2018 by Colin Harper READ FULL ARTICLE https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/when-taxman-comes-knocking-will-americans-report-crypto-gains

Here's Why Bitcoin Is On The Rise Again Bitcoin is back from the brink. Sort of. After topping at near $20,000 in mid-December, the world's leading cryptocurrency by market cap has been in nothing but freefall ever since. But over the last week, Bitcoin has moved closer to $10,000, cracking $9,000 in mid-morning trading on Tuesday. What's happening with this crazy coin now? The quick answer: big investors and tech upgrades. "Bitcoin is trading upwards for a number of reasons," says Fran Strajnar, CEO of Brave New Coin, a data and research company focused on the blockchain and cryptographic assets market. Strajnar thinks the fundamentals of Bitcoin have improved. Recent improvements to its lightning network and outside forces from regulators are both bringing investors back. "The U.S. is stepping in to regulate security tokens instead of commodity assets (utility) and we are seeing major value investors stepping into buy as a result," he says. Security tokens are cryptocurrencies issued by startups similar to shares, while utility tokens are like coupons used for a specific service the issuer offers. Both are tradable on an exchange. "As the Soros' and the Rockefellers' of the world move into this ecosystem, this asset class is legitimized and trending in an extremely positive direction," Stajnar says, adding that the odds of a Bitcoin ETF getting approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission have improved. April 24, 2018 by Kenneth Rapoza READ FULL ARTICLE https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2018/04/24/heres-why-bitcoin-is-on-the-rise again/#60c36df137db

Bitcoin nipping at gold demand For centuries, gold has held a unique role: as a form of currency, a store of value and sometimes a speculative or alternative asset to stocks and bonds. No other asset has managed to retain such an allure over time. And over the centuries, there have been other pretenders for gold's throne (salt, florins or ducats, anyone?) but none has survived. The latest potential competitor for gold may be bitcoin, the cryptocurrency created in 2009 as open-source software for a decentralized form of payment. Last year, when bitcoin prices rose from their 2017 starting value of just under $1,000 to over $19,000 by mid-December, market chatter was that bitcoin was usurping gold's role as a store of value and alternative to fiat currencies. After all, bitcoin's price was skyrocketing, while gold was languishing, staying mostly in the $1,200 an ounce range, despite rising geopolitical worries. That price charts showed a near-inverse relationship between the two — especially starting in the fall — likely added to the speculation that bitcoin was sapping demand from the yellow metal. The fever surrounding bitcoin has died down — that happens when the price of an asset falls by more than half in a short time period. But questions remain: Is bitcoin a competitor to gold? And what's the outlook for the precious metal? Some say maybe Pete Thomas, senior vice president of Zaner Precious Metals, a physical markets broker, said during last year's bitcoin price run-up, some of his regular customers who buy gold coins or bars on a monthly basis told him they were opting to buy bitcoin at the time instead. He also heard anecdotally from other precious metals coin brokers that they were seeing bitcoin syphoning demand from gold. He said one of his firm's long-time clients, a major global coin dealer, told Thomas he saw demand shifting. "He told us that 20 percent of his business was now crypto," Thomas said. "People were going to a gold broker and swapping crypto out or swapping gold to buy crypto with him. He's a real numbers guy and really reliable." Will Rhind, founder and chief executive officer of GraniteShares, issuer of the GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR), a physical gold ETF, said when bitcoin prices were higher, it may have reduced marginal demand for gold, but he doesn't believe that bitcoin is a "zero-sum game" for gold. "Certainly there are people who invest or buy both of them, but there's not a big market share differential between the two," he noted. April 21, 2018 by Debbie Carlson READ FULL ARTICLE https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/21/bitcoin-nipping-at-gold-demand.html

How The Tiny Nation Of Georgia Became A Bitcoin Behemoth Since long before anyone can remember, the big, fertile slopes of the Alazani Valley in eastern Georgia have been planted with grapevines. It's the heartland of winemaking in the country that invented it 8,000 years ago. But in recent months, the valley has been going through a new kind of ferment, because of bitcoin. "You see that building there with the power line outside," says Bezhani Buzhaidze, pointing to an abandoned-looking, cinder block storehouse in his hometown of Telavi, the hub of Georgian wine country. "That's being turned into a data center for mining cryptocurrencies." It's another sign of how this tiny former Soviet republic of fewer than 4 million people has become a virtual printing press for this new money you can't see. Cryptocurrency mining is the digital equivalent of minting real money, except that anyone with the right hardware and software can do it, by taking part in what amounts to a giant virtual competition. Think of it like a lottery, where computers linked across the Internet compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles, with the number of players constantly rising. The owner of the computer that finds the right solution is rewarded with a "block" of bitcoin or other cryptocurrency, which is then registered and verified on a decentralized database system known as the blockchain. In practice, it involves a kind of constant digital bombardment to find these solutions, 24 hours a day, consuming huge amounts of electricity. And thanks to its cheap hydropower and low regulation, Georgia is now ranked second in the world for cryptocurrency mining — behind only China. April 23, 2018 by Andrew North READ FULL ARTICLE https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/23/597780405/how-the-tiny-nation-of-georgia-became-a-bitcoin-behemoth

U.K. Institutions Promote Nuggets Blockchain Project for E-Commerce Nuggets, a distributed ledger technology (DLT) startup focused on payment and identity systems, has been endorsed by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade, the Mayor of London and the City of London and invited on two major trade visits to China. “As a blockchain start-up, having the support of these three hugely respected business bodies has been incredible,” wrote Alastair Johnson, founder and CEO of Nuggets, in a Medium post. “It’s such a testament to the rapid progress we’re making in harnessing blockchain technology to give individuals the power to take back control of their personal data while making e-commerce payments." Nuggets is developing an e-commerce payments and identity platform that stores users’ personal and payment data securely on the Ethereum blockchain. The users decide if, when and how they want to share their data, which Nuggets itself is unable to access. Nuggets’ stated goal is to give power back to the people by “enabling ‘self-sovereign identity’ on a mass scale.” Another value proposition is that the Nuggets platform could free companies from the burden of storing and protecting millions of customer records. “Our technology has huge implications for e-commerce markets around the world,” Johnson wrote. “So this added support is a huge boost to helping us establish our business in China. Being able to tap into these powerful networks is fantastic for business development and our growth.” U.K. and London authorities’ focus on China is part of the plan to establish a new “Golden Era” in the relations between the two countries, with increasing commerce and technology transfer. With Brexit looming ahead, the U.K. is in need of new trade partners, and China seems a sensible bet. Apr 19, 2018 by Giulio Prisco READ FULL ARTICLE https://distributed.com/news/uk-institutions-promote-nuggets-blockchain-project-secure-e-commerce

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