Austria has been actively transforming into an attractive location for providers of blockchain-based products, with the government itself experimenting with the technology and trying to create a legal basis upon which companies can use it. With regard to blockchain-based applications in the economy, however, Austria is still in the experimental phase, with most firms still running pilot projects. Still, politicians and economists alike see potential for select industries. Public administration reform via blockchain The Austrian government is quite open to blockchain innovations, cryptocurrencies aside, and has supported various projects in the public and private sectors. In 2019, a consortium of …

The Electronic Currency and Secure Hardware Act (ECASH Act), introduced today in the United States House of Representatives, could herald a new direction in government-sponsored digital currencies. The legislation calls for the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury to develop and pilot an electronic version of the U.S. dollar that is easy to use for the economically marginalized or technically challenged. It would also “maximize” consumer protection and data privacy, according to its principal sponsor Representative Stephen Lynch, chair of the Fintech Task Force in the House Financial Services Committee. Interestingly, e-cash, as it’s called, would be issued by the U.S. …

Less than a week after a potential ban on Proof-of-Work (PoW) digital assets was dropped from the EU’s prospective MiCA framework, a new threat to the crypto industry could be emerging in the European Union. This time, it is non-custodial, or unhosted, wallets that are in regulators’ crosshairs. On Thursday, March 31, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs will vote on an anti-money laundering (AML) regulatory package that seeks to revise the current Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) in a way that extends the requirement of financial institutions to attach information on the transacting parties to crypto …

The much-dreaded prospect of a ban on cryptocurrencies that use proof-of-work (PoW) consensus is making its way into a key European digital asset directive appears to have blown over. March 24 marked the last day when the European Parliament could stop the current draft of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) from proceeding to further consideration. The proponents of outlawing operations with PoW-based digital assets could not muster enough support to challenge the bill's current version, meaning that MiCa will safely pass on to be reviewed in tripartite meetings between the European Parliament, European Commission and European Council. On March …

United States Senator from New York Kirsten Gillibrand revealed working with Senator Cynthia Lummis on a broad-based regulatory framework for the crypto industry on Thursday during a live event in Washington, D.C. As Gillibrand specified, she and Lummis are undertaking “a very complex and intensive review” of different aspects of the industry, with a future regulatory task-sharing in mind. The framework will see both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) get their share of a regulatory mandate. Speaking of her and Lummis’ motivations for taking up the initiative, Gillibrand said: “Many of the goals …

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele reacted to the news that the recently proposed Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act (ACES) had passed the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and will now head to a full Senate vote. The 40-year old national leader responded emotionally on Twitter: Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the US Government would be afraid of what we are doing here. pic.twitter.com/QgJPa70mn0 — Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 23, 2022 On Wednesday, March 23, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill, sponsored by Senators James Risch, Bill Cassidy, and Bob Menendez. The …

The governor of Colorado, Jared Polis, announced in February that the state government plans to allow residents to pay taxes in cryptocurrencies as early as the summer of 2022. To some experts, the move is both legitimizing for the crypto asset class and was expected to come in due time. In an interview, Polis said crypto holders in Colorado could have the option of sending tax payments in digital currency, with the state converting the funds back into fiat as soon as the payments were received through an unnamed intermediary. Colorado is already a leader in Crypto with our first …

Indian crypto tax policy has become the hottest topic for Indian crypto traders and exchange operators as it is set to become law on March 24 and will come into effect starting on April 1. The proposed 30% crypto tax is the highest in the country and is equivalent to the tax imposed on gambling and lottery tickets. While the high tax bracket was already a cause of concern for many new and small traders, a recent clarification from the government has made things even more complicated for the Indian traders. The parliamentary clarification on March 22 indicated that each …

A tax proposal on crypto from India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman may be closer to becoming law as the country’s lower house of parliament is scheduled to consider the legislation on Thursday. According to a Wednesday publication, Sitharaman will be introducing appropriation and finance bills for 2022 to the Lok Sabha — the lower house of parliament — on March 24. The Finance Bill includes an amendment to the country’s income tax laws identifying “virtual digital assets” — including cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens — as taxable investments. First announced by the finance minister in February, the amendment to India’s existing …

Step aside, El Salvador, there’s a new Bitcoin-centric destination on the map. As a 32-million-square-foot private island sanctuary in the remote South Pacific, Satoshi Island is a “place for the crypto community to call home.” A combination of honeymoon getaway, Bond-villain hideout and naturalist paradise, there’s one enigmatic exception to Satoshi Island: it’s 100% crypto. Talking to Cointelegraph, the Satoshi Island team of Denys Troyak, James Law, Taras Filatov and Benjamin Nero mentioned that it is: “A true crypto-economy where everything will be paid for in crypto and all ownership on the island is represented with NFTs.” With its name …

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, has suggested additional requirements on reporting crypto transactions and identifying users aimed at increasing transparency for global tax authorities. In a public consultation document released on Tuesday, the OECD opened for public comment a proposal that would require crypto service providers to better identify users and report on certain transactions. The organization said that under current reporting requirements, tax authorities do not have “adequate visibility” for transactions dealing with crypto assets. According to the OECD, the crypto market posed a “significant risk” around tax transparency, claiming that any gains will eventually …

Proof-of-work (PoW) crypto mining won’t be banned in the European Union — not this year at least. That’s the conclusion from last week’s closely watched committee vote in the European Parliament (EP). A last-minute amendment presented by an ad hoc coalition of social democrats and Greens would have established a de facto ban on proof-of-work mining — the type of consensus mechanisms used by native cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) — has been decisively rejected. The crypto community can breathe easily, but some still worry that the industry’s problem with its energy-intensive consensus protocols remains. “My first reaction …