The government of El Salvador will reportedly exempt investors from paying a capital gains tax and an income tax on Bitcoin (BTC), according to a presidential legal counsel. Javier Argueta, a legal adviser to President Nayib Bukele, is looking to encourage foreign investment through major tax breaks on Bitcoin, Agence France-Presse reported on Sept. 10. “If a person has assets in Bitcoin and makes high profits, there will be no tax. This is done obviously to encourage foreign investment,” Argueta said, adding that El Salvador will impose no taxes on “either the capital increase or the income.” Argueta reportedly noted …

The year 2021 will probably go down the history books as one of Bitcoin’s (BTC) most interesting years, given its recent uptake by billionaires and adoption by mainstream institutions, not to mention El Salvador’s move to make it legal tender. In El Salvador’s case, it almost seems as if the whole world is watching this experiment to see whether it will be a success or a total failure for the Central American nation. With Sept. 7 marking the official implementation of Bitcoin as a legal tender in El Salvador, a wave of protests in the country against the move has …

Everything is bigger in Texas, which is why it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Lone Star state is making moves to become America’s next Bitcoin (BTC) hotspot. Most recently, Texas implemented two laws to ensure that cryptocurrencies are recognized under state commercial law. Texas House Bills 4474 and 1576 both took effect on Sept. 1, after being signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott this past June. While H.B. 1576 established a blockchain working group in Texas, H.B. 4474 provides a complete framework to demonstrate that virtual currency has a place under Texas law. Specifically speaking, H.B. 4474 …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Rivetz over an alleged illegal securities offering that fetched around $18 million. Rivetz was founded in 2013 and the now-defunct blockchain hardware firm has been accused of generating $18 million via an unregistered securities offering between July and September of 2017 from more than 7,200 investors. The SEC’s Wednesday complaint names defendants Rivetz Corp., founder Steven Sprague and the firm’s subsidiary Rivetz International. The ICO revolved around the RvT token, which the SEC states was promoted and sold as an investment opportunity and used to capitalize on Rivetz’s business in …

El Salvador’s move to embrace Bitcoin has ruffled the feathers of bond investors, with yields spiking as investors signal uncertainty for the emerging economy. A Wednesday report published by Bloomberg notes that recently, the yield curve on El Salvador’s bonds has inverted, meaning bonds with short-term maturities are now yielding more than is due from the instruments. It stated: “That’s generally considered a bad sign as it means investors see shorter-term debt as riskier, and most yield curves will slope upwards given the inherent uncertainty of pricing things over the longer-term." Ben Emons of Medley Global Advisors emphasized that El …

United States-based cryptocurrency exchange CrossTower is expanding operations to India despite the ongoing legal uncertainty over local crypto regulation. CrossTower has set up a local division in India and launched a cryptocurrency trading platform to capture the growing multi-billion-dollar market, Reuters reported Monday. CrossTower India has already onboarded 35 employees and is looking to expand its team to 100 people in the next six to nine months. With $7.6 million in daily trading at the time of writing, CrossTower expects its Indian exchange to contribute to its plans to expand further across the world. “India will play a pivotal role …

As Russian cryptocurrency advocates are working to attract global crypto mining operators, local lawmakers have gotten more serious about regulating the industry. Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, claimed that Russian lawmakers are now considering recognizing the crypto mining industry as a form of entrepreneurship under local business laws, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday. “As this [crypto mining] is a type of entrepreneurial activity, it is obviously necessary to include it into the state register, to regulate it as a type of entrepreneurship under an appropriate code, and impose relevant taxation,” Aksakov said. …

A United States District Judge has dismissed amended racketeering allegations brought by traders against the parent company of derivatives exchange BitMEX, HDR Global trading, noting that many of the plaintiff’s accusations had been copied and pasted from a different lawsuit filed against the platform. On Sept. 7, Judge William Orrick dismissed the plaintiff’s claims that BitMEX had engaged in market manipulation, fraudulent inducement, and violated both the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) and Commodity Exchange Acts. According to Law360, Judge Orrick concluded the filings were “conclusory” and “prolix” in nature, stating: "The size and prolix nature [...] alone …

In an interview with local media, Javier Argueta, the legal counsel to the Presidential House of El Salvador, clarified the obligations of businesses the day before the country’s controversial Bitcoin Law recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender took effect. The legal counsel to the president of El Salvador has stated that businesses are mandated to accept Bitcoin (BTC) from customers — but they are able to choose whether or not they will receive BTC or United States dollars once the transaction is settled. According to a rough translation, Argueta emphasized that it is mandatory for businesses “to have the electronic wallet” …

Bitso, a major cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, will be the core crypto service provider for El Salvador’s official Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, known as Chivo. In conjunction with Bitcoin becoming legal tender in El Salvador, Bitso announced on Tuesday that the firm would assist El Salvador in launching the state-supported BTC wallet alongside companies like Silvergate Bank, digital currency company Athena Bitcoin and blockchain firm Algorand. Silvergate Bank, a California state-chartered commercial bank and a United States Federal Reserve member, will work with Bitso to facilitate U.S. dollar transactions for the Chivo wallet. Athena Bitcoin will provide some front-end services …

It is Sept. 7, and El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law has officially come into effect three months after its parliament passed the historic vote. The Central American nation is now the first country to recognize Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. Tweeting earlier in the day, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele remarked “3 minutos para hacer historia — In 3 minutes, we make history.” However, day one of El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment has been somewhat marred by server capacity errors suffered by the state-issued Chivo wallet. Addressing the situation, President Bukele remarked: “For a few moments it won’t work @chivowallet, we have …

While regulators have often targeted projects in and out of the crypto space, the fines levied against digital asset exchanges are a fraction of those against traditional financial institutions. According to data from Good Jobs First’s violation tracker, the platform analyzed 50 of the biggest fines regulators levied against major banks, investment firms and brokers over the last 20 years. Bank of America accrued roughly $82 billion covering 251 different fines, including securities violations, while JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup have also been some of the most-fined banks in the United States since 2000, with penalties totaling $35.9 billion and $25.5 …