The sanctions announced by United States President Joe Biden in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine did not include cutting the country off from payments on the SWIFT system or cryptocurrency transfers. In a Thursday announcement from the White House, Biden said the U.S. and its allies and partners would be enforcing sanctions aimed at imposing “devastating costs” on Russia due to “Putin’s war of choice against Ukraine.” The U.S. president announced that the country would sever its financial system from Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, as well as impose “full blocking sanctions” on VTB Bank, Bank Otkritie, Sovcombank OJSC, Novikombank, …

Organizing taxes has always proved a difficult process for companies and individuals during the yearly tax season. With crypto, this process becomes even more complicated. Although cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) appear similar to fiat currencies, in the eyes of the taxman, these digital assets need to be treated differently. This means cryptocurrency transactions may need to be reported as capital gains or losses. That is why it’s important to keep track of crypto transactions over time. Software like Cointelli makes it easy for both individuals to file crypto tax returns and for tax professionals to offer crypto-tax …

In the event of harsh Western sanctions, Russians’ savings could be confiscated, according to Nikolai Arefiev, a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and vice-chairman of the Duma’s committee on economic policy. The Russian government can potentially seize about 60 trillion rubles ($750 billion) worth of people’s deposits should Western nations decide to block all of Russia’s foreign funds, Arefiev said in an interview with the local news agency NEWS.ru on Monday. “If all the foreign funds are blocked, the government will have no other choice but to seize all the deposits of the population, or 60 …

The Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon has announced a partnership with blockchain-data platform Chainalysis to help track and analyze cryptocurrency products. BNY Mellon is the world’s largest custodian bank, currently overseeing $46.7 trillion in assets. Chainalysis is a blockchain-data analysis platform that offers services to traditional financial institutions, allowing large firms to manage the legal risks that come with cryptocurrency more easily. As part of the partnership, BNY will utilize Chainalysis software to track, record and make use of the data surrounding crypto assets. The risk management software offered by Chainalysis includes KYT (Know Your Transaction), Reactor, and Kryptos, …

The Bank of Jamaica revealed the name of its upcoming central bank digital currency (CBDC) after a design competition, only to receive backlash from the local crypto community. The central bank of Jamaica announced on Twitter that it had chosen the name "Jam-Dex" along with the tagline and logo for its upcoming CBDC, scheduled for late 2022. While the project is promising, its name could be easily confused with a decentralized exchange (DEX), and its logo is "terrible," according to the community response. The name Jam-Dex is said to be taken from Jamaican Digital Exchange, with the slogan "no cash, …

California State Senator Sydney Kamlager, representing the 30th Senate District including parts of downtown Los Angeles, has introduced a bill which would amend the state’s code to allow for the acceptance of cryptocurrencies for certain payments. According to Senate Bill 1275 introduced in the California Legislature on Feb. 18, Kamlager proposed authorizing a state agency “to accept cryptocurrency as a method of payment for the provision of government services.” The modification of the current state law, which allows for the establishment of state agencies to provide services to residents which require payments, would add crypto to the list of acceptable …

It might seem unlikely that BlockFi founder and CEO Zac Prince would describe a prosecution that resulted in a $100-million fine for his company as “a win not only for BlockFi but for the broader cryptocurrency industry,” but that is indeed what he said. And, he might be right, although it remains to be seen for now. The settlement Founded in 2017, BlockFi is a New Jersey-based crypto financial institution with a team of 850 and one million clients worldwide. Its popular BlockFi Interest Account product, with half a million users, including 407,000 in the United States, was the object …

Kazakhstan, one of the world’s top Bitcoin (BTC) mining locations, is likely to lose its BTC hash rate share leadership in the next hash rate distribution update, according to industry experts. According to Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), Kazakhstan was housing over 18% of the world’s BTC hash rate as of August 2021, following only the United States. Kazakhstan’s BTC mining power increase was partly driven by the massive Chinese miners’ exodus triggered by China’s cryptocurrency crackdown. Prior to falling to zero as of August 2021, China’s BTC hash rate power accounted for more than 75% back in 2019. …

Grayscale Investments’ latest report “Reimagining the Future of Finance” defines the digital economy as “the intersection of technology and finance that’s increasingly defined by digital spaces, experiences, and transactions.” With this in mind, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many financial institutions have begun to offer services that allow clients access to Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets. Last year, in particular, saw an influx of financial institutions incorporating support for crypto-asset custody. For example, Bank of New York Mellon, or BNY Mellon, announced in February 2021 plans to hold, transfer and issue Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as an …

Unlike some of my peers in the technology space, I don’t see the Metaverse as a virtual world in which we work, socialize and shop. Rather, I see it as a point in time, reached in 2020 and into this year because of the global pandemic, when the digital world became as important as the physical world. It’s a shift away from the idea that physical reality is superior and preferred over digital reality. Work for many has turned into a series of Zoom meetings, people are buying virtual real estate, and children are spending time with their friends in …

Aarika Rhodes, an elementary school teacher-turned congressional candidate, recently featured in the Bitcoin Day Sacramento 2022 event to discuss the impact of Bitcoin (BTC) in local politics. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Rhodes highlighted the difficulty for grassroots candidates like herself to compete against established members of the US Congress. Our campaign has officially adopted Lighting for campaign contributions.⚡️ This revolutionary technology creates accessibility and looks towards the future. I am excited to provide this option to our supporters across all 50 states. #Bitcoin — Aarika for CA-32 (@AarikaRhodes) November 30, 2021 “If it wasn’t for Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, a …

Just between July 2020 and June 2021, ransomware activity soared by a whopping 1,070%, according to a recent Fortinet report, with other researchers confirming the proliferation of this mode of extortion. Mimicking the prevalent business model of the legitimate tech world, ransomware-as-a-service portals popped up in the darker corners of the web, institutionalizing the shadow industry and slashing the skill ceiling for wannabe-criminals. The trend should be ringing a warning bell through the crypto ecosystem, particularly since ransomware attackers do have a knack for payments in crypto. That said, the industry that was once a Wild Wild West is now …