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ETHER GIVER: Vitalik Buterin, the creator of ethereum, has just donated $300,000 in cryptocurrency to three blockchain startups – apparently making the decision in response to a Twitter thread.
The three startups receiving the 1,000 ETH grants are Prysmatic Labs, ChainSafe Systems and Sigma Prime – all of which are working to build the blockchain network’s next iteration, ethereum 2.0.
The move by Buterin came in response to a twitter thread in which prominent members of the ethereum community discussed ways in which the technology might be improved, with some citing inadequate funding as a reason for slow development.
Preston Van Loon, co-founder of Prysmatic Labs and a software engineer at Google, tweeted that, even with recent grants, “it’s hardly enough to take the whole team full time with significant pay cuts and it’s certainly not even for us to scale the team to where we need it.”
To that, Buterin replied: “Just sent 1000 eth. Yolo [you only live once].”
After similar tweets on the funding issue by Sigma Prime and ChainSafe, Buterin also sent those projects 1,000 ETH apiece. All were sent from his known ether address. Full Story
CRYPTO CARS: Nearly 4,000 cars from the upcoming War Riders video game have already been sold as non-fungible ERC-721 tokens, according to Cartified, the producer of the game. The company shared a new trailer for the game exclusively with CoinDesk, teasing some of the mechanics of this crypto-based offering.
So far, the Car Tanks and War Lambos needed to participate in the game have sold from anywhere from $450 to $2,200, with buyers needing ETH to acquire the vehicles. No more funds are needed to play the game itself; players only need to own at least one vehicle.
The game has an internal economy based on the Benzene (BZN) token, which players need to survive. An algorithm will randomly distribute caches of the token around the in-game world, though the total supply is finite and some tokens will be burned as they are used.
As the game progresses, caches will begin containing fewer tokens, and will appear more slowly. Full Story
TAX CLARITY: The United Kingdom's tax authority, HMRC, has published a comprehensive guide to how it expects taxes to be paid on crypto profits.
The report specifically focuses on how individuals possessing crypto assets might be taxed, while the tax scheme for tokens held by businesses or for business purposes will be published at a later date.
While the U.K.’s Cryptoassets Taskforce classifies cryptocurrencies as either exchange tokens, utility tokens or security tokens, HMRC says a token’s treatment for tax purposes depends on its use case, rather than its definition.
Individuals who purchase tokens as an investment will be required to pay capital gains tax when they sell. Those who receive tokens as salary or via mining, transaction fees or airdrops will have to pay income tax and national insurance contributions.
Making the returns process simpler, HMRC will allow individuals to“pool” different assets together. Rather than calculating the gains or losses on each asset individually, they can simply look at the total value when placed in the pool and compare that to the value at the end of the tax period. Full Story |
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 Counting bitcoin obituaries is a bit of sport. With the recent price crash, the total count of published obituaries has jumped above 300. The large sample size over time also gives researchers a chance to tease out some trends and insight. Blockchaincenter.net looked for a correlation between the price of bitcoin and the frequency of deathly forecasts and found something interesting It seems that there is a correlation, but not that "price down = more obituaries" as common sense might suggest. The chart shows that obituary frequency is related to fluctuations in price, so either when the price spikes or crashes. Learn more about the crypto market across price, network, exchange, developer, and social fundamental metrics here. |
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| BULL REPRISE: Bitcoin's break past key resistance at $3,633 yesterday has likely sent the bears packing. As a result, the psychological hurdle of $4,000 could be breached soon, and after that, the target is $4,410. Full Story |
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BEST OF THE BEST GLOBES: The Bank of Israel is looking for public input on potentially regulating cryptocurrencies, Globes reported Friday. The bank published a request for information asking a number of questions about the regulatory issues preventing the use of crypto. The bank published seven different questions, ranging from what barriers startups face in trying to operate in Israel to what issues consumers face. It explained that regulators in the nation believe it should work with the public. “The team wishes to keep track of developments in the matter in Israel and overseas, and to assess the issues pertaining to applying regulation to the various uses of the technology and their consequences for economic activity, the financial markets, and financial stability,” the bank said. THE REST
BUSINESS TODAY: A Kenyan firm, Badoer Group ADK ETF is planning to launch a crypto-based exchange-traded fund in the African nation sometime next quarter, Business Today reports. The company’s founder, Ricardo Badoer, reportedly met with the Nairobi Securities Exchange last week to finalize the listing arrangement. It is unclear what cryptocurrencies would be included in the ETF, but the report notes that the product has been highly sought-after in recent years. The Nairobi Securities Exchange would regulate the ETF, granting it a legal tender status and thereby protecting investors from potential banking and tax issues. Only customers who pass a know-your-customer verification process will be able to access the product. BLOOMBERG: Professional trader Mark Dow has closed out a year-long short on bitcoin placed when the world’s first cryptocurrency was nearing all-time highs, taking an undisclosed amount of profit as a result, according to Bloomberg. The former International Monetary Fund economist explained that he has already taken profits twice so far this year, but “it seemed like the right time” to close the trade altogether, as he did not want to try and squeeze more out of the bet. Bitcoin’s 2017 bull run was – at least in part – a result of people not understanding the crypto or blockchain, he said, but rather, wanting to make a profit. "It allowed the bubble to be much larger and much more violent. I saw the psychological hallmarks of it and there came a point where it looked like the fever was breaking," he said. |
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WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER  |
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