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TAX DEMANDS: The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is sending another round of warning letters to cryptocurrency users, this time to taxpayers it believes to have misreported income from exchange transactions. In addition to the three letters sent last month to crypto traders advising them they may have incorrectly filed their taxes, the IRS is now also telling certain investors that they did, in fact, report the wrong amount of income from crypto transactions. And the agency is looking to collect. Full story
1 BILLION XRP: Ripple continues to pump XRP into a growing ecosystem of adjacent startups. Announced Thursday, Ripple’s investment arm, Xpring, participated in the $4 million seed round for the in-browser payment processing startup Coil, spearheaded by former Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas. Xpring also announced that it gave a 1 billion XRP grant (worth roughly $265 million) to Coil for help building a community of “creators, consumers and strategic partners.” Full story
CHATTING DRONES: Walmart has reasserted its interest in blockchain-backed drones via a patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The filing for an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) blockchain-based communication system was published the same day as Walmart’s digital currency patent application. According to the firm, blockchain could be used to transmit information, like drone identification numbers, altitude, speed, flight routes, battery status, or loading capacity, to other drones. Full story
POOR PROFITS? A lot of loans have been made in crypto, but lenders have not reaped a lot of profit. That’s the big takeaway from a new report by Graychain, a startup looking to bring credit assessment to the crypto space. The startup released its first report on the collateralized crypto lending industry Thursday, estimating that $4.7 billion has been lent out over the history of the sector, but only $86 million has been earned back in interest. That’s a 1.8 percent return, despite the fact that loans typically cost borrowers 6 to 10 percent on an annual basis. Full story
GOVERNANCE SHIFT: Steemit, a blockchain project that focuses on monetizing social media sites, has given details of a coming code upgrade that will usher in big economic changes. Its steem blockchain will undergo a hard fork on Aug. 27 that will build in a new Worker Proposal System aimed to allow the blockchain to “fund its own development.” The new system – set up as a decentralized autonomous organization, or DAO – will allow Steem users to publicly propose work they are willing to do in return for payment, which will undergo a vote. Winning proposals will then be funded automatically via the blockchain. Full story |
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CLOSE CALL: Bitcoin (BTC) has recovered slightly, after enduring its worst single-day loss in a month. The cryptocurrency temporarily pierced the 100-day moving average (MA) at $9,653 early on Thursday, threatening to expose support near $8,500. However, sell volumes are somewhat weak, offering hope for a rebound. The bulls need a firm close above the 100-day MA in hopes of cementing a higher low relative to July 28’s dip low. Full story
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| | BLOCKCHAIN CVs: Office staffing giant Kelly Services is turning to blockchain to help protect the private data of jobseekers. Reported by global staffing advisor SIA, Kelly has inked a deal with mobile on-demand hiring platform Moonlighting to use its new Blockchain Profile Management System, set to go live this month. Running on the EOS.io blockchain, the platform allows job hunters to create “trusted work profiles” that can be ported to other freelance and job marketplaces. |
WHO WON #CRYPTOTWITTER
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