IRS Tackles Crypto Micropayments, Blockchain Shipping Platforms Expand, DOJ Ties North Korea’s Crypto Hacks To Chinese Merchants, FBI Plot Hinders Bitcoin Corruption | BakerHostetler

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IRS tackles taxation of cryptocurrencies received in microtasks, Swiss Enable Crypto Payments

Of: Robert A. Musiala Jr.

At the end of last week, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a memorandum on the topic “Taxation of the virtual currency received in the crowdsourcing job market”. The memorandum discusses “the tax consequences for an individual receiving convertible virtual currency for performing microtasks via crowdsourcing or similar platform.” According to the memorandum, examples of this type of business include being paid in bitcoin or other convertible virtual currency in exchange for data processing, image review, posting of app reviews, achieving game milestones, completing quizzes or surveys, or signing up. of accounts for online services. The memorandum concludes that in these circumstances a taxpayer “has received consideration in exchange for providing a service and the convertible virtual currency received is taxable as ordinary income”.

In Switzerland, the canton of Zug recently announced that from next February, citizens and companies based in Zug will be able to pay their taxes in bitcoin or ether, within certain limits. In other news from Switzerland, a major Swiss health insurance provider has announced it will begin allowing its customers to make payments in bitcoin and ether. Finally, according to reports, the first online sale was made using a stablecoin pegged to the Swiss franc. The stablecoin, DCHF, is pegged 1: 1 to the Swiss franc and is issued by a Swiss financial services company. The DCHF was reportedly used to purchase a computing device from a major Swiss online retailer.

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Blockchain shipping platforms TradeLens and ShipChain expand networks

Of: Joanna F. Wasick

Portbased, a branch of the ports of Amsterdam and Rotterdam that manages the digital port infrastructure and core processes in the ports, recently completed the first phase of connecting with the blockchain-based platform of TradeLens, in an attempt to create a connection between Dutch ports. and a wider global range of overseas carriers, ports, terminals and domestic suppliers. The first phase of the project focuses on sending customs clearance messages and related data.

Earlier this week, ShipChain, a decentralized freight and logistics platform operating on the Ethereum network, announced the launch of its mainnet, a delegated public trial of the Ethereum network’s stake sidechain. “Mainnet” is the term used to describe when a blockchain protocol is fully developed and distributed, which means that transactions are transmitted, verified and recorded in the distributed ledger. According to ShipChain, its blockchain solution offers less congestion than the Ethereum mainnet and otherwise reduces costs for its users by shifting the contract implementation and usage costs away from end users, simplifying and improving the user experience. The company’s CEO said, “Put simply, we can now fully deliver on the promise of the blockchain to enable those in commerce and logistics to do business with anyone or anything in the world, at any transaction size and without. an intermediary “.

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North Korean cryptographic hacks recycled by the Chinese; Launch of cryptographic compliance tools

Of: Teresa Goody Guillén

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil confiscation complaint that North Korean actors breached two cryptocurrency exchanges and laundered funds through over-the-counter Chinese cryptocurrency traders. A Justice Department official said “the action publicly exposes the ongoing connections between North Korea’s cyber-hacking program and a Chinese crypto money laundering network.” The complaint alleges that hackers stole over $ 272,000 worth of cryptocurrency from an exchange and converted the cryptocurrency into bitcoin, tether, and other cryptocurrencies. The DOJ also claims that a hacker associated with North Korea stole nearly $ 2.5 million in cryptocurrency from a US company and laundered it through over 100 accounts into another virtual currency exchange.

In South Korea, law enforcement has seized Bithumb, one of the country’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume. The law enforcement action is reportedly linked to an alleged fraud involving a $ 25 million token sale hosted on the exchange and a proposed acquisition from a Singapore platform.

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and a privacy-focused blockchain developer announced they are building a platform to facilitate private intelligence sharing and will reportedly offer “real-time fraud analytics to fight hacks.” cryptocurrency theft and laundering “. The platform is expected to allow exchanges to share transaction intelligence processed on the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, and Eos blockchains, with plans to support additional networks later this year.

A new solution has been announced to promote compliance with the Financial Action Task Force’s travel rules. According to a press release, the solution, called Veriscope, allows Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) to discover each other on a decentralized network, enabling them to comply with Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering regulations while protecting user data and privacy.

A cryptocurrency intelligence firm has reportedly developed tools for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to track transactions of the Monero privacy coin. According to a press release, the new tool will provide law enforcement with assistance in investigating Monero’s transactions and addresses.

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FBI Conspiracy Hinders Bitcoin Corruption, Ethereum Classic Suffers 51% Attack

Of: Jordan R. Silversmith

According to reports, the FBI and a major electric vehicle company recently thwarted a $ 4 million ransomware attack on the company by a group of Russian citizens. On August 22, the FBI arrested a 27-year-old Russian man in Los Angeles. The defendant allegedly sought to recruit a company employee to assist in installing a targeted ransomware attack on the company’s network in exchange for a $ 1 million bribe. According to reports, the $ 1 million bribe was to be paid in bitcoin.

The Ethereum Classic blockchain suffered another 51% attack last Sunday, its third such attack this month. While the first two attacks rearranged 3,693 and 4,000 blocks respectively, this most recent attack rearranged over 7,000 blocks, equivalent to two days of mining. After the first attacks, some exchanges considered the delisting of the cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic, ETC. Now one of the major crypto derivatives exchanges is reconsidering its ETC perpetual futures contracts. According to reports, the ETC value appears largely unaffected by the attacks, trading at less than 4% below its price during the second attack. In other hacking news, analysts investigating a recent hack that robbed an individual of 1,400 bitcoins via their Electrum wallet reported that it linked the hacker to various transactions on a major global cryptocurrency exchange.

Wasabi Wallet recently announced that it is updating the design of its CoinJoin transactions to allow mixing of bitcoins with different values. Currently, Wasabi Wallet relies on the ZeroLink protocol and blind signatures for its CoinJoin mixing protocol to obscure a bitcoin’s transaction history. The design change, named “WabiSabi”, would allow users to use CoinJoin with different values ​​than those used by colleagues. The protocol is still in the early stages of development, and the white paper, which was shown to the Bitcoin developers mailing list in mid-June, is reportedly still under peer review.

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