The White House isnt playing around with cryptocurrency companies. The Biden Administration has not only presented a framework for new rules to rein in the Wild West of the nascent market, but its also actively encouraging regulators to aggressively pursue those that break the law.

Digital assets present potential opportunities to reinforce US leadership in the global financial system and remain at the technological frontier, the White House said in a statement on Friday.

But they also pose real risks as evidenced by recent events in crypto markets. The May crash of a so-called stablecoin and the subsequent wave of insolvencies wiped out over $600bn of investor and consumer funds.

Unsurprisingly, bitcoin and ether fell on the back on the news, suggesting that the crypto crash is far from over. Bitcoin fell below $19,000 on Monday, a far cry from its $69,000 all-time high in November. The drop was also fuelled by expectations that the Federal Reserve will announce a third interest rate hike this week.

The White House announced its new cryptocurrency roadmap on Friday, explaining the goals that new rules would attempt to achieve.

The new rules aim to achieve six different goals: to boost consumer and investor protection, promote financial stability, counter illicit finance, strengthen US leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness, increase financial inclusion, and safeguard responsible innovation.

The White House said the new cryptocurrency rules would protect consumers and investors by preventing sellers from misleading buyers about the risks of trading with digital assets and from failing to comply with existing regulation.

"Outright fraud, scams, and theft in digital asset markets are on the rise: according to FBI statistics, reported monetary losses from digital asset scams were nearly 600% higher in 2021 than the year before," the White House said.

On the back of that, the administration urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the Commodity Future Trading Commission (CFTC) to "aggressively pursue investigations and enforcement actions against unlawful practices in the digital assets space."

The two agencies have reportedly been locked into a power struggle over which regulator should police cryptocurrencies. Although, when Verdict confronted the CFTC with the reports of a brewing turf war, the market watchdog rejected them as a tiresome "media trope".

The White House made similar edicts for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission.

That being said, the White House has also encouraged agencies to issue guidance and rules to address current and emergent risks in the digital asset ecosystem.

Cryptocurrencies and other digital assets like non-fungible tokens, so-called NFTs, have struggled this year. The collapse of the sector is intimately linked to the overall market volatility seen around the world as a result of the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The market slowdown as well as the looming threat of tougher policing have contributed to the cryptocurrency winter has shaved off about $2tn of the industry's value since November. It is now worth roughly $1tn.

The crash has also given the bottom lines of established businesses a beating. Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbases revenue has dropped by 63% and its South Korean rival Upbit has reported a 61.3% drop in sales since last year.

The crash has also resulted in the very public collapses of stablecoin TerraUSD which collapsed after a large amount of the digital asset was dumped, which led to it becoming unpegged.

Following the crash, South Korean police raided offices associated with the company after investors had levied fraud accusations against the firm. South Korea issued an arrest warrant for Do Kwon, the founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, last week.

Similarly, crypto lender Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July. The company is now undergoing a restructuring and has been accused by regulators of looking like a Ponzi scheme.

Despite these setbacks for the industry, some, like exchange Bitstamp's new CEO Jean-Baptiste Graftieaux, have seemed reasonably optimistic about the future of the industry.

However, there may be reason for this bullishness. While cryptocurrencies have fallen in value, venture capitalists (VC) have seemingly not lost faith in the industry, according to new data from research firm GlobalData.

In 2020, the industry enjoyed VC-backing to the tune of $3.3bn across 533 deals. Those figures surged to $26.4bn across 1,013 deals in 2021.

As of Tuesday September 20, GlobalData estimates that the industry has raised $15.7bn across 972 VC deals in 2022.

GlobalData is the parent company of Verdict and its sister publications.

Original post:
White House orders SEC to "aggressively pursue" cryptocurrency firms and introduces framework for new rules - Verdict

The worlds second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, last week transformed the fundamental architecture governing how it secures its blockchain an unprecedented demonstration of established crypto platforms ability to evolve to changing conditions.

The event, known as the Merge, was five years in the making. A few hours after midnight on Thursday, Ethereum shifted its blockchain from a configuration called proof of work also used by Bitcoin to one called proof of stake. Matt Nelson, a product manager at the Ethereum research and development firm ConsenSys, compared it to changing the engine in a car while driving it down the road.

The move to the new style of blockchain will reduce Ethereums energy use by 99.95 percent, according to the Ethereum Foundation. Thats significant in an industry that is so energy-intensive the White House warned this month that the growth of crypto could make it harder for the U.S. to meet its climate goals. And Ethereums good news comes at a tough time for crypto generally, with the prices of major cryptocurrencies dropping, the a major crypto lender collapsing and calls for regulation growing.

We wanted to be an inspiration, as the most-used smart contract platform in the community, to signal to actors, regulators and users that we were willing to change, said Nelson, who helped coordinate the switch. Were willing to work together as a community to create an extremely technically complex upgrade.

Ethereums transformation shows that the decentralized crypto universe can adapt as it grows. The blockchain concept that underlies crypto platforms like Ethereum is built on the idea that an entry cannot be altered once it is made which proponents argue makes it transparent and fair. But the Merge demonstrates that such architecture can still undergo major changes successfully, even with millions of users data in play (and a $180 million market cap). Call it a crypto coming of age.

That doesnt mean the Merge is without its critics. One persistent criticism is that Ethereums new architecture consolidates control of the currency among a relatively small number of major players.

Before the switch, users could mine Ethereum by using math. Under the old proof-of-work blockchain system, computers would race to solve complex math problems and log their work verifying batches of transactions to the blockchain. The first machine to answer a particular problem is rewarded with Ether (ETH). This process is known as mining, and it requires a lot of electricity.

Ethereums new blockchain architecture, proof of stake, replaces that computational work with pure economic interests. A staker, or person who puts up ETH to stake to the network, locks their money up for a set period of time and receives a vote for doing so.

Staking a full node requires 32 ETH, or around $45,000. People can pool their coins to fund a node, even staking a percentage of a single ETH. These pools, known as liquidity pools, are offered by a wide array of platforms and companies, such as the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., Coinbase.

In fact, Coinbase, Binance and Kraken, some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, own 30 percent of the networks stake. And Lido, a community staking collective of 183,975 stakers, controls over 30 percent. Critics of proof of stake are concerned that this puts voting control in a handful of major players, contrary to the decentralized ethos of cryptocurrencies. For many people, their original appeal was that no central entity that could control them.

I see many cheering on [proof of stake] as a way to reduce emissions, that it makes ETH greener, said Colin Harper, head of research and content at cryptocurrency mining software and services company Luxor. These takes never acknowledge why [proof of work] exists in the first place, and that is to ensure the censorship resistance and permissionless nature that makes a blockchain worth running or using at all. [Proof of stake] proponents turn a blind eye to this and say that you can have those guarantees without the energy cost, but I dont think thats true. Theres no free lunch.

Others say the environmental benefits of the Merge cant be overstated. The shift slashed the energy use associated with mining Ethereum.

You have this pervasive mentality in many different spaces that blockchain is an industry thats negative from a climate and environmental standpoint, said Nick Hotz, vice president of research at Arca, a digital assent management firm.

Some estimates put the annual energy consumed by mining another major cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, on par with the demand from the entire country of Argentina. Other supporters of the Merge say it matters because it shows flexibility within the growing sector. Mark Lurie, the CEO of Shipyard Software, which builds apps and tools for decentralized finance, said that any diversity in technology will make cryptocurrencies more flexible.

Different technology trade-offs are best for different use cases, said Lurie. I think [proof of work] is probably better for digital gold, like Bitcoin, but [proof of stake] is probably better for distributed computing platforms like Ethereum. There are a huge variety of use cases, and many will demand different technical trade-offs in scalability, speed, security and many other dimensions.

James Key, CEO and founder of the Autonomy Network, a decentralized automation protocol, also sees it as a positive for the industry writ large.

Its a very bullish sign that the space can continue to evolve and adapt, even with the size of a chain like Ethereum people have been worried about this aspect of crypto since Bitcoin has so far not been able to do so, said Key.

This is only the first of what will be other substantive upgrades to Ethereum. But Nelson said that, if some other consensus mechanism thats better than proof of stake comes along in the future, he could see the community deciding to change again. And now, they know its possible.

The only constant in life is change itself, so as long as the community is capable of coming together and adapting, the technology platform, it can, in theory, persist forever, said Lurie.

Thanks to Lillian Barkley for copy editing this article.

Go here to see the original:
What the Ethereum 'Merge' means for the future of cryptocurrency - Grid

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has bolstered it cryptocurrency team as it looks to regulate more digital assets by classifying them as financial products, a move that would make selling them to Australians more difficult.

Asic has yet to decide whether to classify Ethereum, the second most popular cryptocurrency after bitcoin, as a financial product after the way the currency operates changed last week.

Most cryptocurrencies have not been regulated by Asic because they do not meet the definition of a financial product, depriving the authority of jurisdiction.

However, the regulator increased the size of its crypto team in March amid a wave of collapses in the industry that devastated investors who poured money into the sector as prices soared in late 2020.

Other regulators have also begun taking a closer look at cryptocurrency, with the US Securities and Exchange Commission becoming aggressive in its approach to whether individual coins, including Ethereum, qualify as securities, bringing them under its regulatory umbrella.

Were not going to be the cheerleaders for crypto assets, Asics executive director for markets, Greg Yanco, said.

Because cryptocurrencies are mostly not financial products, the exchanges that trade them are largely untouched by Australian regulation, aside from a requirement to report transactions to the financial intelligence agency, Austrac.

But if Asic decided that one or more of the more popular coins were financial products, the exchanges would either need to delist them or become subject to a list of regulatory requirements.

They will need financial services licenses, which may require proof that they hold large sums of capital in reserve, and would be required to keep client funds separated something that collapses overseas have revealed was not standard practice.

A bigger challenge would be meeting new design and distribution obligations regarding financial products that came into force in last October as part of reforms after the banking royal commission.

In particular, dealers would need to identify a target market.

Who that might be was a good question, Yanco said.

Could it be only those people that are willing to take extreme risks, extreme risk on highly volatile products without any underlying asset, where the custody arrangements may not be, you know, maybe at risk or unusual.

Until recently, crypto was not on Asics hitlist it had just one person dedicated to the area.

In March, Asic added a second full-time employeeand expanded its capability. Crypto assets are now one of its core strategic projects, the regulator said last month.

Until I would say, even the last year, when we were doing our business planning, crypto was not the big priority, Yanco said.

Were seeing products that are mimicking financial products out there because there seems to be some crypto twist, they seem designed to avoid regulation. And so weve seen that and you will have seen that with similar products overseas, people have lost a lot of money on them.

The regulator has also been concerned by the convergence of crypto trading platforms with share trading platforms, along with research conducted for it by SEC Newgate in November. That research showed 44% of Australian retail investors held crypto and, of those who did, only 20% thought they were taking a risk.

If people are trading shares, suddenly theyre being offered crypto, and theyre beginning to think that theyre maybe not any riskier than share trading, Yanco said.

The regulator has obtained legal advice from senior counsel on whether some coin offerings qualify as financial products.

There are so many of these things, were probably not going to get to all of them, Yanco said.

But weve got a couple that were looking at really closely. And if we need to take enforcement action, we will.

In Ethers case, last week it moved from awarding new coins to miners who completed energy-intensive mathematical calculations, a process called proof of work, to awarding new coins to coin holders who agree to lock up Ether, a process called proof of stake.

The change, known as the merge, raises the possibility that Ether may now meet legal tests, in the US and Australia, that mean it should be regulated as a financial product.

Asked if Asic had decided whether or not Ether would be a financial product after the merge, Yanco said: No, no, we havent.

Were technology agnostic, and were looking at these things right now because its not just as straightforward as one thing once you start pooling assets together, it depends on how its done. Is there a common purpose? Or are you just in the pool and youre just getting a share? That may be something different, he said.

And so this is where it becomes a lot of work for Asic to get to the bottom of how things are designed.

Read this article:
Asic bolsters its cryptocurrency team and looks to regulate more digital assets - The Guardian

The Indian government is reportedly planning to finalize its stance on the legality of cryptocurrency by the first quarter of next year in order to become Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliant. We will finalize our responses by February-March 2023. We have to respond to the FATF by May, a government official said.

The Indian government is finalizing its stance on the legality of cryptocurrency in order to submit its response to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the countrys mutual evaluation by early 2023, Business Today reported Monday.

The Revenue Department has already sent their views and the Department of Economic Affairs has now been tasked to prepare a detailed response on Indias stance on the legality of cryptocurrency, a government official was quoted as saying.

The FATF mutual evaluations are in-depth country reports analyzing the implementation and effectiveness of measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, its website details.

The government official further told the publication:

One of the questions that we have to respond is on the legality of cryptocurrencies, since we have already started to tax them. We will finalize our responses by February-March 2023. We have to respond to the FATF by May.

In addition, a Financial Stability Board (FSB) report is expected in October. It will help the Indian government decide whether to ban cryptocurrency transactions or provide a legal framework for dealing with crypto trade in India, Outlook India reported Monday, citing a senior government official.

The official was quoted as saying:

We are awaiting the (FSB) report which will be important from the crypto legislation perspective. We are also hoping it addresses how to deal with wallet transfers (of crypto).

We will take a view on whether to ban wallet transfers depending on what the report suggests. The legislation part is still being worked on. When we had taxed it (in Budget 2022), we had made it clear that legislation is still a work in progress. This report would help address the legislation aspect to a considerable extent, the official additionally detailed.

India is currently not FATF-compliant on crypto assets since the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog requires countries to have a clear stance on the legality of crypto assets to be compliant.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently chaired a meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) where issues relating to crypto assets were discussed. The council stressed the urgent need for a clear consensus on the legality of cryptocurrencies.

The finance minister also recently had a meeting with the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, where she urged the IMF to take a lead role in regulating crypto assets.

Do you think India will ban crypto? Let us know in the comments section below.

A student of Austrian Economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open-source systems, network effects and the intersection between economics and cryptography.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

Here is the original post:
India to Finalize Stance on Legality of Cryptocurrency by Q1 2023: Report Regulation Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

As the cryptocurrency market matures, more governments throughout the world introduce legislation to tax proceeds from crypto-related activities, with traders often triggering taxable events that can lead to future complications.

Avoiding paying taxes is illegal, but there are legal ways to dodge triggering taxable events while hodling onto ones cryptocurrency holdings: Roth IRAs. These are individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with a special type of tax-advantaged system.

Using IRAs to avoid triggering taxable events with cryptocurrency investments is a strategy that has been considered for some time, with North American mining and hosting firm Compass Mining offering a solution for BTC users to mine directly to their IRAs last year.

Before diving deeper, its important to point out that Roth IRAs are only available in the United States, although other countries often have their own form of tax-advantaged investment vehicles. Often, stocks with significant exposure to Bitcoin such as MicroStrategy have to be used as a proxy for some of these vehicles.

A Roth IRA is a type of individual retirement account to which investors contribute after-tax earnings. What makes Roth IRAs stand out is that what investors place in these savings accounts can grow tax-free and be withdrawn without any other taxes being owed after theyre aged 59 , if the account has been open for at least five years.

Essentially, a Roth IRA considers that since taxes have been paid on the funds being contributed into the account, investors do not need to pay any further tax as long as they meet the specific conditions outlined above.

Roth IRAs can be funded in various ways beyond regular contributions, which have to be made in cash. Assets permitted into Roth IRA accounts include stocks, exchange-traded funds, money market funds, bonds, mutual funds and cryptocurrencies.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not allow for direct cryptocurrency contributions into these accounts, but these are various Bitcoin IRA solutions that are designed for investors to save cryptocurrencies in these accounts. Its worth pointing out that yearly contributions to Roth IRAs are limited based on IRS specifications and that investors can keep Roth IRAs as long as they please, as there are no required minimum distributions.

Cryptocurrencies are known for being extremely volatile, which means they arent for every investor out there. More conservative investors will likely be happier holding bonds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, while investors with a larger risk appetite may consider allocating to crypto.

The growth potential of cryptocurrency holdings in a portfolio is enough to lure in investors who believe cryptocurrencies will keep on growing in popularity as the infrastructure around them boosts accessibility and new crypto-related products and services are created. This growth potential, its worth pointing out, comes with heightened risk.

As tax-free withdrawals from Roth IRAs require accounts to be at least five years old, cryptocurrency investors looking to take advantage of them should always be prepared to hold onto their funds for a long time.

Chris Kline, co-founder of cryptocurrency IRA platform Bitcoin IRA, told Cointelegraph that there are no tax benefits on contributions to Roth IRA accounts, but there are tax benefits on distributions:

To Kline, cryptocurrencies are going to disrupt the very fabric of our everyday lives in ways like the internet disrupted communication and email disrupted the post office. The co-founder of Bitcoin IRA added that while real estate and gold were premier examples of diversification in the past, crypto has asserted itself as an alternative in the modern economy.

Recent:The Metaverse is becoming a platform to unite fashion communities

Kline added that cryptocurrencies can offer an alternative path forward for people of all ages and that theres been a surge in interest in investing in crypto assets for diversification.

Kunal Sawhney, CEO of equity research firm Kalkine Group, seems to disagree with Klines approach. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sawhney said that if a person has spent time and labour to earn money, it should ideally not go into extremely risky assets like cryptocurrencies.

Otherwise, he added, it defeats the idea of investing for retirement. Sawhney cautioned that cryptocurrencies arent just Bitcoin (BTC) and that betting on these increases the risk that investors fall prey to Ponzi schemes.

As an investment category, he said, cryptocurrencies might not be so bad as these assets may become the biggest contributor to the overall amount in the Roth IRA when the contributor retires and plans to withdraw. Once again, their potential outsized performance is weighed against their risk.

For long-term investors expecting these outsized returns, placing cryptocurrencies in a Roth IRA lets them realize their capital gains without getting taxed, although theyll have to stomach the ups and downs for a while.

The extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies makes them a not-so-easy investment when talking about retirement, with the jury being out on whether including cryptocurrencies in a 401(k) retirement plan is sound financial planning or gambling with the future.

To Sawhney, investors need to have a pre-determined strategy for their Roth IRA. The CEO noted that a 60/40 portfolio, with greater exposure to stocks than to bonds, was long considered balanced and financially rewarding but suggested cryptocurrencies are changing things:

Recent:Does the Ethereum Merge offer a new destination for institutional investors?

Due diligence, Sawhney concluded, is crucial as Roth IRAs are often viewed as one of the best investment vehicles for young and low-income earners.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Kevin Maloney, interim CEO at crypto retirement account provider iTrustCapital, said that volatility is actually one of the main reasons why many investors prefer using a Roth IRA or any other type of IRA to invest in crypto. He added that even day-traders could benefit:

Whether investors are looking to add cryptocurrencies to their Roth IRA accounts, its important note that crypto assets are only available for these accounts through custodians, which may charge hefty trading fees.

Its up to every investor to analyze what type of investment vehicle best suits their situation and risk appetite. Roth IRAs may be extremely beneficial for long-term investors, as, since 2014, the IRS has taxed cryptocurrencies as property, and capital gains taxes can be owed on depreciated assets.

The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Original post:
Roth IRAs: The ideal long-term cryptocurrency investment? - Cointelegraph

Crypto gambling is becoming hugely popular. Before getting started, its important to know both the pros and the cons of online crypto gambling.

In recent years, it has become more and more popular to gamble online with crypto. There are thousands of crypto casinos thriving, and many players enjoy the advantages of this type of gambling. But there are also some cons one should be aware of before starting gambling with crypto. If youre looking to start gambling with crypto, you can read more about the pros and cons here. If you choose to move forward with crypto gambling, you can find crypto casinos here.

There are several pros of gambling with crypto as opposed to traditional fiat currencies. One of the pros that many players enjoy is the increased privacy. Using crypto to gamble provides a higher degree of anonymity. Because of the decentralization of cryptocurrencies, it is hard to track transactions. You will also need to provide much less personal information than in traditional online casinos. This also means youre more secure against hacking and other types of cybercrime.

Another pro is that the speed of cryptocurrency transactions is much higher than at regular casinos using traditional fiat currency. Cryptocurrency is directly transferred almost instantly. This allows you to play whenever you want without waiting for transferrals. You will also be saving money from transaction fees. Because there is no third party involved in crypto transfers, you will have to pay no fee or a very low fee.

This also allows crypto casinos to offer better bonuses to their players. Regular casinos have a third party involved which takes a piece of the cake. Since this is not the case, you can expect better promotions and bonuses. When that is said, you should always make sure to double-check the terms and conditions when accepting any kind of bonus whether its at a crypto casino or a regular online casino.

There are also some cons that you need to be aware of. One of them is, of course, the volatility of cryptocurrency. This means that gambling with cryptocurrency is a sort of double gamble. You never know when the value of your crypto will drop. Another con is that there are no takebacks once youve sent money from your wallet, there is no way back. In addition, there are still many people who arent completely familiar with the world of crypto and, therefore, could be surprised by some of the conditions of crypto gambling.

The last con is the possibility of being scammed. Even though many online crypto casinos are regulated and licensed, many arent, and they are not necessarily illegitimate. So, it is harder to differentiate between a dishonest crypto casino and a legit one. This is something always to be aware of. One thing you can do is to make sure to read some reviews of the particular crypto casino that youre considering.

Disclaimer: information contained herein is provided without considering your personal circumstances, therefore should not be construed as financial advice, investment recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation for, any transactions in cryptocurrencies.

Join our newsletter and be the first to know!

We value your privacy, your email address is safe with us.

Go here to read the rest:
The Pros and Cons of Cryptocurrency Gambling Online - Bitrates

Currently, the cryptocurrencies and blockchain industry are at the booming stage on the back of vast adoption globally. Despite being controversial and holding complex underlying technology, the cryptocurrency market is seen as a maturing industry with large investors parking their money in them. This market is evolving constantly!

At the 3rd edition of FICCI Leads 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, the use of blockchain technology is going to rise by about 46% in the next few years.

Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX cited the latest study conducted by LinkedIn revealed that job postings containing "Cryptocurrency," "Bitcoin," or "Blockchain" increased 394% year over year from 2020 to 2021.

Menon said, "all these spikes in job opportunities happened even when there were no proper regulations or policies provided by the government. Once India has an enabling regulatory framework that recognises the true potential of Blockchain and cryptos along with the pool of developers and talent available in the country we have an opportunity to lay the foundation of the new internet, Web 3.0."

In Menon's view, crypto is where the next big gold rush is happening, and naturally, VCs worldwide are extremely interested in investing in this space.

As per a report by Galaxy Digital Research, a New York-based financial services firm, venture capitalists (VCs) have pumped in more than n $10 billion in crypto startups in the first quarter of 2022. It could be in the region of 40-50 billion dollars on an annual basis.

With the right policies, Indian entrepreneurs could create the next few crypto unicorns in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi, Menon said.

Due to smartphones and super cheap data plans, content creation has accelerated in recent times in India. Menon said, "with its large audience, content platforms have tailor-made programs to attract the best creators. Like how China became the factory of the world, Indians can become the content-creating factory of the world with our knowledge of English.

According to WazirX VP, Web3 allows these creators to monetize their talent like never before - our artisans languishing in poverty can create NFTs that will appeal not only to the Indian diaspora but also to the larger western audience who are always looking out for newer, more different talents.

Blockchain technology still in its infancy has already created lots of job opportunities under Crypto, NFT, Blockchain gaming, Logistics, etc.

"All that is needed is for the policymakers to bring enabling regulations and frameworks to prevent the talents from leaving the country," Menon added.

Meanwhile, as per Amanjot Malhotra, Country Head - India, Bitay, the use of cryptocurrencies can provide a decentralized and communal approach toward job creation over a centrally-controlled and profit-driven approach.

Cryptocurrency seems to have established itself as a form of asset class, and Malhotra believes its economic impact is expected to be seen globally.

Among many areas, in which cryptocurrencies are expected to leave an impact, is also job creation, especially in India.

Bitay's India head cited Job posting platforms data which revealed job postings that are associated with terms such as cryptocurrency or blockchain have increased more than 600% since November 2015, with a 1,000% growth in searches for jobs.

Cryptocurrency jobs have increased by almost 15 times since 2019, which is a sign that organizations are looking for people with expertise in blockchain and Crypto. Blockchain Application developers, community managers, Asset managers, blockchain developers, and technical product managers, among others, are some of the many roles which could see a rise in hiring, Malhotra explained.

Malhotra believes the crypto sector will attract a lot of talent from other sectors as well as it is very attractive in terms of growth and culture. He added, "A lot of job seekers from various domains who are looking for jobs will find a lot of interesting opportunities in the cryptocurrency space."

Also, Malhotra said, "Insights from the industry have stated that the use of cryptocurrencies is expected to provide a decentralized and communal approach toward job creation over a centrally-controlled and profit-driven approach."

So far in 2022, the number of cryptocurrency job listings in the USA went up by 395%, as per a LinkedIn report.

In Malhotra's opinion, the increase in the usage of cryptocurrencies has the potential to benefit the Indian

technological industry in terms of employment. It will also show that the interest factor of working professionals in this space is high. Furthermore, jobs are being created for marketers, accountants, public policy specialists, and traders.

Finally, Malhotra concluded, "The usage of decentralized protocols and dapps such as smart contracts has the capability to help with the employment of industries such as banking and finance, real estate, and government authorities, among others."

Meanwhile, Sakina Arsiwala, Co-Founder, Taki said, "Recent regulations by governmental bodies have led some startups to feel apprehension. That said, my prediction is that there will be minimal impact felt by the overall talent pool. This stems from the fact that, while crypto as an industry is at a nascent stage, the growth rate is still very high. Amidst uncertainty, there are even greater opportunities for innovation."

Let's keep in mind that these regulations are being introduced with the motivation to protect consumers in the crypto industry. India is a top market for global companies in terms of skilled employees, Taki co-founder said.

Lastly, Arsiwala added, the Indian crypto-tech industry is expected to grow multiple times, which also reflects the forecasts that the industry will generate close to a million job opportunities.

Recently, BetterPlaces Frontline Index Report 2022, revealed that more than 8 million jobs were created in the frontline industry in FY 2022. As retail consumption bettered in the post-pandemic economy, the Q2 of FY 2022 saw a strong rise in demand for frontline workers because of a steady increase in jobs in the delivery and retail segments. E-commerce contributed the highest to the demand for frontline workers followed by logistics and mobility.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters

* Enter a valid email

* Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Read more from the original source:
How cryptocurrency market will help in creating job opportunities in India | Mint - Mint

In 2021, over $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies were donated to nonprofit and charitable organizations. Thousands of nonprofits have begun accepting cryptocurrency donations, making it easy for crypto investors to donate to their favorite causes.

Charities are quickly embracing cryptocurrency. Here are the top four reasons why many organizations are tapping into this new revenue source to diversify their revenue and donor base.

Nonprofit organizations are always looking for ways to connect with younger people who can become long-term legacy donors. The average donor in the United States is 64 years old and makes two charitable gifts a year. By accepting donations and leaning into crypto fundraising efforts, nonprofits are opening the door to a younger donor demographic.

According to Pew Research, 43% of U.S. men ages 18 to 29 say they have invested in cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, only 8% of people ages 50 to 64 and 3% of people age 65 or over have dabbled in crypto. The crypto market is currently worth approximately $1 trillion at the time of writing, which means that by accepting crypto donations, nonprofits are targeting this young demographic who own a large chunk of the crypto industry's wealth.

Not only is this a younger demographic to target, but it's also a demographic with disposable income. According to Gemini, the average crypto owner makes $111k a year, meaning that they have disposable income that can be donated.

Accepting cryptocurrency donations is not just a fundraising tool, it's also a great opportunity to draw media attention and build brand awareness. Once a nonprofit accepts crypto donations, it opens the door for NFT creators looking to add a philanthropic component to their NFT projects. We've found that celebrity-endorsed NFT projects tend to draw media attention, especially when the proceeds are being donated to a good cause. By aligning with certain NFT projects, nonprofits are opening the door to a new group of potential donors and building awareness about their mission.

Did you know that crypto investors are more charitable than other types of investors? In 2020, 45% of cryptocurrency investors donated $1,000 or more to charity, while that same year, only 33% of the full investor population donated.

The Nonprofit Times reported that the average crypto donation in 2021 was $10,455. This is nearly 19 times higher than the average cash donation of $574.

For many nonprofits, deciding if and when to accept crypto donations is a big decision. We've found that those most successful with crypto fundraising have someone on their team who is digitally native and social media-savvy. It's not necessary to understand crypto in order to fundraise it, but those who have team members dedicated to ensuring that the nonprofit has an online presence are innately more successful than those who rely on old-school donation methods.

This is because the crypto community is a younger donor demographic that naturally spends more time online than the traditional 65+ donor demographic. By already having an online presence, it's easier for crypto donors to find and donate to your nonprofit.

Before deciding which crypto processing solution is best for your nonprofit, consider the following:

By asking each of these questions, you are one step closer to finding the proper crypto processing solution for your nonprofit's specific needs and embracing the emerging world of crypto philanthropy.

Read more:
Here's Why Charities Are Embracing Cryptocurrency - Newsweek

1

Computers are useless, Pablo Picasso exclaimed more than 50 years ago. They can only give you answers. No doubt he would be turning in his grave at todays unholy alliance of computer programs, tech nerds and digital artists clustering together to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs).Its a quickly evolving and potentially very risky world for filmmakers, producers and others looking for new ways to raise funding but should be approached with caution, research and a good look at recent history.

From the heady heights of a $3 trillion cryptocurrency market, it took a perfect storm of surging inflation, interest rate rises and geopolitical shockwaves to batter belief and trigger a snowball effect: bitcoins constant price drops, for example, trigged more sell offs, so confidence plummeted, leading to more panicked selling. The high level of borrowing by crypto traders to increase the upside of their positions left them facing calls for more funds to support untenable bets. And buyers beware there are no questions about moral hazard let alone a bank of last resort in the wild west of crypto.

NFTs (in case you need reminding), are digital artworks and images, often carved up into bite- sized tokens, that rely on blockchain technology to prove ownership. The explosion in interest and speculation around NFTs and the wider crypto currency craze that heated up during the last decade has now spectacularly imploded over the past six months, with more than $2 trillion wiped out.The burst bubble in digital assets and decentralised finance (DeFi) has attracted acute attention, but also pain for millions of investors given that by mid-2021 more than 16% of the American population had bought into the crypto craze.

While all those consulted for this article took no issue with the underlying robustness of blockchain technology (essentially a digital ledger of transactions that is duplicated and distributed across an entire network of computer systems), its efficacy depends on what use it is put to. And while blockchain and cryptocurrency are two distinctly different technologies, they are inherently linked. Cryptocurrency operates through the blockchain, as it too is a decentralized, digital system but designed for and enabling trading in digital or virtual currencies.

The ethos of cybertarians, as media lawyer and analyst Bill Grantham calls believers in financial markets that are not controlled by centralized organizations or governments, is fundamentally flawed: There is no way to assess the underlying value of these assets, so crowds were relying on the truth of what they were being told. Theres a good reason why the 1933 Securities Act and 1934 Securities Exchange Act remains in place today.

Among the many crypto sceptics is BlackRock founder Larry Fink, who in 2017 quipped that bitcoin just shows you how much demand for money laundering there is in the world, which in turn has trigged the term shitcoin meaning a coin or token with no clear purpose or value, or one used for more nefarious purposes.

Digital asset evangelists such as Silicon Valley tycoon Marc Andreessen, responsible for backing multiple crypto start-ups, famously made a revisionist assertion that every failed idea from the dotcom bubble would work now. The latest bubble economy bust up does not bear Andreessens theory out, as crypto that has been underlying financial constructs, let alone currencies, has fallen like dominoes never to see the digital light again.

For example, so-called stable currencies in the decentralized financial worldhave tanked despite their reassuring moniker. Two of the most popular stablecoins, Tether and USDC, effectively mimic the function of banks: people give them money, and receive stablecoins in return, which can at any point be cashed in again. At least thats the theory. Punters must trust the entity behind thecurrency, confident that it will be kept safe, easy to access and not used to bet on another investment opportunity.

Things can get dodgy even when currencies are constructed to create stability, as with the case of TerraUSD and Luna. Terra had a value pegged at $1, which, in theory, it would not fall below, being kept at that level by its sister coin Luna. If the Terra price went above $1, investors could take Luna coins out of circulation (a practice called burning) in exchange for new TerraUSD coins, which brought the cost back to $1. The price of Luna, as coins becomeit becameincreasingly scarce, was supposed to grow.

However, the system only functions if Luna has any actual value. For a period following its launch in 2019, its price shot up, partly due to an aggressive offer to pay 20% interest on savings held using the currency, taking it to a high of $120 in April 2022. But as the crash kicked in, investors began to take their cash out to cover losses elsewhere and Luna cratered. That set off a death spiral, as people switched Terra into Luna, which hammered the price of Luna. Every redemption round simply witnessed Luna tumbling lower and lower. In just a few weeks, the value of the Luna coin fell to fractions of a dollar. The entire game was up.

Whatever the fate of decentralized crypto currencies, forms of crypto and blockchain technology are here to stay, explains Eswar Prasad, author of The Future of Money: How the Digital Revolution is Transforming Currencies and Finance. The challenge, explains Prasad, is multifaceted but is crying out for sophisticated regulation. The catch is that when an industry clamours for regulation, it typically craves the legitimacy that comes with it while trying to minimize oversight. The biggest risk regulators must guard against? Giving the crypto industry an official imprimatur while subjecting it to light-touch regulation.

Its a perplexing conundrum for filmmakers flirting with the market.Lets be honest theres a good reason why the celebrity-driven crypto and NFT scam market has collapsed, says Oscar-winning writer/producer James Schamus. To paraphrase Matt Damon, Fortune does not favor the gullible, which is maybe why the average NFT sale price has dropped 92% in the past six months. But all that said, there are still potentially legit uses for some of these technologies, including perhaps digital rights management, royalty and residuals tracking, and more. As with any hyper-financialized derivative commodity, there will still be speculators and gamblers and hustlers out to pump up markets for special-price-for-you-certifiably-one-of-a-kind-digital-whatzyhoosies but I wouldnt write off the possible utility of these technologies just yet.

Taking Schamuss cautious upside note a step further, delving into the terrain underlines the strong intersections between NFTs and the video gaming world, rather than directly to live action movies and TV (although animation is a different matter). Theres aclearerutility in video games because purchasing of NFTs is based on an emotionally driven, first-person investment basis, explainsmultimediablogger and digital entrepreneur James K. Wight. The clear message is that you buy because its fun and adds to a sense of completionand a digital communityforthe user. On the other hand, theres nothing that an NFT can do that a great video game cant do better.

Producers have long been drawn to potential new financing and creative goods opportunities, and therein lies part of the problem. Producers are sellers at their core and are desperate to find new and alternative sources of finance, explains Arclight Films CFO Brian Beckmann. So hence they are in danger of believing their own bullshit and therefore other peoples.

However, some canny producers have made it their business to kick the tires and investigate the feeding frenzy first-hand.

Red and Blacks award-winning film producer and games developer John Giwa Amu trekked from Wales to San Francisco to attend the Game Developers Conference earlier this spring. He had already experienced the less than thrilling experience of trying to turn his firstBAFTA- winningfeature,White Little Lies, into an NFT opportunity that was a valuable learning experience, but showed us how brutal that market is

Once you get past the gold rush hype and the 20-something year old [then] millionaires, you realise that this market is very young, has suffered from huge mistakes and has a basic lack of understanding about how finance and risk behave.Onekey takeaway is that IPs in the form of digital canvasses and in-game content etcare a tangible element behind NFTs, but the quality of that creative work really matters,as does how you market it.

High quality filmmakers have been attracted to the opportunities yet have approached the surging sector with enough caution to keep their shirts. Emmy-winning StudioNX, a UK-Canadian animation studio, felt the rush of demand when it launchedGorecats, a horror inspired collection with roadmap to animated series. They dropped1,111 NFTS at $100 per token on Magic Eden via the Solana network and sold out within 45 seconds. Since that heady start, founder Adam Jeffcoat has brought in a financial pay out manager to address the volatility and changing values of both the solana blockchain and the NFT market, never mind some solid financials! I see great potential but the rapid rises and falls left me thinking that I only want a portion of our business involved, not the whole hog. Jeffcoat stresses that the key to long term survival in this space is to be focused on building IP backed by great storytelling, which is far more engaging to both holders and potential buyers.

Scratch the surface of game developers-turned-Web 3.0 entrepreneurs out there and theres a host of creative work underway thats already redefining what the metaverse might offer us all. Developed by Tiny Rebel Games, an award-winning developer of games and Augmented Reality (AR), the Petaverse Network is the first cross-chain platform that has created the next generation of immortal pets across the metaverse. Cool things are possible, says co-founder Susan Cummings. Cats work better as an AR experience than for example dogs: We can get a cat up and running in space and make it interesting. Petaverses creation of virtual pets work across games, AR, VR, wearables and social. Cummings explains that their pets evolve based on the nature of their specific DNA and the nature of their bonding with you a kind of reflexive animal-human dynamic if you like.

A key motivation for Cummings and her partner Lee was the wasteland of virtual pets once adored but forced to be abandoned over the years. Neopets, Tamagotchi, not to mention the 24 million Nintendogs that were bought, loved and then dumped as technology inexorably moved on. We like the idea that everyone can own and take it with them, and that it will still be relevant some 30 years down the line a digital heirloom that you can send to your grandchildren.

By combining gaming, XR and Web 3.0 and housing the project via the Polygon Platform on the Ethereum blockchain, Petaverse has defined an open standard, allowing other projects to connect and build new experiences alongside the virtual pets. This is about creating an open, sharing community benefiting from an easy-to-use transportation system, Cummings stresses. That philosophy is far removed from the winner takes all competition found in Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

But while some smaller shingles find ways to tame and use crypto and NFTs, there is still too much volatility and questions to go mainstream in the entertainment business, until the next big funding thing comes along.

Angus Finneys latest book, The International Film Business: A Market Guide Beyond Hollywood, is available on Amazon.com.

.

More here:
Film Financing Mavens, Banks Flirt With the Wild West World of Cryptocurrency - Variety

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, has completed a plan to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 99%.

The software upgrade, known as the merge, will change how transactions are managed on the ethereum blockchain, a public and decentralised ledger that underpins the cryptocurrency and generates ether tokens, the worlds most popular cryptocurrency after bitcoin.

Vitalik Buterin, ethereums inventor, announced the completion of the plan on Twitter on Thursday morning, tweeting Happy merge all.

The move means that ethereum will no longer be created by an energy intensive process known as mining, where banks of computers generate random numbers that validate transactions on the blockchain and generate new ether tokens as part of the process. The process, known as proof of work in the cryptocurrency world, will now move to a proof of stake system, where individuals and companies act as validators, pledging or staking their own ether as a form of guarantee, to win newly created tokens.

Ethereum mining used up as much electricity as Austria, according to the Digiconomist website, at 72 terawatt-hours a year. Alex de Vries, the economist behind the website, estimates that the merge will reduce the carbon emissions linked to ethereum by more than 99%.

De Vries added that the move could represent 0.2% of the worlds electricity consumption disappearing overnight. However, he said bitcoin remained the biggest single contributor to the crypto worlds carbon footprint.

All eyes will be on bitcoin. It remains the largest polluter in the crypto space. Even today bitcoin is responsible for as much electricity consumption as Sweden. And we know thats not going to change, said De Vries.

Ethereum rose 2% to $1,630 (1,417) after the move, according to website coinmarketcap, valuing the currency at just under $200bn. Bitcoins market cap is worth $387bn, having fallen sharply from its peak of more than $1tn last year.

Carol Alexander, professor of finance at University of Sussex Business School, said the merge was a significant event for the crypto industry

Sign up to Business Today

Get set for the working day we'll point you to the all the business news and analysis you need every morning

The merge is the most important event in blockchain history, she said. In my opinion, today marks the beginning of the end of bitcoins dominance over crypto assets. Ethereum is achieving something that bitcoin never could because bitcoin is a purely speculative asset and its mining network would never agree to drop that source of income.

Alexander added that the ethereum blockchain is a key feature of the web3 world - a catch-all term for the latest iteration of the internet - including its role as a base for non-fungible tokens. It powers the smart contract transactions on Ethereum that underpin web3 and therefore the digital economy today.

View post:
Ethereum cryptocurrency completes move to cut CO2 output by 99% - The Guardian