TheNorthwest Arkansas Council, a nonprofit organization, is offering remote tech professionals and entrepreneurs $10,000 in bitcoin to move to the region.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, is currently trading at around $42,893, according to Coin Metrics.

Why bitcoin? "Northwest Arkansas is experiencing explosive growth in the tech sector, specifically within blockchain-enabled technologies, and this incentive embraces the growing trend of cryptocurrency as a payment option by employers," its website reads.

The incentive is part of the NWA Council's "Life Works Here" campaign,which is funded by the Walton Family Foundation. When it first launched in 2020, the NWA Council initially offered $10,000 cash as an incentive program.It recently decided to add the option for remote workers to accept the amount in bitcoin instead, although they can still choose cash if they prefer.

"While we've had overwhelming interest in the initial incentive program, we're continuing to seek out unique and in-demand talent in the STEAM and blockchain professions," the website says.

In order to be eligible, applicants must relocate to Northwest Arkansas, which includes Washington and Benton counties, within six months of acceptance to the program and sign a one-year lease or buy a home.

Applicants also must be at least 24 years old, have at least two years of work experience, currently live outside of the state of Arkansas and be a U.S. citizen or have the credentials required to work legally in the U.S., according to the program's website.

In addition to the money, the NWA Council is also offering to gift remote workers a bicycle, highlighting the region's mountain biking trails, or a free membership to local theaters and museums.

So far, over 35,000 people have applied from more than 115 countries and 50 states, the NWA Council says.

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Don't miss: This 22-year-old earns $200,000 per year in Tulsa, Oklahomaand saves around $11,000 a month

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Arkansas is offering remote tech workers $10,000 in bitcoin to move to there - CNBC

By Katherine Greifeld and Vildana Hajric

To cryptocurrency true believers, Bitcoin is the ultimate store of value, the most solid hedge against the rampant inflation manufactured by reckless central banks and their money-printing. To skeptics, the crypto world as a whole is a mirage whose massive run-up past $2 trillion was simply the speculative byproduct of the extraordinary amount of easy cash thats been sloshing around in the global economy in effect, a big bubble.

Both of those theories are about to face their biggest test yet.

Crypto exploded after March 2020, when the Federal Reserve and Congress unleashed trillions of dollars worth of stimulus to blunt the pandemics economic blow. A bunch of that cash made its way to digital assets, turbocharging prices. Bitcoin soared 305 per cent in 2020 and notched another 60 per cent the following year, topping out at a record of almost $69,000 in early November. Since then, though, its been on a relentless slide, weighed down in large part by the central banks hawkish pivot. Now, with odds rising that policy makers will commence a series of rate hikes as soon as March just one of several steps theyre set to take in removing liquidity it remains to be seen if the crypto ecosystem can hold up without it.

Its not looking good so far: Bitcoin is already down some 40 per cent from its highs, while No. 2 coin Ether and other altcoins have also suffered steep declines.

If theyre going to hike rates three times in 2022 and keep the program, and the era of low rates is over, were going to really see how much people believed in their Bitcoin-crypto thesis, said Stephane Ouellette, chief executive and co-founder of crypto platform FRNT Financial Inc. I would expect that the Fed getting more and more hawkish is very bad for valuations.

For most of its 13-year history, Bitcoin has enjoyed an environment of easy monetary policy and zero or negative rates. While there is no straight through-line from the Feds coffers to Bitcoin buy-orders on exchanges, there is a connection, according to David Tawil, president of ProChain Capital, a crypto hedge fund. For one, the Fed buying any type of asset can have ripple effects and lift prices of other investments. All the buying power, all the investable power that exists has to go somewhere, he said by phone.

Second, with rates at rock-bottom lows, investors have been forced to scour the market for higher-yielding opportunities and many turned to crypto given its ability to post outsize gains. Think of a junk-bond investor who was accustomed to high-single-digit returns even on bad days, said Tawil. Hes going to be forced to put money into something riskier, but, more importantly, something that yields something hes used to getting.

So what happens when financial conditions become tighter? The initial move is the opposite of what happened when they put the money in everythings going to go and swing the other way, until it settles down, Tawil said. Thats why you have this immediate reaction in the market because everyones anticipating that the money is going to leave the riskier stuff.

The last time the U.S. central bank raised rates was in December 2018, its final increase in a series of hikes. Back then, Bitcoin was trading at about $3,700 and concepts such as decentralized finance and non-fungible tokens were years away from entering the vernacular. It turned out to be a rough year for the original cryptocurrency, particularly toward the end, when Bitcoin lost more than 40 per cent during the last two months a period that also coincided with a walloping in U.S. stocks.

That dynamic is playing out again now, with Bitcoin falling in step with richly-valued equities ahead of an expected new round of Fed tightening, says Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group and editor of The Boock Report.

For now, its proving to be just a risk-on/risk-off asset, he said. I expect it to trade with other risk assets in response to Fed tightening. Boockvar compared the digital coin to Cathie Woods ARK Innovation ETF, which is seen as the ultimate risk asset and which has also proven highly sensitive to Fed tightening as investors start to pay more attention to valuations.

Bitcoin, though, remains a supreme shape-shifter. It has represented many things to many people for more than a decade now and its (often contradictory) narratives will continue to evolve. After all, its been written off time and again as dead, denounced as rats poison, and castigated as a bubble only to come back stronger each time.

And as institutional adoption increases, Bitcoins future may also become clearer, says Max Gokhman, chief investment officer at AlphaTrAI, which is working on an application of its artificial-intelligence algorithms for the digital-asset space.

We shouldnt discount that in the future Bitcoin use cases may evolve to where it reinvents itself and gains importance anew, he said.

See the article here:
Crypto diehards are about to find out if it really was a bubble - Economic Times

The non-fungible token (NFT), a relatively unknown concept until recently, has now become ubiquitous. Spending on the digital asset jumped to nearly $41 billion at the end of 2021--from just $1 billion in 2020--per a report by blockchain specialist Chainalysis. NFTs transform art, music, and even sports, and provide creators the option to monetise their digital artwork.

Last year, the NFT market saw sales at eye-popping levels. A digital photo collage by South Carolina-based graphic designer Mike Winkelmann, known to the art world as Beeple, for example, sold for $69.3 million, making it one of the biggest NFT sales to date.

The value of NFTs depends on various factors--their scarcity, the demand for the artwork or sometimes even the artist, and the prices of the underlying cryptocurrency used. Many online marketplaces that sell NFTs are powered by a blockchain. Currently, the ethereum blockchain powers the most popular ones. So, if you are looking to buy or sell NFTs through one of the popular marketplaces, you will most likely need ethereum's native cryptocurrency, ether, for the transaction.

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But what is interesting is that while cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile, not all NFTs track the movement of their underlying crypto. For instance, despite the ongoing correction in crypto markets, NFT marketplace OpenSea has recorded $2.3 billion in volume in January so far, on pace to break its monthly volume record if the trend continues.

Discussing last weekends crypto selloff with Yahoo! Finance, Mason Nystrom, senior research analyst at crypto analytics firm Messari explained this anomaly. Despite the volatility of the crypto market, the nature of NFTs may make them independent from the crypto markets, Nystrom said.

"NFTs are a significantly broad category that can include music, art, collectibles, gaming assets, fantasy sports, financial assets, and more. As such, it's possible that NFT commerce in one specific vertical grows while others decline or fluctuate over time," he added. "Going forward it's possible that we'll see a greater decoupling of the crypto markets whereby one asset like art NFTs might perform well amidst the overall crypto market performing poorly or vice versa."

A collector who goes by the pseudonym 'Pranksy' had another theory. "The people who spent many thousands on NFTs aren't going to sell them for 50% off tomorrow, at least not many are. Much like traditional art markets bucking Wall Street trends, I believe many see certain NFTs as a store of value, he told Reuters in May last year after his cryptocurrency portfolio's worth dropped by more than $10 million at some point on one day.

Collectors believe artwork, virtual land and other digital assets represented by NFTs hold value that is distinct from the cryptocurrencies used to buy them.

A study by sciencedirect.com titled 'Is non-fungible token pricing driven by cryptocurrencies?' suggests there is a low spillover between cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

The study used the dataset of the two largest cryptocurrency markets, Bitcoin and Ether, with the raw data obtained from coinmarketcap.com and the NFT data taken from secondary markets trades: Decentraland LAND tokens, CryptoPunk images, and Axie Infinity game characters, and Individual trade data sourced from nonfungible.com.

The results from the study show that when it comes to volatility in the cryptocurrency market, the spillover effect to NFT markets is lower, suggesting the NFT and the cryptocurrency market are distinct from each other and do not necessarily affect each other in a meaningful way.

NonFungible.com co-founder Gauthier Zuppinger told Reuters in May that the NFT market was increasingly de-correlated with the crypto market. Crypto-rich investors could even see NFTs as less risky than cryptocurrencies "because they are backed by the use-case," Zuppinger pointed out.

(Edited by : Vijay Anand)

First Published:Jan 14, 2022, 04:06 PM IST

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Do cryptocurrency prices affect the value of NFTs? Let us find out - CNBCTV18

As you attempt to strike it rich in the digital gold rush, make sure you know how to recognize various schemes that want to part you from your digital coins

The world seems to have gone crypto-mad. Digital currencies like bitcoin, Monero, Ethereum and Dogecoin are all over the internet. Their soaring value promises big wins for investors (before the coins prices plunge, that is). And the fortunes to be made by mining for virtual money have echoes of gold rushes in the 1800s. Or at least, thats what many, including a long list of scammers, will have you believe.

In reality, if youre interested in cryptocurrency today, youre quite possibly at a major risk for fraud. This is the new Wild West a lawless, unregulated world where bad actors often have the upper hand. But normal rules for fraud prevention apply here too. Everything you read online should be carefully scrutinized and fact-checked. Dont believe the hype and youll stand a great chance of staying safe.

Fraudsters are past masters at using current events and buzzy trends to trick their victims. And they dont come much more zeitgeist-y than cryptocurrency. Media stories and social media posts are partly to blame, creating a feedback loop that only adds to the hysteria over virtual currencies. The result? Between October 2020 and May 2021, Americans lost an estimated $80m (71m) to thousands of cryptocurrency scams, according to the FTC. In the UK, the figure is even higher: police claim that victims lost over 146m (172m) in the first nine months of 2021.

Why are scams on the rise? Because:

If you have virtual money safely stored in a cryptocurrency exchange, it may be at risk from hackers. On numerous occasions threat actors have successfully managed to extract funds from these businesses, sometimes making off with hundreds of millions. However, usually the breached companies will promise to recompense their blameless customers. Unfortunately, there are no such assurances for the victims of cryptocurrency fraud. Fall for a scam and you may be out-of-pocket for a lot of money.

It pays to understand what these scams look like. Here are some of the most common:

This is a type of investment scam where victims are tricked into investing in a non-existent company or a get rich quick scheme, which in fact is doing nothing but lining the pocket of the fraudster. Cryptocurrency is ideal for this as fraudsters are always inventing new, unspecified cutting edge technology to attract investors and generate larger virtual profits. Falsifying the data is easy when the currency is virtual anyway.

Scammers encourage investors to buy shares in little-known cryptocurrency companies, based on false information. The share price subsequently rises and the fraudster sells their own shares, making a tidy profit and leaving the victim with worthless stocks.

Scammers hijack celebrity social media accounts or create fake ones, and encourage followers to invest in fake schemes like the ones above. In one ploy, some $2m was lost to scammers who even name-dropped Elon Musk into a Bitcoin address in order to make the ruse more trustworthy.

Fraudsters send emails or post social media messages promising access to virtual cash stored in cryptocurrency exchanges. The only catch is the user must usually pay a small fee first. The exchange doesnt exist and their money is lost forever.

Cybercriminals spoof legitimate cryptocurrency apps and upload them to app stores. If you install one it could steal your personal and financial details or implant malware on your device. Others may trick users into paying for non-existent services, or try to steal logins for your cryptocurrency wallet.

Sometimes the scammers even manage to fool journalists, who republish fake information. This happened on two occasions when legitimate news sites wrote stories about big-name retailers preparing to accept certain cryptocurrencies. The fake press releases that these stories were based on were part of pump-and-dump schemes designed to make the fraudsters shares in the mentioned currencies more valuable.

Phishing is one of the most popular ways fraudsters operate. Emails, texts and social media messages are spoofed to appear as if sent from a legitimate, trusted source. Sometimes that source for example, a credit card provider, bank or government officialrequests payment for something in cryptocurrency. Theyll try to hurry you into acting without thinking.

The best weapon to fight fraud is incredulity. Unfortunately, we live in an age when not everything we read online is true. And quite a lot of it is explicitly crafted to trick and harm us. With that in mind, try the following to avoid getting scammed:

The world may have gone cryptocurrency-crazy. But you dont need to join in. Keep a cool head and ride out the hype.

The rest is here:
Cryptocurrency scams: What to know and how to protect yourself - We Live Security

N26, a German online neobank, has announced it will get into the cryptocurrency trading business this year. The announcement was made by Max Tayenthal, co-founder and a CEO of the company, who pondered whether focusing on cryptocurrency instead of going global may have been a better idea. The company closed operations in the U.K. and is now exiting the U.S.

N26, a German online bank, has announced it will roll out cryptocurrency trading services for its customers this year. The co-founder of the bank, and one of its current CEOs, Max Tayenthal, made the recent announcement expressing the need to be a universal platform. Tayenthal also talked about oversights the bank may have made in ignoring cryptocurrencies last year.

The executive told Financial Times:

Should we have built trading and crypto instead of launching in the US? In hindsight, it might have been a smart idea.

N26, a bank with more than 7 million customers as of January 2021, made the decision to expand to the U.K. and U.S. before launching these services. However, they have already exited the U.K. last year, and are currently closing operations in the U.S. Tayenthal stated this has to do with a policy shift after he noticed the bank was spreading too thinly, and that there were so many things to do instead of putting flags in new markets.

While the bank has been successful, being valued at 7.8 billion (~$8.8 billion) last year, it has been facing regulatory pressure from Bafin, the German fintech regulator. According to the institution, the company had troubles with AML compliance.

This is why the German regulator put a cap on the number of customers N26 could admit each month. Currently, only 50K customers can sign in to enjoy the capabilities and services that the company offers. Bafin assigned two representatives to track the progress of the company and report. Tayenthal was confident that N26 could work with regulators to lift this cap that is affecting the growth of the company. The company signed-on an average of 170,000 customers per month last year before the cap was enforced. Regarding this, Tayenthal declared:

We have a plan. We have an understanding of what needs to be done and we are able to execute [it].

Bitcoin.com News has further reported recently that other traditional banks could also offer cryptocurrency services for their customers starting this year.

What do you think about N26s move to include cryptocurrency trading in the services it offers? Tell us in the comments section below.

Sergio is a cryptocurrency journalist based in Venezuela. He describes himself as late to the game, entering the cryptosphere when the price rise happened during December 2017. Having a computer engineering background, living in Venezuela, and being impacted by the cryptocurrency boom at a social level, he offers a different point of view about crypto success and how it helps the unbanked and underserved.

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.

Near Foundation Raises $150 Million to Bolster Web3 Adoption

On Thursday, the Near Foundation announced the project has raised $150 million from strategic investors such as Three-Arrows Capital, a16z, Mechanism Capital, Dragonfly Capital, and Circle Ventures. Following the announcement, the Near protocols native crypto asset jumped more than 7% ... read more.

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German Online Bank N26 to Launch Cryptocurrency Trading Business This Year Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News

Over the past 24 hours, Ethereum Classics (CRYPTO: ETC) price rose 5.94% to $32.28. This continues its positive trend over the past week where it has experienced a 5.0% gain, moving from $30.62 to its current price. As it stands right now, the coins all-time high is $167.09.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Ethereum Classic over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are bollinger bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

Ethereum Classics trading volume has climbed 15.0% over the past week along with the circulating supply of the coin, which has increased 0.16%. This brings the circulating supply to 132.29 million, which makes up an estimated 62.78% of its max supply of 210.70 million. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for ETC is #42 at 4.26 billion.

If you are interested in purchasing Ethereum Classic and want to know the best cryptocurrency exchanges, follow this link to Benzinga Money.

Do you want to learn more about trading and be able to analyze your own portfolio of stocks or cryptocurrencies? Consider signing up for Benzinga Pro. Benzinga Pro gives you up-to-date news and analytics to empower your investing and trading strategy. You can follow the link here to visit.

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Cryptocurrency Ethereum Classic's Price Increased More Than 5% Within 24 hours - Benzinga - Benzinga

To withdraw cryptocurrency from your Crypto.com Exchange wallet you must first be at Starter level or higher.

Visit crypto.com/exchange and select the Log In button (upper right-hand corner).

After you have logged in to your account, click Balance (upper right-hand corner).

Find your cryptocurrency to withdraw and select Withdraw.

There are two ways to withdraw cryptocurrency from the Exchange:

OR

5. If you are withdrawing to an external address (and not your Crypto.com App), you will first need to add a withdrawal address by selecting Add Withdrawal Address.

6. Adding a new wallet address will need the following:

a. Ensure the currency selected is the right currency you are withdrawing to. You will only see relevant addresses when you decide to withdraw CRP (i.e. if you add a BTC wallet address and are withdrawing CRO, you will not see the BTC address)b. Add a Label for the addressc. Input your Google verification code d. Select Save Address

7. Select the withdrawal address in the drop-down list and review the amount you want to withdraw.

8. Select Review Withdrawal once you are ready.

9. Review Withdraw details. The amount you receive will be the amount after the withdrawal fee has been deducted, where applicable.

10. Select Confirm Withdrawal. Withdrawals to external wallets can take up to 2 hours to process.

For more information on withdrawals from the Exchange, please visit: Deposits and Withdrawals on the Exchange.

Originally posted here:
How to withdraw cryptocurrency from my Crypto.com Exchange ...

What sectors of the crypto market should you consider starting off the year with a $1,000 ... [+] investment.

The cryptocurrency market never sleeps. Yes, its even open at midnight on New Years Eve. So lets pretend you got a $1,000 to invest and you want to up game in the wonderful and crazy world of crypto. Maybe you feel youve got enough Bitcoin to sink a battleship and need to diversify. Where do you go?

Investing in cryptocurrency projects today is a lot like picking stocks. Bitcoin is one thing. But there are the big blockchain protocols, led by Ethereum, and the newcomers who want to compete with Ethereum on price and transaction time. Then there are the hot sectors of 2020-21, like decentralized finance projects best known as DeFi. (But you all know that, right?). In 2021, it was the NFT market.

Once referred to simply as altcoins cryptocurrencies are spread out across a diversity of specialty sectors. Where do you put your grand, if you had just one sector to pick?

(Of course, there is no such thing quite yet as cryptocurrency sector funds I think I may have just invented them. But, here are some sectors and a pick or two by those in the market.)

Ava Labs President John Wu likes the Ethereum killers going into the new year. Why wouldnt he? Ava Labs is behind one of them Avalanche (AVAX), a blockchain platform for private and public blockchains that allows for building and launching decentralized applications and smart assets.

Ethereum 2.0 might have been a gamechanger two years ago, but this new generation of Layer 1s has beaten it to the punch, Wu says. Total Value Locked on chains like Avalanche is growing rapidly, leaping from a few hundred million in mid-Summer to over $10 billion by December as users are priced out of Ethereum. The assets that are migrating to these blockchains are staying there, because established blue chip apps and new entrants native to these chains are offering more opportunity for users.

On December 31, 2020, AVAX was priced at around $3.17. It was $112.69 on Monday.

With the sheer number of Ethereum killers launching, competition is fierce for the longest-running smart contract-enabled blockchain. Whether ETH can come out on top again this year depends heavily on whether developers continue building on the platform, or move to the likes of Solana (SOL) and Polkadot (DOT), to name a few.

One thing this year has taught me about crypto is that it is fast-moving into the world of make-believe. If you thought cryptocurrency had one foot in the world of science fiction, then when you hear of things like NFTs and the Metaverse, your bias is fully realized. This is becoming some Caprica-level, out-of-this-world life style investing few veterans on Wall Street can even understand fully.

NFTs have been producing some interesting use-cases for blockchain technology, and the asset class will likely experience more growth in the coming year, maturing further as the year progresses, thinks Jack Tao, CEO of Phemex, a Singapore-based global crypto-derivatives exchange founded in 2019 by a team of ex-Morgan Stanley traders. Phemex competes with the likes of Coinbase.

For Tao, NFT spin-off industries in the GameFi sector have all created new use-cases for NFTs (think fake sword and new armor to fight the bad guys or the good guys whichever side youre fighting for). He says the metaverse narrative now a mainstream word thanks to the company formerly known as Facebook has fueled concepts like proof of ownership of digital assets.

In GameFi, look for the Play-2-Earn model, says Tao. It has been quite successful, creating in-game tokenomies for distributed players to earn profits. Next year, I expect to see more balanced forms of these platforms that have learned from the inadequacies of existing offerings.

Tao did not mention any particular companies.

Clearly, its not an easy task to choose just one sector to start off the year. Cryptocurrency is a gamble anyway. Its like do you go to the roulette table and bet on 0 double 00 or No. 7?

If I had $1000 of free money, I would most likely give it away for carbon offsetting, says Ilya Volkov, CEO, co-founder of YouHodler, Board Member the CryptoValley Association in Switzerland. (Oooh, is that a plug for Cardano (ADA) !?)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady began peddling crypto this year, mainly NFTs. (AP ... [+] Photo/Zach Bolinger)

The beauty of the crypto market is that we have so many options. Im a big fan of the Barbell Strategy. Put the majority of your capital in safe, risk-free assets. Put the remaining capital towards risky, but potentially highly profitable investments. So, having a Barbell Strategy in mind and excluding traditional finance from the experiment, I would invest in the classics Bitcoin and Ethereum, says Volkov. The rest would go to play with NFTs, Metaverse related projects; any new fancy coin and new promising blockchain protocols, he says.

Bitcoin has become storage of value for both retail and professional investors. Its been around forever. Its the cryptocurrency everyone trusts.

But the big gains are coming from the altcoins.

Theyre definitely more volatile, riskier, and speculative, says Sergey Ivanov, the CEO of Cryptology Exchange. The exchange is not open to those residing in the U.S.. Those coins will need to really prove their value to investors. This was a great year for GameFi. I think 2022 may become the year for DAOs, he says about tokens like Uniswap (UNI) and Aave (AAVE). DAO stands for decentralized autonomous organization. These are blockchain-based organizations often governed by a native crypto token. More and more people are choosing decentralization as a theme, Ivanov says, expecting that will remain a key power-point presentation for all crypto in 2022.

So it looks like the Ethereum killers, GameFi, any NFT play that is dependent mostly on blockchain-based games, and perhaps even DAOs. That last one by Ivanov would be a surprise.

The good news: no one says this is going to be a bad year for crypto.

Few people would have predicted the renaissance of NFTs or Tom Brady wearing laser eyes a year ago, says Wu from Ava Labs. This is a market that changes in days, not years. A year ago, Bitcoin at $100,000 would have been an audacious goal. Now, everyones thinking bigger. Bitcoin is almost an afterthought.

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Where To Put $1000 In Your Cryptocurrency Portfolio On New Year's Day - Forbes

The rising number of cases of the Covid omicron variant in the U.S. are a major catalyst for the falling cryptocurrency prices in December, according to investors and analysts.

Ethereum is up more than 400% in 2021 but on pace for its worst month since March 2020 as investors reassess their exposure to riskier assets following the emergence of the omicron variant.

Bitcoin is on pace to double the S&P 500, and ripple is more than 200% higher year to date, but both are also down double digits this month.

"With omicron coming along and the U.S. economy stalling a bit, a lot of macro funds that use bitcoin as this pro-cyclical inflation hedge have decided to take profits throughout December," Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of digital currency investment firm BKCM, told CNBC.

ESG or environmental, social and governance investing and concerns over energy use have also been a catalyst in recent crypto declines, according to Lou Kerner, partner at Blockchain Coinvestors.

"Today 'proof of work' from the [cryptocurrency] mining machines is looked upon negatively by a lot of the investment community because of the energy it consumes," Kerner told CNBC. "But if you dig deep, much of the energy is energy that couldn't be used for anything else. Relative to the massive value we are getting from it, the energy I think will become much less of a concern next year."

Stocks that hold or mine cryptocurrency saw deeper declines than the assets themselves in December. MicroStrategy is down 21% this month, while Riot Blockchain has fallen 38%. Marathon Digital declined 31%. The coins and stocks are closely correlated in the minds of investors, something Kerner sees changing.

"We are on the cusp of a deep understanding by institutional investors of the different companies and what they actually do and the economics of the businesses," Kerner said. "It's still hard for most investors to wrap their head around mining. It's a small part of the market, so you don't have a lot of institutional investors devoting massive amounts of time to it. It's easier for them to just look at it like a basket."

Kelly said he is bullish on bitcoin and believes it could hit $100,000 by the end of 2022 but that the emergence of the metaverse is pulling investor interest.

"You'll see a lot of other coins, whether they be in the metaverse, gaming or decentralized finance do really well," Kelly said. "The venture capitalists, new money and funds like mine are focused on those early growth opportunities."

Excerpt from:
Cryptocurrency prices fall in December, and investors blame omicron, climate change - CNBC

It's been a record year for the cryptocurrency market, which surpassed $3 trillion in value in November. Top cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether also hit all-time highs.

This mainstream adoption led to an increasedfocus oncryptocurrency regulation from lawmakers. Throughout the year, they debated framework on investor protections, taxes and more. Because of this, further regulation is likely to come.

If you were among the many trading cryptocurrency or other digital assets this past year, here are three things to do now to prepare, starting with how to get ready for the upcoming tax season.

Cryptocurrency investors must report their taxable transactions involving bitcoin, ether, dogecoin and other digital coins to the federal government on their 2021 tax returns.

If that's you, start by calculating your profits or losses. Although this can be difficult if you have multiple wallets and use different exchanges, as is common, it's up to you to sort everything out yourself. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires investors to keep records "sufficient to establish thepositions taken on tax returns,"according to its website.

Prioritizing good record keeping is crucial. Though it depends on your personal factors, it's best to keep your cryptocurrency transaction history for at least three years, says Shehan Chandrasekera, certified public accountant and head of tax strategy at cryptocurrency portfolio tracker and tax calculator CoinTracker.

Going forward, you may also want to use a reputable cryptocurrency and portfolio management software tool which tracks transactions, calculates gains and losses and stores proof.

This is a way investors can "accurately build their tax profile and prove to the IRS their actual tax liability," Chandrasekera previously told CNBC Make It.

Additionally, it may be helpful to work with a CPA who can help guide you through the reporting process and help you plan for the future, especially with the growing possibility of more cryptocurrency regulation.

Throughout the past year, there's been a heightened focus on cryptocurrency regulation. Though it's impossible to predict what will be instated, it's good to be aware of what's being discussed by lawmakers.

In the Build Back Better Act, policymakers propose imposing "wash sale" rules on commodities, currencies and digital assets in 2022. If passed, this would prevent cryptocurrency investors from immediately buying back the same asset after selling at a loss.

And the bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law in November includes tax reporting provisions that apply to digital assets like cryptocurrency and nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, and will require cryptocurrency brokers to report cryptocurrency gains in a type of 1099 form.

However, the provisions will not take effect until January 2024, and in the meantime, lobbyists within the cryptocurrency industry plan topush for amendmentsandstandalone billsto adjust them.

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Don't miss: Millennials and Gen Z to spend thousands on crypto, NFTs and metaverse land as holiday gifts

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More cryptocurrency regulation is likelyhere are 3 ways to prepare now - CNBC