Bitcoin has experienced a sudden surge in value after several days of plummeting prices.

The worlds leading cryptocurrency climbed $600 (460) in the space of a few hours to returnabove $7,000, having briefly fallen to its lowest level since May.

The price crashes on Friday and Monday came after market uncertainty surrounding developments in China, which saw a renewed crackdown on illegal exchanges in the country.

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Despite the significant dips. some cryptocurrency expertsclaimed that it was the perfect time to invest.

Once again the value of bitcoin has plummeted due to the nature of cryptocurrency, this is not the first, nor will it be the last time this occurs, Peter Wood, CEO of online trading platform CoinBurp, toldThe Independent.

However, new-time investors can be comforted by the fact that its value will most likely rise again, and newcomers to cryptocurrency should see no better opportunity that to invest now.

On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System'

Reuters

On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices

Lazlo Hanyecz

Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin

On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash

REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis

The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed

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In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim

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On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash

REUTERS

Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year

Reuters

On 3 January, 2009, the genesis block of bitcoin appeared. It came less than a year after the pseudonymous creator Satoshi Nakamoto detailed the cryptocurrency in a paper titled 'Bitcoin: A peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System'

Reuters

On 22 May, 2010, the first ever real-world bitcoin transaction took place. Lazlo Hanyecz bought two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins the equivalent of $90 million at today's prices

Lazlo Hanyecz

Bitcoin soon gained notoriety for its use on the dark web. The Silk Road marketplace, established in 2011, was the first of hundreds of sites to offer illegal drugs and services in exchange for bitcoin

On 29 October, 2013, the first ever bitcoin ATM was installed in a coffee shop in Vancouver, Canada. The machine allowed people to exchange bitcoins for cash

REUTERS/Dimitris Michalakis

The world's biggest bitcoin exchange, MtGox, filed for bankruptcy in February 2014 after losing almost 750,000 of its customers bitcoins. At the time, this was around 7 per cent of all bitcoins and the market inevitably crashed

Getty Images

In 2015, Australian police raided the home of Craig Wright after the entrepreneur claimed he was Satoshi Nakamoto. He later rescinded the claim

Getty Images

On 1 August, 2017, an unresolvable dispute within the bitcoin community saw the network split. The fork of bitcoin's underlying blockchain technology spawned a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin cash

REUTERS

Towards the end of 2017, the price of bitcoin surged to almost $20,000. This represented a 1,300 per cent increase from its price at the start of the year

Reuters

The price of bitcoin is notoriously difficult to predict due to its volatility, which has seen it fluctuate between $3,000 and $20,000 over the last two years.

Its current price of $7,300 is more than double the price it was this time last year, yet less than half the price it was in late 2017.

While nobody really knows what direction the value of any cryptocurrency will head in the near future, past trends display a possible large increase within the next 12 months at least, Mr Wood said.

Some of the more optimistic predictions for bitcoin include venture capitalist Tim Drapers forecast that the cryptocurrency will reach $250,000 by 2023, and cyber security pioneer John McAfees bet that it will reach $1 million by the end of 2020.

A more conservative estimate comes cryptocurrency analyst PlanB, who tweeted on Monday: Call me crazy, but it wouldnt surprise me if bitcoin closes 2019 at $10,000... Opportunities like this [for investors] are rare.

Social media is an increasingly important battle ground in elections - and home to many questionable claims pumped out by all sides. If social media sites won't investigate the truth of divisive advertising, we will. Please send any political Facebook advertising you receive todigitaldemocracy@independent.co.uk, and we will catalogue and investigate it.Read more here.

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Bitcoin price suddenly surges amid positive predictions - The Independent

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You may not have thought about Akon since his song 'Lonely' took over the charts a decade ago, but the musician has moved from conquering the charts to building what has been dubbed his very own 'Wakanda.'

Between setting up his own cryptocurrency AKoin and vowing to bring electricity to 600 million people in Africa, Akon has been quietly building his own futuristic city in Senegal named after himself.

He announced the news last June that he was working on building a 100% crypto-based city and building is now officially under way, as he announced on Nick Cannons radio show Power 106 Los Angeles that construction has started. On top of that, its officially been named Akon City.

(Getty Images)

While it may soundlike something out of a supervillains playbook, Akon plans for the city to be renewable with a focus on solar energy. (A statement claims that his charity project Akon Lighting Africa has provided "scaled solar power solutions throughout 18 countries to date in Africa".)

(Hussein Bakri/BAD Consultant/Semer Group)

The same statement also revealed Akon City is intended to be a 100% crypto-based city with AKoin at the center of transactional life,described as a real-life Wakanda.

The singer, who has previously said he would consider running for President of the United States, told Cannon, Its Akon City. Its all renewable, the Akon-tainment solar city.A real physical place, its going to have a real airport.

Its a 10-year building block so were doing it in stages. We started construction in March and stage two is going to be 2025, Akon continued.

The city is based in Senegal and after Cannon hinted that it would take a billionaire to build an entire city, Akon criticised the term. The singer, who also owns two record labels on top of running his charity Akon Lighting Africa, said, I always felt like if you have to label yourself a billionaire, I dont think billionaires even label themselves billionaires. You know, you have no idea. But the crazy part about it though, when I hear stuff like that it makes me sad.

(Hussein Bakri/BAD Consultant/Semer Group)

When I travel, I see so many things that happen - so many people that need assistance and so many things that just need to be resolved - and if you can have a billion dollars sitting in the bank while you have all these people suffering and struggling? Man, its just crazy, he said.

(Getty Images)

Its like a waste of a billion dollars sitting there, literally, Akon continued.

Akon told Cannon that he was in the impact business and added that he wanted to build a legacy." According to a statement about AKoin, the city will be built on 2,000 acres of land gifted to Akon from the President of Senegal and will be a five minute drive to the airport, plus nearby Dakar.

(Hussein Bakri/BAD Consultant/Semer Group)

He also said he hoped that AKoin would take off on an international level, saying that it was the project he was most excited about personally rather than his namesake city. He said, You might just go to vacation and when you transfer your American dollars into their money, you might just be transferring it into AKoins. Thats the goal.

Akon speaking at the Lisbon Web Summit in 2019 (Getty Images)

Page Six reported that at an appearance last June, Akon talked further about cryptocurrency and AKoin. Saying that blockchain and crypto could be the saviour for Africa in many ways, he responded to technical questions about the blockchain with, I come with the concepts and let the geeks figure it out.

According to Arabian Business, Akon also appeared at the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival and criticised other celebrities for what he perceived as badly thought out moves into cryptocurrency.

(Getty Images)

He said, I think a lot of the entertainers went with the wave and also the hype of cryptocurrency, not understanding what it was or what it is and I think a lot of them got caught up into the companies that got eventually folded or were scams.

(Hussein Bakri/BAD Consultant/Semer Group)

Thats just a lack of education in getting into certain things because as an entertainer you find yourself endorsing a lot of products that you dont do due diligence on, he finished.

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Akon has started building Akon City in Senegal with focus on cryptocurrency and renewable energy - Evening Standard

Ethan Lous book, Once a Bitcoin Miner, is forthcoming from ECW Press.

In the wake of the latest B.C. bitcoin scandals, I talked to the executive director of the provincial securities commission, Peter Brady, who warned investors to be careful because, sometimes, there is nothing the regulator can do.

Then I talked to a 62-year-old technology illiterate named Keith who reached out because he needed someone to help him buy bitcoin, face to face. I later learned someone I know had already tried to help him, with little success. If Keith had contacted someone malicious and there are many he could have easily been led into something shady and ended up with no recourse.

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Those two conversations are jarring when juxtaposed and underscore a growing problem, particularly in the West. In just over a month, the B.C. Securities Commission has issued three statements on separate cryptocurrency matters, including an announcement of an active investigation, a departure from usual practice.

Therein lies a quagmire: What do you do when the sector is hard to police, but shady operations are easy to set up and the world is filled with clueless victims? A heavy hand is bad for innovation, but so is lawlessness. And innovation, believe it or not, is something in which Canada had a head start. It would be a travesty to see it eroded by the Wild West.

Cryptocurrency has become its own multibillion-dollar industry and enriched many, and its barely 10 years old. Everyone in it, even the most knowledgeable, had come from somewhere else. It is a land of new beginnings, where anyone can rise high. But that frontier also attracts the uninitiated, seeking fast riches and the snake-oil salesmen and slipshod wildcatters seeking the same.

The scene is particularly rife in the coastal British Columbia, home to the worlds first bitcoin ABM, the first registered cryptocurrency investment firm in the country and numerous listed blockchain companies. The sector has an oversized presence there, with great potential. But that also amplifies the bad actors.

The B.C. commissions first statement warned about two products that used the cryptocurrency name, but resemble a pyramid scheme. Two other statements came on the same day this month, about the trading platforms ezBtc and Einstein Exchange, accused of owing millions to users. Those bring to mind the collapsed QuadrigaCX, also from Vancouver, whose users claim more than $200-million.

There is no solution in sight. There are new rules proposed, but they deal only with exchanges and are crafted by securities regulators with complicated requirements. Observers have questioned whether it is even their business, given bitcoin is widely considered to not be a security. Some say the rules are so onerous, they will chase exchanges away.

Self-regulation has long been talked about. But if there was the will, it would have happened already. Cryptocurrency has a sharp individualistic bent and the community has rarely agreed on anything.

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In that vacuum come bandits and charlatans and the wrong sort of attention that ripples. It affects the programmer who hesitates when considering blockchain work. It affects the bank that refuses accounts to cryptocurrency businesses. It affects the misguided city that considered banning bitcoin ABMs.

Outside cryptocurrency circles, many do not know and inside, many forget that the biggest players in the sector have strong Canadian roots. Ethereums ether, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency, was started by a Torontonian. Binance, the worlds biggest exchange, was founded by a Vancouverite.

Neither has a significant presence in Canada, with Binance never having had any to begin with. That is not directly because of the lawlessness, whose symptoms only recently showed to the wider public. But the resulting disrepute, unnecessary and undeserved, stands in the way of what would keep future Ethereums and Binances in this country.

Canada has all the potential to be the leading hub for cryptocurrency and blockchain, its name invoked in the same way Switzerland is for watches. The powers that have the ability to make it so, to craft permissive policies. But when all they see is scandal and turmoil, they question whether it is worth the trouble.

It may be chicken-and-egg. While exchanges serving Canadians may be tied to the land, cryptocurrency itself is borderless. Do firms flee because there are no permissive policies? Or are there no policies because firms have fled?

Whatever the case, the path to more innovation begins with the disparate parties coming together to pay some serious attention to this space and the cleansing of a temple that, to many outside, has been flushed thick with the scent of thieves.

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It begins in the Wild, Wild West.

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Cryptocurrency policies must combat snake oil without stifling innovation - The Globe and Mail

So far, regulation and cryptocurrency have not made good bedfellows.

Theres a very strong argument within much of the community that KYC has no place in Bitcoin. Moreover, many start-ups are often forced out of business due to the excessive demands of regulators who fail to understand the technology theyre trying to control.

However, if the goal of Bitcoin is to get people to use it, most people grudgingly concede that it has to be subject to regulatory scrutiny.

But can existing bank regulation really be enforced on cryptocurrency start-ups? Will it clip their wings before they can actually get off the ground?

Guidepost Solutions CEO and legal professional Julie Myers Wood gives her take on how regulation should evolve in the space.

I ask Julie about the belief that regulation and cryptocurrency go together like oil and water.

She replies, Money laundering, fraud, and the financing of terrorism are serious crimes that have significant global effects. Any technology that has the capability to be used for these crimes must be regulated in some way to mitigate those risks.

As a lawyer by training who spent the bulk of her career in the United States federal government, its not really surprising that shes an advocate for tighter regulation in the space.

Julie also spent many years focusing on preventing money laundering and illicit activity in the banking system.

After leaving the government, I started my own firm which developed compliance software. Guidepost Solutions acquired my firm in 2012 and I have been there ever since, she says.

My interest in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies comes from my overall interest in technologys ability to solve problems and transform systems. At the same time, given my background, a core part of my interest is ensuring that these tools and use of technology do not empower bad actors.

That said, she believes that there are a lot of ways to regulate emerging technologies while still enjoying the advantages of the new technology.

So how about the upcoming FATF regulation that will likely cripple many new start-ups (especially cryptocurrency exchanges) in the space? What does she think about that?

Regulators are comfortable with the types of regulations that are in place for traditional financial institutions. There are frameworks, terminology, and structures that have been established for a long time, she concedes.

It seems reasonable that the FATF (and probably eventually other similar bodies or government authorities) will turn to something familiar as a way to make sense of a new or emerging technology.

However, Julie maintains that new technologies should be regulated fairly and with a fresh approach.

It is important that regulators recognise that the system built for banks cannot be superimposed onto cryptocurrency start-ups and work on what is reasonable and meaningful in the start-up space.

To that end, she maintains that the US is taking a wise approach by carefully monitoring developments in the crypto space and not regulating too quickly.

While many have criticised the US for lagging behind, she believes that regulators want to better understand the technology before enforcing laws.

Does that mean the world super-power will get left behind in the blockchain race and be outpaced by countries like China? Not in her opinion.

I do not think that the US is going to be left behind in this area. There is space for a lot of players in this area.

In an article for Forbes earlier this year, Julie talked about the importance of cryptocurrency companies preparing for compliance. She argued that hiring a compliance officer was an absolute must even though it will likely be costly for many exchanges.

She explains, Its true that hiring a compliance officer can be a significant expense for small businesses, including start-ups, but the cost of not meeting these compliance obligations is even more expensive. Someone in the organisation needs to take ownership of compliance matters.

With increased regulatory focus in this area, you cant afford not to meet these obligations.

The most difficult part about the upcoming legislation is whats called the Travel Rule issued by FinCEN in the mid-90s. It states that for all transactions over $1,000, cryptocurrency businesses must be able to record and share sensitive information with other financial institutions if necessary.

Isnt tracking every single transaction from $1,000 a little excessive? Why would the FATF set the limit so low for regulation and cryptocurrency?

Julie says, Even though we think of this as an insignificant amount today, a lower threshold guarantees that more transactions will be subject to the rule, and therefore more information will be known and more transparency will be present.

I personally have not encountered any negativity based on my gender for working in the emerging tech space. I have encountered some scepticism about cryptocurrencies generally, but I enjoy working to dispel the rumours and show how compliant cryptocurrencies can be and the importance of addressing risks in this world.

Whatever cryptocurrency businesses decide, they have to realise theyre no longer working in a bubble. As more people become aware of cryptocurrencies and governments look at issuing their own digital coins, one thing is true.

As Julie warns, a new world of crypto compliance is coming, and businesses had better get prepared.

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Existing regulation can not be superimposed on crypto start-ups - Coin Rivet

The use of digital currencies in payment applications continues pushing the global cryptocurrency market today. According to recent reports, the digital currency market will reach USD 1.40 billion by 2024. For an industry that started only in 2009 with the launch of bitcoin, this is a remarkable feat.

More people are ready to invest in cryptocurrencies. For instance, Coinbase, an online cryptocurrency exchange, accepted 11.1 million users in January 2018.

With the increased global interest in cryptocurrencies, alternative coins have also emerged. Top among these is Tron (TRX). While Bitcoin and Ethereum hog most of the limelight in the market, Tron cryptocurrency has started creating waves for several reasons.

The decentralized, open-source digital currency has risen to become one of the Top 15 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization within two years of launch. If you want to invest in cryptocurrency, this is one of the most promising altcoins to consider.

Tron is the brainchild of Justin Sun, who launched the Tron Platform in 2017. The blockchain-based decentralized platform targets content creators and consumers by providing technology for easier, cost-effective sharing of content.

The platform leverages blockchain and peer-to-peer (P2P) network technology to eliminate the middleman in content distribution. It eases access to digital content for consumers and a better deal for content producers. Content makers can now produce content, store, and distribute it on the Tron blockchain for free.

Tron (TRX) comes into play as the currency used on the Tron platform. Consumers use these tokens to pay for content online. Content producers receive their collections directly to their accounts. The fact that Tron targets the entertainment industry makes it one of the most viable assets in cryptocurrency.

Justin Sun and the Tron Foundation have generated a lot of interest in their product through new technologies and innovations. Such developments have seen the price of TRX going up, allowing early investors to cash in and make money. Tron has already surpassed the technical breakout level, and the only way to go from here is up.

It is easy to buy Tron on a cryptocurrency exchange such as Binance and storing it in a secure wallet. This is the most popular way for people getting into the crypto market. You can buy the coins and later sell when the price rises.

The coin has grown steadily with some weeks witnessing a 2000% appreciation of its value. Trons market capitalization today stands at $954,953,030, making it one of the biggest cryptocurrencies.

In November 2019, the announcement by Justin Sun that he had invested in the Poloniex Exchange saw the prices of Tron (TRX) rise once again. Such price surges are common with every new development that touches on Tron.

Why should you invest in Tron currency? It is easy and straightforward to buy tokens on Binance and trade them when prices rise. The huge appreciation in value guarantees a good return, and this is the right time to invest.

By targeting the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry, Tron (TRX) has a solid vision for growth. The Tron platform and Tron (TRX) meet an urgent need in the industry. It is one reason for the continued popularity of the coin.

The Tron blockchain and Tron (TRX) are game-changers in the cryptocurrency industry. Tron cryptocurrency has witnessed rapid growth against a backdrop of continued innovation from the development team. The phenomenal surge in value and a solid vision makes Tron (TRX) the ideal investment in cryptocurrency today.

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Looking To Invest In Cryptocurrency? Tron Is the Best Crypto to Day Trade - CryptoNewsZ

Historically, U.S. tax law has allowed a taxpayer to exchange one investment property for another and defer the income tax consequences of that exchange so long as both the relinquished property and the acquired property are sufficiently similaralong with several other requirements. This type of tax-deferred exchange is referred to as a Like-Kind or Section 1031 Exchange. Without this Like-Kind Exchange treatment, a taxpayer would owe income tax on the increase in value of the relinquished property at the time it was exchanged for the acquired property.

Real estate, artwork, aircrafts, and coin collections, held for business or investment purposes, are examples of types of property that have qualified for Like-Kind Exchange treatment.

The IRSs 2014 income tax guidance on cryptocurrencies (or what the IRS refers to as virtual currencies) indicated that the exchange of a cryptocurrency for other property would trigger a capital gain or loss, as applicable, at the time of exchange. The guidance clearly covered the use of cryptocurrencies to pay for goods. Commentators questioned, however, whether Like-Kind Exchange treatment was possible when one cryptocurrency was exchanged for another cryptocurrency if the cryptocurrencies involved were sufficiently similar.

This question was answered somewhat when the recently enacted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act restricted Like-Kind Exchange treatment to only real estate exchanges beginning in 2018 going forward. But the question remained open for pre-2018 exchanges of cryptocurrencies.

On November 15, 2019, Christopher Wrobel, special counsel to the IRS associate chief counsel stated, [f]or pre-2018 years, we would not say necessarily that cryptocurrency is automatically not eligible for 1031 treatment. He went on to say that, like any other asset, exchanges of cryptocurrency would be evaluated under section 1031 on a case-by-case basis. Youd have to look at the individual transaction level to make a determination under 1031.

These statements are welcome news for U.S. taxpayers with potential income tax liabilities on exchanges of cryptocurrencies before 2018, particularly in light of the IRSs recent announcement that it had begun sending letters to taxpayers who may have failed to properly report income and pay any tax associated with cryptocurrency.

U.S. taxpayers who engaged in cryptocurrency exchanges should consider whether Like-Kind Exchange treatment is available for their pre-2018 transactions.

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IRS Official Confirms that Pre-2018 Exchanges of One Cryptocurrency for Another May Be Eligible for Like-Kind Exchange, Income Tax Deferral Treatment...