Daily Archives: August 2, 2022

Bitcoin maximalists believe that Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, is the only digital asset that will be needed in the future.

In 2017, a year when every single altcoin was either dead or dying and everyone had lost their minds over ICOs (initial coin offerings) a new kind of fundraising mechanism for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Cardano, Stellar Lumens, etc. the word "maximalism" came into vogue as an insult against those who were trying to build up blockchain-based projects on top of existing blockchains.

It wasn't long before some people started using it to describe any project built upon another one, especially if they wanted to have more control over how things work. This might explain why many call Libra, Facebooks upcoming stablecoin, the first real Maximalist Project. But what does this mean exactly, and why has there been such a backlash towards it? What makes something become a maximalist project?

Maximalism can be defined both as a philosophy and a method of building software systems. It usually involves breaking down large tasks into smaller ones while keeping everything else consistent with each other. For example, instead of creating your own payment system, you could use PayPal, Venmo, AliPay, etc., all of them being different forks of Paypal but still compatible with it. If you're running a website, you don't need to write the code yourself, just buy hosting space somewhere. You can choose between multiple providers, but make sure they keep compatibility with each other. In general, anything thats not broken should stay broken. That said, maximalism isn't about doing nothing at all. Some people advocate the idea of starting small and growing big later on, perhaps by incorporating more users gradually. Others simply want to do whatever they feel like without worrying too much about other peoples opinions, even if it means sacrificing functionality. The latter group often refers to themselves as Bitcoiners since they hold strong beliefs in decentralization and freedom of choice. They also tend to think that others shouldn't be able to dictate rules of the game unless theyre willing to pay a price for it.

This attitude is best exemplified by Andreas M. Antonopoulos, better known as Mr. Money Mustache, who runs his own blog where he shares stories of personal finance triumphs along with advice on how to live frugally and save money. He once wrote an essay called Why I am a Bitcoiner, outlining the reasons behind his support for decentralized currencies. One reason stood out because it reflected the mentality of Bitcoin maximalists:

I'm a maximalist because no matter what happens, bitcoin is here forever... And I'll tell you why: Because nobody knows how it works. No government agency controls it. No powerful programmer sits around making decisions on what goes on in its core protocol. Nobody gets rich off the back-end fees. There is no central authority that says we've got to change our designs now 'cause someone wants us to.' Bitcoin doesn't care about any of that. That's very important.

So far, the term "bitcoin maximalism" seems synonymous with libertarian ideals. However, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, it actually comes from Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin, who used it to refer to himself. Also be sure to signup for free bitcoin cashback rewards.

So is Mr. Money Mustache really a bitcoiner then? Not quite. Although he believes that Bitcoin needs to remain true to itself and never compromise, he thinks it would serve society well if governments eventually get involved in regulating the industry. In fact, he writes three times on his blog that he supports the regulation of crypto trading platforms. Moreover, he acknowledges that many people consider him a traitor because of this position. Nevertheless, he stands firm that Bitcoin should be free, private, open source, and permissionless. He may not agree with certain regulations, but he feels strongly enough about these principles that he calls himself a realistic idealist.

Bitcoiners generally disagree with this sentiment, believing that a multitude of assets beyond bitcoins exist today. While this may sound strange coming from libertarians, it's worth noting that many economists subscribe to Austrian School economics, which promotes market efficiency through competition among competing firms. Therefore, they argue that although commodities like gold exist, fiat currency is the only truly valuable thing in the economy.

One prominent proponent of this school of thought is Nouriel Roubini, professor emeritus at New York University Stern School of Business, former senior advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, author of books Crisis Economics and Global Financial Meltdown, founder of Roubini Macro Associates LLC, and host of CNBC show Street Smart. On Twitter, he describes himself as a realistic optimist. When asked whether Bitcoin will die soon, he replies: No, but it wont survive long.

To understand why he holds such views, lets take a look at a few tweets from his timeline.

Heres one from February 2018 titled How did Blockstream manage to destroy Bitcoin? And heres another from April 2019. Titled Crypto Mania Is Coming To An End, the tweet claims that Bitcoin will eventually crash due to various factors, including increased adoption rates, increased supply, speculative bubbles, and rising interest costs.

Many experts say that Roubini has good intentions to help educate the public about financial matters, but his extreme positions sometimes cause confusion. After all, many people find his statements hard to digest given his background as a respected economist. So what gives? Why does he seem so adamant about supporting Bitcoin despite numerous criticisms against it? There are several explanations. First of all, like anyone who builds products based on technology, Roubini recognizes that Bitcoins underlying design may fail someday. Instead of throwing away the baby with the bathwater, he prefers to fix problems early rather than wait until they grow worse. Second, he tries to avoid getting emotionally attached to specific technologies because human emotions aren't rational. Since Bitcoin is currently experiencing rapid growth, he must see its potential in order to justify investing time and resources in research. Lastly, he thinks that people should focus less on short-term gains and start focusing more on long-term value creation. With this mindset, regardless of how Bitcoin performs right now, he believes that it will continue gaining traction in years to come. Good recordkeeping and cryptocurrency accounting will also help you along the way.

As stated earlier, not everyone agrees with Roubinis viewpoint. Many claim that he takes overly pessimistic stances and fails to acknowledge promising advancements made in areas such as privacy, scalability, speed, security, and governance. Furthermore, proponents point out that unlike traditional currencies backed by physical commodity reserves, Bitcoin cannot easily be printed overnight via fractional reserve lending. Even though this practice allows banks to inflate liabilities, it ultimately leads to the devaluation of the currency. Thus, Bitcoin is infinitely scarce and cannot lose value quickly or dramatically. Finally, Bitcoiners assert that it took decades for legacy institutions to create systemic risk following the Great Depression and the 2008 global recession. Given that Bitcoin has existed for roughly 10 years already, it's unlikely that regulators will ever try to ban it.

While many view Roubini as a hero or a villain depending on whom you ask, theres no denying that he has helped shape mainstream conversations surrounding monetary policies and emerging technological trends. His predictions have proven accurate in some cases, e.g., during the last global financial crisis. At the same time, his arguments havent always resonated with people across ideological boundaries.

Perhaps one day, Bitcoiners will finally realize that Roubini is not infallible. Perhaps theyll embrace his message that we should treat cryptocurrencies rationally and cautiously, considering all possible outcomes. Or maybe Bitcoiners will decide that the way forward lies in abandoning radical ideologies altogether and embracing gradual progress with the rest of society. Whatever path Bitcoiners choose next, history tells us they wont go gently into that good night.

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.

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The Only Cryptocurrency: What is Maximalism in Bitcoin? - Bitrates

At its best, crypto taxes are easier said than done, especially as the ecosystem and use cases evolve. Four years ago, decentralized finance was barely a thing. Now, seasoned DeFi traders are moving their assets from Layer 1 to Layer 2 protocols, liquid staking, yield farming, moving assets between different blockchains, and more. The DeFi ecosystem has about $68 billion in total value locked.

Those who are holding and dollar cost averaging as they add to their portfolios during periods of volatility arent free from ridicule or non-fungible token collectorsespecially the latter. It is extremely difficult to price NFTs accurately.

Every single transaction has accounting and tax implications. Do you know how hard it is to track cost basis across hundreds, if not thousands, of daily transactions? And thats on the individual level. Ive seen organizations that make millions of transactions per month.

If we think about the current crypto winter in which we find ourselves, where prices can fluctuate 10% or more in a given day, well, lets just say that Im getting a headache typing out all the variables that must be accounted for during tax season. The good news is that with a little preparation and understanding of the basics, we can do better. Lets show our accountants a little love by making their lives easier next tax season.

Here are five crypto tax best practices to have your accountant singing your praises:

Sorry folks, but you cant ignore recordkeeping on the blockchain. Many people think of the blockchain as this all-seeing, self-documenting technology. And in some respects, it is. But blockchains arent like bank statements that clearly record detailed information such as vendor and payee, or, in some cases, a short description of the sold item.

In practice, blockchains are essentially a permanent record of letters and numbers that can be examined through a block explorer like Etherscan, but the information isnt people-friendly.

Copying and pasting this information blindly into a spreadsheet and emailing it to your accountant is like asking them to solve a Da Vinci Code-style mystery.

Using multiple exchanges introduces unnecessary complications for your accountant come tax season. The more pricing sources youre pulling from, the bigger the headache for your accountant. This is for two reasons. First, every exchange outputs its data in a different format, which increases the likelihood of errors when your accountant combines CSVs. Second, this is an incredibly time-consuming, manual task that increases your billable hours. Its a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.

Good wallet hygiene is essential for sophisticated traders and regular folks alike because it helps accountants understand transactions from a workflow perspective as they process them.

Although it might seem that holding all your digital assets in one location is best, thats not necessarily true. Always keep transaction-specific walletssuch as investments, DeFi transactions, and revenueand use a consistent naming system. If you are a miner, keep a separate wallet to hold mining rewards. If you make NFTs, keep a separate wallet for secondary royalties, and so on.

With tracking activity between and across disparate exchanges, blockchains, and wallets, and then accurately reporting those activities to your accountant, accounting can turn complicated very quickly. Talking to your accountant early and often can help mitigate this and ensure you both are always aligned.

Were all familiar with the saying, The only certainties in life are death and taxes. But thats not really the case with crypto taxes until we finally get clarity from regulators.

My final piece of advice would be to eliminate as much uncertainty in this process as possible by using software to automate and streamline as many of these processes as you can. Fortunately, there are many solutions that integrate directly with digital wallets and accounting softwareyou just have to find the solution that works best for you.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law and Bloomberg Tax, or its owners.

Pat White is the CEO and co-founder of Bitwave, a software platform that provides cryptocurrency accounting, tax tracking, bookkeeping, DeFi ROI monitoring, and crypto AR/AP services for enterprise businesses.

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Five Cryptocurrency Tax Tips That Will Make Your Accountant Sing - Bloomberg Tax

LAS VEGAS, Aug. 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Asia Broadband Inc. (OTC: AABB) (AABB or the Company) is pleased to announce that the Company has retained a cryptocurrency, blockchain and cybersecurity expert to enhance the architecture, functionality and management of the AABB Exchange to expedite the achievement of operational milestones. The extensive project management experience specific to blockchain platforms and networks now added to the Companys digital asset development group is expected to enhance the Exchange operations significantly. Several analysis and assessment reports have already been completed to facilitate the plan and execution of Exchange efficiencies and advancements.

We are elated with the progress that our Exchange group has realized already by the additional expertise and leadership now in place. Our Exchange operations are advancing rapidly to achieve our core objectives of a robust, efficient and user-focused Exchange with premier security for our users and token holders, asserted Chris Torres, AABB President and CEO.

In conjunction with the Exchange developments, the Company recently launched a preliminary advertisement campaign for the AABBG gold-backed token and the AABB Exchange at the Los Angeles Airport (LAX). The Company has plans to expand this marketing and advertising program as the Exchange enhancements roll-out.

Through the AABBG token and AABB Exchange, the Company embraces a pioneering philosophy with its truly unique Mine-to-Token vertical integration operational approach that strives toward complete independence from FIAT currency.

About Asia Broadband

Asia Broadband Inc. (OTC: AABB) is a resource company focused on the production, supply and sale of precious and base metals, primarily to Asian markets. The Company utilizes its specific geographic expertise, experience and extensive industry contacts to facilitate its innovative distribution process from the production and supply of precious and base metals in Mexico to client sales networks in Asia. This vertical integration approach to sales transactions is the unique strength of AABB that differentiates the Company and creates distinctive value for shareholders. Additionally, the Company has added a digital assets business segment and released its AABBG freshly minted mine-to-token gold-backed cryptocurrency within its AABB Wallet and a proprietary digital exchange AABBExchange. AABB expects its token to become a world-wide standard of exchange that is stable, secured and trusted with gold backing, while having the added benefit of demand based price appreciation. These are unique and outstanding qualities relative to other cryptocurrencies.

Contact the Company at:

Forward-Looking Statementsare contained in this press release within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the Asia Broadband Inc.s (the Company) expected current beliefs about the Companys business, which are subject to uncertainty and change. The operations and results of the Company could materially differ from what is expressed or implied by the statements made above when industry, regulatory, market and competitive circumstances change. Further information about these risks can be found in the annual and quarterly disclosures the Company has published on the OTC Markets website. The Company is under no obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements as future circumstances, events and information may change.

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Asia Broadband Adds Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Expert to Development Team to Accelerate AABB Exchange Operations - GlobeNewswire

Litecoin's LTC/USD price has decreased 3.05% over the past 24 hours to $57.38. This is contrary to the coins performance over the past week where it has experienced an up-trend of 9.0%, moving from $52.7 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Litecoin 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.

The trading volume for the coin has increased 19.0% over the past week while the overall circulating supply of the coin has increased 0.2% to over 70.85 million which makes up an estimated 84.35% of its max supply, which is 84.00 million. The current market cap ranking for LTC is #22 at $4.09 billion.

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Cryptocurrency Litecoin Decreases More Than 3% Within 24 hours - Benzinga

U.S. crypto firm Nomad has been hit by a $190 million theft, blockchain researchers said on Tuesday, the latest such heist to hit the digital asset sector this year. Nomad said in a tweet that it was aware of the incident and was currently investigating, without giving further details or the value of the theft.

Crypto analytics firm PeckShield told Reuters $190 million worth of users cryptocurrencies were stolen, including ether and the stablecoin USDC. Other blockchain researchers put the figure at over $150 million. San Francisco-based Nomad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company, which last week raised $22 million from investors including major U.S. exchange Coinbase Global, makes software that connects different blockchains the digital ledgers that underpin most cryptocurrencies.

The heist targeted Nomads bridge a tool which allows users to transfer tokens between blockchains.

Blockchain bridges have increasingly become the target of thefts, which have long plagued the crypto sector. Over $1 billion has been stolen from bridges so far in 2022, according to London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic.

In June, U.S. crypto firm Harmony said that thieves stole around $100 million worth of tokens from its Horizon bridge product.

In March, hackers stole around $615 million worth of cryptocurrency from Ronin Bridge, used to transfer crypto in and out of the game Axie Infinity. The United States linked North Korean hackers to the theft.

Nomad described itself as security-first business which would keep users funds safe.

PeckShield said that a small proportion of the coins were moved to a so-called mixer, which masks the trail of crypto transactions, while around $95 million was held in three other wallets.

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US cryptocurrency firm Nomad hit by $190 million theft - The Financial Express

Chainlink's LINK/USD price has decreased 5.55% over the past 24 hours to $7.16. This is contrary to the coins performance over the past week where it has experienced an up-trend of 14.0%, moving from $6.24 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Chainlink 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.

The trading volume for the coin has increased 28.0% over the past week while the overall circulating supply of the coin has increased 0.24% to over 467.10 million which makes up an estimated 46.71% of its max supply, which is 1.00 billion. The current market cap ranking for LINK is #26 at $3.35 billion.

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This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

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Cryptocurrency Chainlink Down More Than 5% Within 24 hours - Benzinga

Two years ago, cryptocurrency was all the rage, as companies quickly jumped into digital currency, and celebrities from rapper Jim Jones to actress Reese Witherspoon touted the financial technology and their currencies.

Since then, things have changed. From May until now, more than $700 billion has been lost as the value of cryptocurrency has fallen. Making matters worse those losses have been disproportionately felt by Black investors.

Black Americans embraced cryptocurrency as a way to work around the U.S. banking system and its regulations, which have discriminated against and marginalized them for generations. However, a lack of oversight has allowed many users to be taken advantage of.

But as MSNBC reports, things didnt have to be this way. Since cryptocurrency became mainstream, there have been opportunities to have meaningful conversations about the future of digital currencies. However, celebrities and those in the entertainment industry quieted those voices to push their products.

Now that cryptocurrency has fallen to the bottom, this is the time for those meaningful conversations. Digital currency is not going away and the technology used to keep track of transactions, known as blockchain, is designed to work best in the Metaverse, which is still largely in development.

True financial literacy and learning the ins and outs of cryptocurrency as both creators and consumers are paramount to avoiding another billion-dollar loss. Teaching those interested in financial technology will not only protect users, but it can create opportunities for experts to make money from sharing financial technology and how to avoid becoming victims of another crash.

Digital currencies, like cryptocurrency and NFTs, are the foundation of the economy of the future, but if we dont learn the basics and how to use them effectively, it will have the same effect as payday loans and other credit rip-offs taking advantage of those in the most need.

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Celebrities and Banking Industry Pushed Cryptocurrency Market To Its Collapse, Now is the Time to Truly Learn - Black Enterprise

Most of the coins faced a correction period on the last day of the week.

Despite the slight decline, the rate of Bitcoin (BTC) has risen by 5.19% over the last 7 days.

BTC/USD chart by TradingView

On the weekly chart, Bitcoin (BTC) looks bullish as the rate stays above the $23,000 mark. If bulls can hold the initiative, one can expect a continued rise to the $25,000 zone on the first days of the upcoming month.

Such a scenario is relevant until mid-August. Bitcoin is trading at $23,710 at press time.

Ethereum (ETH) has gained even more than Bitcoin (BTC) as the rate has grown by almost 8%.

ETH/USD chart by TradingView

Ethereum (ETH) has continued the rise after the false breakout of the mirror level at $1,476. In this case, the more likely scenario is a test of the $1,900-$2,000 area within the next days. Ethereum is trading at $1,711 at press time.

XRP is showing the same growth as Ethereum (ETH), rising by 8%.

XRP/USD chart by TradingView

XRP is trading near its resistance level at $0.3893 on the weekly chart. If the candle closes above this mark, there is a high possibility to see a sharp upward move to the $0.40 zone soon.

XRP is trading at $0.3895 at press time.

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Can the cryptocurrency market remain bullish on the first days of August? - FXStreet

Over the past 24 hours, Flow's FLOW/USD price has fallen 3.95% to $1.9. This is opposite to its positive trend over the past week where it has experienced a 23.0% gain, moving from $1.57 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for Flow 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.

Flow's trading volume has climbed 194.0% over the past week along with the circulating supply of the coin, which has increased 0.23%. This brings the circulating supply to 1.04 billion. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for FLOW is #37 at $1.97 billion.

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Cryptocurrency Flow Decreases More Than 3% Within 24 hours - Benzinga

The Central Bank of Uruguay has issued a summons to Binance, one of the biggest exchanges in the world, due to the series of crypto-based savings products they are offering in the country. These savings products, according to the bank, can only be made through verified banking institutions or by companies that issue equity in the national stock market. Uruguay still has no cryptocurrency-specific regulation.

Cryptocurrency savings products are in the spotlight of several regulators of countries all over the world. The Central Bank of Uruguay has these in its sights, and it has recently issued a summons to Binance due to its product portfolio in the country. According to the institution, Binance is offering these as savings-focused alternatives, without any kind of registration or authorization from regulators.

The institution clarified that:

The call to the general public for the application of their savings can only be done through financial intermediation institutions authorized to collect deposits in the market or as an issuer registered in the stock market registry.

Furthermore, the Central Bank of Uruguay called Binance to stop advertising these investment products as a savings-focused activity.

The cryptocurrency exchange took no time in answering this communication, and according to Bloomberg Linea, is already having conversations about the issue with the Central Bank of Uruguay. The company has the possibility of issuing a defense and explaining its point of view regarding the investment products.

Binance Uruguay stated that they are focused on compliance issues, appreciating regulation as the only way in which this industry can expand and reach a mainstream audience. Binance also declared:

Binance reinforces that it is leading the way globally in the development of the crypto and blockchain ecosystem, working collaboratively with regulators, legislators, governments, and law enforcement authorities to ensure the most secure environment.

This incident might start a debate about cryptocurrency assets, that has been separated from the issue due to the relative lack of popularity of crypto in the country when compared to others in Latam, like Venezuela, Argentina, and Colombia. In fact, there is still no cryptocurrency-specific law in Uruguay. Last year, the Central Bank of Uruguay issued a roadmap announcing crypto-related activities with the objective of getting a cryptocurrency bill passed in the future.

What do you think about Binance and its savings-focused product portfolio in Uruguay? 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.

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Central Bank of Uruguay Issues Summons to Binance Due to Its Savings Focused Cryptocurrency Products Regulation Bitcoin News - Bitcoin News