Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

Even before the price of bitcoin hit a record $64,863 in April, many were wondering whether they should invest in the cryptocurrency. It had already quadrupled in value in 2020 before surging 98% in the first three months of this year, solidifying its position as the worlds top performing asset over the past 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods.

But bitcoin isnt the only cryptocurrency to watch. Heres what to look out for as the decentralization revolution picks up steam.

Video Transcript:

Bitcoin. Litecoin. Uniswap.

Polygon. Chainlink.

Ethereum. Tether. Stellar.

These are just a fraction of the more than 10,000* cryptocurrencies that have been created since bitcoin was launched in 2009.

All make use of blockchain technology a method of recording information that is almost impossible to hack.

Data is stored as a chain of individual blocks rather than in one big database controlled by a single entity.

Its a more transparent, secure and democratic way to store and control information

...and its leading to what some are calling a decentralization revolution.

Cryptocurrencies underpin many major uses of blockchain technology

and new ones continue to be added.

So which ones should we watch ?

One way is to focus not on individual assets but on some of the buckets they fall into:

Store of value

Web 3.0

Decentralized Finance

non-fungible tokens

and stablecoins.

Lets look at the first three:

Bitcoin is the best-known digital store of value.

Dubbed digital gold like the precious metal, it is mined

limited in supply

not controlled by governments

and may be used as a hedge against inflation.

Next up is Web 3.0 a platform run on the same blockchain technology that underpins bitcoin

but with some key advancements to its functionality.

The most well-known is Ethereum a generally programmable blockchain network that allows for more complex functions than bitcoin and the name of the asset that trades on it which has the second largest market cap after bitcoin.

And finally, we come to Decentralized Finance, or DeFi a group of protocols that run primarily on the Ethereum blockchain.

DeFi aims to replicate traditional financial functions with blockchain technology but without the involvement of an intermediary or third-party such as a bank or brokerage.

These are just the start of the revolution.

As each new development comes to market more rapidly blockchain will soon be the foundation that underpins investing the internet and ever more aspects of life.

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Video: Why Bitcoin isn't the Only Cryptocurrency to Watch - Financial Advisor IQ

The cryptocurrency Crypto.com Coin, known as CRO, has been growing in value.

One CRO token is now worth around $0.45 after reaching a record high of $0.51 earlier on Monday.

The coin has more than doubled in value since the start of the month.

Here is everything you need to know about it, including predictions for the future.

CRO was launched by the Hong Kong-based payment and cryptocurrency platform company Crypto.com.

It is an intermediary currency which allows cryptocurrencies to be converted into their fiat counterparts at a heavily reduced cost.

The platform has a transaction time of less than one second, and promises to support 50,000 transactions per second.

It is currently the worlds 22nd largest cryptocurrency, with a market cap of over $11 billion.

The Crypto.com company says CRO is part of its vision of putting cryptocurrency in every wallet.

Some bullish experts have predicted CROs value to rise past $1 in the relatively near future.

Analyst Ardarsh Singh says: CRO price has formed a strong bullish engulfing pattern in the daily chart which can push the price to a new high. If the coin price jumps above $0.55 then a strong rally in the future can be seen.

People invest at their own risk and cryptocurrencies are not regulated by British financial authorities.

All crypto investments are risky, but meme coins like Shiba Inu are particularly volatile, and you should be prepared to lose everything you invest.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warned in January: Investing in cryptoassets, or investments and lending linked to them, generally involves taking very high risks with investors money.

If consumers invest in these types of product, they should be prepared to lose all their money.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown previously explained the risks to i.

She said: On top of being extremely volatile, most cryptocurrencies are unregulated, which not only adds another layer of uncertainty but also means that investors have little or no protection against fraud.

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CRO Coin price: How much the Crypto.com currency is worth and what experts predict will happen to its value - iNews

Shares of Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. tumbled 27% after the cryptocurrency mining company disclosed that it received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to a partnership for a Montana data facility.

In a quarterly filing, Marathon acknowledged the subpoena asking it to produce documents and communications concerning the facility in Hardin, Montana, a venture formed with Beowulf Energy in October 2020. The SEC may be investigating whether there were violations of securities law, the Las Vegas-based company said. The firm also announced plans to sell $500 million in convertible securities.

Its never good news for the SEC following up," said Chris Brendler, an analyst at DA Davidson & Co. who has a buy rating on the shares. Worst case, its a fine. Nothing materially changes about the business."

The SECs query follows roughly one year after Marathon reached a deal with Beowulf Energy, aimed at developinga Bitcoin mining operation with low energy costs. Marathon would co-locate its Bitcoin mining data center at Big Horn Data Hub, which is described as 20 acres of land adjacent to Beowulfs Hardin generating station. Beowulf would provide power from its Hardin plant to the Data Center and received stock as a result of its venture with Marathon.

A company representative declined to comment beyond the filing via email. Marathon is cooperating with the SEC, the filing said.

Marathon fell $20.52 to $55.40. The shares had closed at a record high on Nov. 9, and are still up more than fivefold this year.

The private offering of the five-year notes would be to so-called qualified institutional investors. Proceeds are to be used to buy additional Bitcoin and mining equipment to process cryptocurrency transactions. Investors will have the right to convert the notes to common stock in certain circumstances and during specified periods.

Marathon isnt the first to sell convertible bonds to buy more Bitcoin. Enterprise software maker MicroStrategy Inc. started acquiring debt to buy Bitcoin since mid-2020, including convertible bonds, linking its stock even closer to the worlds largest cryptocurrency.

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Crypto miner marathon to sell $500 million of bonds to buy more Bitcoin - Mint

When Elon Musk tweets, cryptocurrency investors pay attention. The Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO has long been a vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies.

Sometimes, though, cryptocurrency investors might pay too much attention to Musk. As a case in point, when Musk tweets pictures of his Shiba Inu puppy, the price of digital coin Shiba Inu (CRYPTO:SHIB) tends to rise. Does a photo of a billionaire's dog really make the cryptocurrency more valuable? Of course not.

Here are the only cryptocurrencies Mush actually owns -- and Shiba Inu isn't one of them.

Image source: Getty Images.

Back in 2017, rumors circulated that Musk was actually the real person behind Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC). Musk denied those rumors. However, he's certainly been a big fan of Bitcoin for quite a while.

The billionaire said in an ARK Invest podcast in early 2019, "Paper money is going away. Crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper, that's for sure." He especially lauded Bitcoin, stating that the technology behind it is "quite brilliant."

Earlier this year, Tesla announced that it bought $1.5 billion of Bitcoin. It even began accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for its electric cars. That lasted only a couple of months, though, due to concerns about the energy consumption required to mine Bitcoin. Musk later said that Tesla will likely resume accepting the cryptocurrency.

For a long time, Musk had only a small position in Bitcoin. As recently as early 2019, he said that he owned just 0.25 Bitcoins that were given to him by a friend. However, he confirmed over the summer that Bitcoin is his largest cryptocurrency holding and plans to hold it for the long term.

Musk has practically become the public face ofDogecoin (CRYPTO:DOGE). His ties to the cryptocurrency date back at least three years. In 2018, Musk reached out to Dogecoin creator Jackson Palmer for help removing scam bots from his Twitter account.

The following year, Musk revealed in a tweet, "Dogecoin might be my favorite cryptocurrency. It's pretty cool." He even won the vote in an April Fool's Day poll taken by Dogecoin's official Twitter account asking which CEO would hypothetically be the best CEO for the digital coin. Musk would later temporarily change his Twitter profile to read "former CEO of Dogecoin."

By 2020, Musk began tweeting every now and then about Dogecoin. Each tweet caused the price of the digital coin to jump. The biggest publicity, though, came in May of this year when the Tesla leader hosted Saturday Night Live. Musk publicly proclaimed himself "the Dogefather" on the show. However, Dogecoin plunged when in one of the SNL segments he said that the cryptocurrency was "a hustle."

Still, Musk confirmed over the summer that he personally owns Dogecoin. He said that he supports it because it feels "like the people's crypto."

Musk's first public connection withEthereum (CRYPTO:ETH) wasn't a positive one. The scam for which he requested help from Dogecoin's creator related to Twitter users who posed as well-known people supposedly giving away large amounts of Ether tokens.

His one-word tweet in April 2019 stating only "Ethereum" stoked interest in the cryptocurrency. It also prompted an online exchange between Musk and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

The following year, though, Musk seemed to be on the fence about Ethereum. He responded to a tweet from actor William Shatner, stating, "I'm not building anything on ethereum. Not for or against it, just don't use it or own any."

Musk now seems to have hopped off that fence. Earlier this year, he disclosed that he owns Ethereum tokens along with Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Will the eccentric billionaire next scoop up the high-flying cryptocurrency named after him -- Elonomics? Stay tuned.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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The Only Cryptocurrencies Elon Musk Owns -- and Shiba Inu Isn't 1 of Them - Motley Fool

How should income from cryptocurrency be taxed as capital gains? 

New Delhi: In India, cryptocurrency is not a valid currency or a legal tender in the conventional sense, which means that you cannot pay with cryptocurrency to buy and sell anything in India. Due to this, there is currently no rules or regulation on the taxation of the income earned from cryptocurrencies. But despite this fact, many Indians have, of late, invested in the new age asset class and have earned handsome returns from the asset class because of the rise in Bitcoin and altcoins.

With investors earning attractive returns from this asset class, there were calls for taxing the income generated from cryptocurrency investments. Several tax experts since then have suggested that people should declare their income from cryptocurrency under the head of "capital gains". But how should the capital gains tax on crypto trading be calculated? This created confusion among taxpayers. Let us take an example and understand how this income will be taxed as capital gains.

Tax experts say, if a cryptocurrency is held as a capital asset, then the profit or loss from it should be reported as capital gains or loss. If this asset is held for more than 36 months then the gains/losses should be classified as long-term capital gains or losses and if sold before three years, then the gains/losses will be treated as short-term capital gains or losses.

In the first case (long term capital gains), gains will be taxed at 20% and on top of that there will be applicable surcharge and cess and in the second case(short-term capital gains), gains will be taxed as per the income tax slab of the taxpayer.

Suppose, you have bought Bitcoins worth Rs 1 lakh on May 1, 2019 and sold them for Rs 1.5 lakh on January 5, 2021. Here, the holding period is less than 36 months, so the gains will be treated as short-term capital gains. So the gains of Rs 50,000 will be added to your taxable income and will be taxed as per your tax slab.

In the above example, if you would have bought the Bitcoin prior to January 5, 2018, then the gains would have been treated as long-term capital gains, and would have been taxed at 20% with indexation benefit. Indexation is a process to adjust buying price of an asset to factor inflation.

Worth mentioning here is that if you have invested in any cryptocurrencies then you must disclose that in your income tax return otherwise there could be penal consequences later on when you sell that asset and realise some gains.

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How should income from cryptocurrency be taxed as capital gains? - Times Now

Just as it does for stock and bond prices, Goldman recently began posting digital asset prices on its Marquee platform for big clients like hedge funds, preparing for a time when the bank might be able to support trading in cryptocurrencies.

In 2019, a unit of JPMorgan called Onyx introduced JPM Coin, a digital currency backed by the dollar that ran on Quorum, an internal technology that mimicked the structure of blockchain. But the bank controlled Quorum, unlike Bitcoins blockchain, which is decentralized. It recently spun off Quorum to a software start-up.

JPMorgan also started an all-digital system that mimics the traditional overnight repo market, where banks exchange short-term U.S. government debt securities for cash. These transactions used to take more than a day to complete hence the overnight label but JPMorgans platform does them in just 15 minutes, reducing risk. It has only three users so far, and two are JPMorgans own businesses. Goldman this year became its first outside participant. If more banks join, JPMorgan could end up controlling one of the most crucial short-term funding markets in the world.

Igor Pejic, an expert on cryptocurrencies, said JPMorgan was one of a few major banks whose experimentation with blockchain the technology underlying digital currency transactions has made them digital pioneers poised to profit in the future from systems theyre testing now because, he said, they are setting up an infrastructure which at the end of the day they control.

But soon after JPM Coin went live, regulators began calling, said a person familiar with the matter who was not authorized to speak publicly. They worried that the movement of the coins around the financial system could cause a buildup of risk because they were tied to the dollar, sparking a panic and leading to the 21st century version of a bank run. The bank had to cut back on the scope of JPM Coins use.

Now, JPM Coin cannot be used to transfer value outside JPMorgans internal systems. Bank customers can use it to move dollars and other assets back and forth inside the bank almost instantly, but it is meaningless in the wider world.

Regulators have also trained their sights on smaller banks trying to build cryptocurrency businesses. In 2018, the New York-based Quontic Bank, with just $1 billion in assets, asked the top U.S. banking regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, for feedback on its plans to launch a debit card program that gave customers rewards denominated in Bitcoin.

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Banks Tried to Kill Crypto and Failed. Now Theyre Embracing It (Slowly). - The New York Times

Protect your cryptocurrency from cybercriminals.

If you've invested in Bitcoin, ether or any other cryptocurrency, here are two truths: Your savings are a target for thieves, and it can be tough to get your funds back if the worst happens.

Crypto exchanges are hacked surprisingly often. One of the biggest heists occurred in August, when cybercriminals stole $610 million in various cryptocurrencies from the Chinese platform Poly Network. The hackers eventually returned the funds.

That's an uncommon case. Mt. Gox, a Japanese exchange, was forced intobankruptcyin 2014 after crooks lifted $450 million in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Losses from crypto hacks, thefts, fraud and misappropriation totaled $681 million in the first seven months of this year, according to areport from crypto intelligence company CipherTrace. If losses continue on pace, they'd total $1.17 billion, though that would be a drop from last year's $1.9 billion.

Even if you store your crypto at one of the well-established exchanges, you might face a slog recovering your funds. After reportedly receiving thousands of customer complaints related to its customer service, Coinbase, one of the most popular exchanges, started a live phone support line in September, which doesn't appear to have pleased some of its unhappy customers.

Coinbase didn't respond to a request for comment butnotes on its website that it carries "crime insurance" protecting a portion of digital assets held across its storage systems against losses from theft, including data breaches.

In addition, the company confirmed Wednesday that it's started testing a new subscription service that will allow customers to buy, sell and convert digital currencies without paying a fee for each trade. Website The Blockreportedearlier that the service also includes features like additional account protection and "prioritized phone support."

Read more: Crypto security can be a pain, but a few safeguards will go a long way

Of course, that won't help if someone hacks your personal wallet -- the software and sometimes hardware used to store crypto -- rather than the exchange itself. No one's in charge of cryptocurrencies, which are decentralized. You might want to complain, but good luck finding someone to listen.

What's worse than having your funds robbed? Watching the money move around on the blockchain, the technology that powers cryptocurrencies by creating a public record of transactions.

"Your stolen funds are right there in plain sight, but there's no way to get them back," said Don Pezet, co-founder of the online IT training company ITProTV. "It's like someone stole your car and parked it right in front of your house."

The best approach, of course, is to make sure your crypto never gets stolen. That means moving as much of it as possible into "cold" wallets that aren't connected to the internet. Secure any funds you leave in "hot" wallets," which are hosted online, as tightly as possible.

Should something bad happen, don't lose hope. Here are some tips from the experts:

If there's anything left in your compromised wallet, transfer it out, Pezet says. Delete the wallet and get a new one.

Any passwords related to your exchange account should be changed as soon as possible, says Andrew Gunn, senior threat intelligence analyst at ZeroFox. Switch email accounts. If you think the device you used to access your account might be compromised, reformat it or, preferably, don't use it anymore.

If your exchange is larger and better known, you're more likely to get some help. Act fast, and your exchange might be able to freeze your funds, depending on what stage the theft is at, Gunn says.

Be aware, however, that many exchanges aren't under much obligation to help. Some exchanges are located in countries with few regulations that cover cryptocurrencies. Some countries don't consider crypto to be an asset, Pezet says, reducing the odds of help from the authorities even further.

It's unlikely a formal report will help in recovering stolen crypto, but it doesn't hurt to have a case number or documentation. You never know if there will be an insurance claim or lawsuit you can be part of. Having evidence you took the theft seriously will help you establish standing if you have to.

In some cases, the FBI and crypto-tracing companies have been able to recover cryptocurrency. For example, in the case of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, the FBI, with the help of tracing experts, was able to recover about $2.3 million of the $4.4 million paid in Bitcoin as ransom. But isn't likely federal authorities would go to those kinds of lengths for the average person.

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What to do if your Bitcoin, ether or other cryptocurrency gets stolen - CNET

After one major Australian bank this week announced it'll give customers the option of trading crypto currencies, such asBitcoin, on its existing banking app, you might have expected others to follow.

However, they have told the ABC they will notat this stage.

While there are many stories of cryptocurrencytraders making a fortune "overnight", it iswidely accepted that it isvery easy to lose money buying and selling cryptocurrencies online.

Warehouse worker Vanna O'Brien, like many younger Australians, did notearn much interest on her bank savings.

However, she hassince turned hundreds of dollars into tens of thousands by investing in cryptocurrencies.

I tipped in $100, hoping that having some skin in the game would help me better understand this brave new financial world.

"I've never had more than $800 my whole life," she said.

"And now I've got $50,000 and it's only been in a few months, so it's just been, like, crazy."

Ms O'Brien used her small amount of savings to buy Ethereum a type of cryptocurrency through the crypto exchange Coin Spot.

The coins grew in value so she decided to take them out and deposit or stake them in a virtual world called Axie Infinity.

It's essentially an online video game developed by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis where users can use and store Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies

And she's earning quite a bit of interest on her coins.

"My coins are like in this bank."

"So the coin's called Axie, and they're paying 130 per cent per annum."

As more younger Australianschoose cryptocurrency investments to fast-track their savings, Australia's largest bank now wants a slice of the pie.

The CBA's head of retail banking, Angus Sullivan, says the bankis now setting up its own pilot platform to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies.

"We see an opportunity but we're not exactly sure how that's going to work out."

"Becoming involved gives us an opportunity to learn more and try different things."

But here's the problem.

Even the boss of Australia's largest digital asset exchange, Caroline Bowler, concedes the industry is largely unregulated, and that there's zero by the way of sound financial advice available to market participants.

"We know from our investor study earlier this year that is something investors in Australia are looking for, so regulation and education will catch up."

"This is why the industry has been pushing for regulation."

For now, though, Mr Sullivan says the bank will simply warn its customers of the financial dangers involved.

"This isn't a regime where the formalised, let's call it capital-A, adviceexits."

A legal framework for cryptocurrency investmentsappears to be in the works.

The industry made hundreds of submission to a Senate Select Committee chaired by Liberal MP Andrew Bragg looking into how to tighten up the industry.

Tax discounts and a new licensing regime are among the key recommendations of a Senate inquiry into regulating cryptocurrency and other digital assets in Australia.

In a statement, TreasurerJosh Frydenberg told the ABC, "The government welcomes the final report of the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre".

"The Government is carefully considering the Committee's recommendations and intends to finalise its response by the end of the year," Mr Frydenberg said.

The banking regulator, APRA, says it is examining the regulatory issues.

And while players in the cryptocurrency industry say they want more regulation, history shows investors respond poorly to new rules.

In November2019, the price of Bitcoin crashed when China accelerated a crackdown on cryptocurrency businesses.

However, Ms Bowler saysregulation will rid the industry of the more "questionable"investments in the crypto market.

"Because here's the thing: We want our investors to do well," she said.

"And there's enough question mark advice that's being given out in the market, so we need that to abate. We need that to go awayand we need regulation to help us do that."

Regulation aside, what exactly is the asset behind or backing a cryptocurrency investment?

Bitcoin and cryptocurrency priceshave surged to dizzying heights since their creation amid the global financial crisis. We explain what's driving this, along with the pros and cons.

Equity Economics lead economist Angela Jackson says cryptocurrencies can have value if someone else is going to accept it.

"But there is no guarantee that is going to occur, and there really is no one backing it up, if you like."

And, if Ms O'Brien's attitude to cryptocurrency investing is anything to go by, the big banks are going to find cracking the market quite a challenge.

"The whole reason why we're doing crypto is decentralisation," Ms O'Brien said.

"We don't want to be part of the banks anymore.We don't want them having all the power."

That may explain why the other big four banks are treading carefully in this space.

The ANZ, NAB and Westpac all told the ABCthey had no plans to follow the Commonwealth Bank's lead.

Editor'snote (05/11/2021: This story incorrectly stated that Bitcoin sank to an all-time low in November 2019. The cryptocurrency was lower in 2018 and at an all-time low when it first started trading in 2010.

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Commonwealth Bank ushers customers into cryptocurrency as industry pushes for regulations - ABC News

Thursday, November 4, 2021

On this episode of Bracewell Sidebar,Anne Termine, a former chief attorney at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, joins hostsMatthew NielsenandPhil Bezansonto talk about cryptocurrency.

In the first part of this two-part episode, Anne provides insight on understanding how cryptocurrencies are created, how they function and what they mean for financial market participants.

Anne joined the firm in June 2021, with over 20 years of experience representing clients in investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation involving commodities, derivatives and more recently, cryptocurrency markets.

The question isnt so much what is cryptocurrency but how cryptocurrency came to be. This is based on the concept of the Internet 3.0, or the decentralization of information. The development of the Internet allowed us to connect with each other in wide and varied ways, but it eventually became centralized by large players. What was supposed to be decentralized access for the world, became privatized. Data is being handled, controlled by a few big players, rather than being freely exchange.

Blockchain, which is the technology underlying cryptocurrencies, is the concept to bring back the original Internet as an open source for all. Blockchain is a technology that allows people to interface, to exchange ideas, transfer and track as assets, without the need to go through a third party. It is an online, shared or distributed ledger that records every transaction on the Internet.

Blockchain is the base layer upon which digital assets exist. Blockchain is an ever-evolving Internet without the use of centralized servers, because everyone who participates in it in a sense is adding to the server power. No one controls it; no one owns it. That's why it's a distributed ledger technology.

That opens the door for decentralized services and markets, one of which is cryptocurrency. As you solve that computational problem, you earn a coin, and that coin is considered to be a cryptocurrency

Thats not a bad way to describe it. If the blockchain and the distribution ledger technology is Internet 3.0, then digital assets of different types of cryptocurrencies can be considered to be Money 2.0.

It is a different way that's fast, easy, cheap and relatively safe to exchange value peer to peer without having to go through a third party. That's where the markets arise, and that is the value within it.

Most of the money in crypto assets today still lies in the buying and selling of the assets themselves. If that's what you're interested in, if you're interested in just exploring and trying to determine whether or not you want to buy this new asset, then you could go to any one of those exchanges.

That's the concept of that distributed ledger as opposed to a bank, for example. If you and I wanted to buy or sell or exchange money in any way, I need to send you money. We would do it through a Venmo or PayPal, or Bank of America through Zelle. And the ledger for that transaction is held by the banks. Whereas here, the ledger is held publicly on that open source network open source network.

The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint of their institutions or clients.

Link:
Cryptocurrency: Creation, Functionality, and the Financial Markets? - The National Law Review

TUNJA, Colombia Nov 4 (Reuters) - A Colombian exporter of long-horned beetles, a popular pet for Japanese children, has created its own cryptocurrency to avoid high commissions on international sales.

"It's an alternative to be able to export the beetles to Japan or any other part of the world and be able to use it as a method of payment," said Carmelo Campos, chief programmer of Tierra Viva, based in the central Andean city of Tunja.

The company exports Hercules, Neptunus and elephant beetle species which can fetch up to $300 a pair in Tokyo. The sales commission can reach as high as 10% of export value, motivating Tierra Viva to create the currency.

The Kmushicoin, named after the long-horned beetle Kabutomushi in Japanese, is accepted as payment by some 220 businesses in Tunja, including restaurants, clothing stores, cafes and hardware shops.

Tierra Viva uses a percentage of all its sales to buy back the coinage, Campos said.

A cashier of a restaurant shows a successfully completed Kmushicoin cryptocurrency transaction on a smartphone to a lunchtime customer, in Tunja, Colombia, October 8, 2021. REUTERS/Luisa Gonzalez

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Kmushicoin was worth 0.30 cents when it was created in 2019. It traded at $1.84 on Tuesday.

"Our objective is to be able to use it as a method of payment at the national level," Campos said, adding an electricity provider has asked whether its customers could pay their bill with Kmushicoin.

The beetles, which can grow to the size of an adult's hand and live up to 17 months, are fed vegetable and fruit scraps as larvae, producing a fertilizer which Tierra Viva also sells.

The beetles have long been favored as pets for Japanese children, as well as good luck amulets.

"In total, including all the stages of metamorphosis, we can have more than 50,000 beetles playing their part in our operations," said Tierra Viva founder German Viasus, as two beetles crawled up his shirt.

Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Richard Chang

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Colombian beetles exported to Japan with help from cryptocurrency - Reuters