Bitcoin Pullback; Uber’s Bitcoin Ransom Allegation

Get Forbes’ top crypto and blockchain stories delivered to your inbox every week for the latest news on bitcoin, other major cryptocurrencies and adoption of company blockchain.

CRYPTO MARKETS

Bitcoin rose to a peak of nearly $ 12,500 Monday morning, the highest since June 2019, and remained above $ 12,000 for a 24-hour period 7% withdrawal Tuesday and Wednesday. Marouane Garcon, executive of Cryptocurrency, expects the decline to be a “short break”, adding that “we are absolutely in a bull market. ”

Former CEO of Prudential Securities George Ball changed his rather skeptical tone on bitcoin, recommend that investors buy it now, “Before the fuse is illuminated.” Other major cryptocurrencies trailed bitcoin this week, and Chainlink drops more than 25% from its peak last weekend.

ALLEGED UBER COVER-UP

Joseph Sullivan, Uber
UBER
the former chief security officer, was accused of obstruction of justice for an attempted coverage of a massive security breach of 2016, the Department of Justice announced Thursday. Instead of reporting the hack, which compromised personal information for approximately 57 million Uber users and drivers, Uber all paid the hackers with $ 100,000 worth of bitcoin while Sullivan mishandled the Federal Trade Commission investigation.

CAN BITCOIN SUED?

In the civil action filed in connection with the IRS seizure of bitcoin owned by terrorist groups last week, the said suspects are not individuals or companies; instead was the lawsuit filed against 155 bitcoin accounts. In rem jurisdiction as such simply in cases of forgery of assets and has in the past been applied to civilian clothing containing dinosaur bands, shark meat and a red Lamborghini, but it remains unclear whether the same rules apply to an intangible asset like bitcoin.

TAX TIPS

De IRS has released a draft of Form 1040 that filers will have to fill out next year, and the question was whether individuals bought or sold cryptocurrencies moved to a more prominent position, signaling that the IRS is still getting serious and ready to take action on reporting cryptocurrency.

you can mitigate your tax obligations by taking advantage of low rates of long-term capital gains, rolling over gains in opportunity zones or donating some of them. But it is important to do careful planning before donating cryptocurrency holdings to maximize the benefit.

BITCOIN GLOBALIZATION

Hip-hop star Akon is ready to start building a futuristic cryptocurrency-themed cityIn Senegal after claiming to have secured $ 4 billion from investors. Built on land donated by the government, Akon City will exclusively use a new digital currency Akoin. Phase 1 of construction is expected to be completed by 2023, and plans for Phase 2 run from 2024 to 2029.

Africa is a continent that is often ignored by traditional financial services where crypto-enthusiasts are optimistic digital assets have a chance to flourish. Yellow card in bitcoin buying bitcoin buys $ 1.5 million in a seed financing round that included heavyweights such as Polychain and Andreessen Horowitz. CEO Chris Maurice predicts “crypto will go mainstream in Africa long for another part of the world. ”

ELSEWHERE

In a world where central banks issue digital currencies, bitcoin and Libra can find a place [CNBC]

Bitcoin has lost its way: here’s how to go back to Cverso’s subversive roots [CoinDesk]

$ 50 billion worth of cryptocurrencies moved out of China in the past year [Bloomberg]