5 Recent updates about cryptocurrency and bitcoins

Introduction 

In 2021, Cryptocurrency prices started soaring and reached a new level, with NFTs’ reaching new highs and different types of Cryptocurrencies making their way into the market. As of June 2021, The total number of Bitcoins in circulation was around 18.74 million. As soon as 2022 started, Cryptocurrency  prices faced some turbulence, and the prices dropped. Even the Bitcoins shares faced their due share of issues.

The total number of Bitcoins in circulation as of Jan 2022 was around 18.92 million. The price drop of Cryptocurrency  did not reduce the craze among the masses, and to date, 2045268.8 Bitcoins are yet to be mined. It is just the case of Bitcoins, and there are other Cryptocurrencies in different stages of development. Five recent Cryptocurrency updates are discussed in this article.

1) Digital currency taxation in India and digigtal rupee 

On February 1, 2022, Indian finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the budget for the country addressing the rising use of Cryptocurrencies. As per the statistics, about 20 million Indians have invested in Cryptocurrencies in 2021. The finance minister announced 30% taxation on the profits in all digital assets like Cryptocurrencies to regulate the sector.

You can check out Tanvi Ratna, the founder of policy 4.0 , and her thoughts regarding taxation in an interview with coindesk. She sheds light on the 30% tax and how it will be collected. 

Initially, the Indian government was keen to ban Cryptocurrencies, but now it wants a piece of it. To regulate and treat Cryptocurrencies as assets SEBI is roped in. The Indian government has planned to alter its prevention of money laundering act to make provisions for Cryptocurrency  activity and continuously monitor the risks presented by this digital asset.

Another additional information was the plan to launch the Digital rupee. Like other countries planning to launch their digital currency, India is also on the track to launch its digital rupee in the next financial year to boost the digital economy. Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys, believes the country is doing the right thing by launching Central Bank’s digital currency. He also states that it will propel the nation towards a global standard, and the digital era will make the launch easier.

I think the digital rupee should be anonymous because one of the concerns of your stay is that if all payment transactions are recorded and visible it has other issues of surveillance- Nandan Nilekani 

2) Cryptocurrency an arena for scams

Cryptocurrencies also made headlines due to crypto scams. This fast-paced crypto market has also been an arena for pump and dump schemes. One such major issue happened with celebrities Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather when they promoted EthereumMax.

Kim Kardashian made a post on her Instagram account, and Floyd Mayweather advertised the coin in his wrestling match.Kim Kardashian used #AD, confirming that it is a paid collaboration. Investors claim to have faced severe loss after investing in Ethereummax and have sued both celebrities for spreading false and misleading information and promoting the little-known token.

It is just one type of scam happening in the crypto sector, and there are different types of Cryptocurrency scams to look out for in the ever-changing decentralized crypto sector. It is crucial to be aware of these scams before investing in Cryptocurrencies. Countries across the globe are implementing laws and taxes to regulate this highly volatile sector because of these scams.

3) Legal defense fund for Bitcoin developers 

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Jack Dorsey doesn’t go without mention when it comes to the Bitcoin game, and this time he has proposed the Bitcoin legal defense fund.Jack Dorsey wrote a letter to the Bitcoin developers on the 12th of January 2022 regarding a legal defense fund for protecting open-source developers from lawsuits regarding their activities in the Bitcoin ecosystem. Apart from Jack, the letter was signed by Alex Marcos of chain code labs, and Martin white co-founder of Hudson river trading. In his letter, he has also mentioned the ongoing tulip trading lawsuit.

The fund’s first activities will be taken over coordination of existing defense of tulip trading lawsuit against certain developers alleging breach of fiduciary duty and provide the source of funding for outside counsel ” – Jack Dorsey

You can take a look at the video I have shared from Bitcoin briefing, an upcoming channel dedicated to Bitcoins. In this video, the speaker has presented the actual letter written by jack Dorsey to the Bitcoin manufacturers. As a bonus point, you get to learn more about Bitcoin prices.

3)Bitcoins acceptance and investment in Rio de janerio 

Rio de Janeiro has accepted Bitcoins with a warm hug making it one of the best crypto-friendly Nations. At the Rio innovation week event held on January 13, 2022, Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes announced that the country will invest 1 percent of the treasuries reserves of the country in Cryptocurrency 

We are going to launch crypto Rio and invest 1% of the treasury in Cryptocurrency  ” – Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes.

Pedro Rio, secretary of finance and planning, informed that the city is looking forward to offering a 10% discount on property taxes paid using Bitcoins. After Brazil, the US Beach City Miami is launching its Cryptocurrency  called the Miamicoin. Residents of Miami soon get Miamicoins in their crypto wallets for free.

It was tweeted officially by Francis Suarez mayor of Miami. The decision was made as Cryptocurrency in itself, has generated over 21 million in the past three months, and sums up to one-fifth of the city’s total annual tax revenue of 400 million dollars.

The mayor has decided to make Florida’s capital a new center of digital finance, and the works are in full swing to pay City officials in Cryptocurrency. New York city’s new Mayor-elect Eric Adamsand Miami mayor Francis Suarez announced that they will have their salaries paid in Bitcoins. This acceptance of Bitcoins and other Cryptocurrencies by government officers is a great deal and a brownie point for crypto lovers.

4) Tesla accepting Dogecoin as payment 

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When it comes to accepting Cryptocurrency in institutions, the government is falling back as the private sectors have already started to use them as a mode of payment for merchandise. One such incident is when Tesla CEO Elon Musk decided to accept meme-based digital currency dogecoin as a payment.

 Not just dogecoins, Elon Musk also confirmed that Tesla will resume accepting Bitcoins pretty soon. Further on, Elon Musk also confessed that he made a significant personal investment into Bitcoin. He also owns Ethereum and Dogecoin holdings, along with Tesla’s investments.

I want a little bit more due diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50% and that there is a trend towards increasing that number and if so is Tesla resume accepting Bitcoin – Elon musk.

5)Suspicious actrivity on crypto.com 

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As previously mentioned, the crypto sector is highly Prone to crypto scams. Crypto.com is one of the biggest and most famous Cryptocurrency wallets. On January 16, 2020, it came to a halt when a small number of users reported suspicious activity on their accounts. The company announced that all the funds are reportedly safe at that moment.  

The founder of Dogecoin Billy Markus noticed the suspicious transaction pattern on Etherscan that promoted halting the functions. One of the crypto investors claimed that his account was hacked despite using two-factor authentication, and he lost 4.28 ether, summing up to 15000 dollars. As per the report published by  packshield.Inc, the defaulters have stolen roughly 15 million dollars worth of funds . On further analysis, it is clear that most of the stolen money is laundered through tornado cash.

It clearly shows that blockchain technology is not safe yet. Hackers and rag pull scams can happen anytime in the decentralized sector. In 2021, the losses due to hacks and scams exceeded 10.2 billion dollars. The biggest hack was the poly network hacking which resulted in 613 million dollars being hacked and exploited. The vulnerability between the contact cells was the reason for this breach.

The most recent hacking happened on February 2nd, 2022, on Wormholes token bridge. For your information: A wormhole is a token bridge that permits the users to receive and send Cryptocurrencies like ethers, Salona, and Bitcoins without a centralized exchange as a custodian.This hacking resulted in a loss of Salona tokens worth 322 million dollars. As per the latest news, the hackers have already converted some of the tokens into US dollars. As of 2022, it is one of the largest crypto hacks, creating a loss of 120,000 wrapped Ether. 

Wormhole has also offered10 million dollars to anyone who can return the funds. Hackers have already redeemed 93750 wETH for a whopping 250 million dollars during writing. The problem is resolved, but the shifting focus of Cyber-criminals and hackers towards decentralized finance platforms is concerning.It is a clear-cut example that blockchain technology and Defi systems are not 100% safe. Similar websites like Terra bridge have increased their security by altering their engineering standards to prevent hacks..

Conclusion

The Year 2021 showed the advantages of Cryptocurrencies: the drastic growth, rapid adaptation, and popularity. On the contrary, 2022 showcases the vulnerability and volatility of Cryptocurrencies.The major price drop of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies in January 2022 is a wake-up call.

If you ask me personally, all these incidents provide a clear-cut picture for an investor. It prepares the investor to make well-informed decisions when it comes to investing. Risks of being hacked and sudden price drops are part of the crypto-investment package, and the investors have to be ready to face them. Diversifying your investment portfolio will help to curb losses.