Confusion prevails over method to tax cryptocurrency gains, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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The tax department as well as investors are in a quandary over how to calculate gains on cryptocurrency for taxation purposes, especially since tax laws flounder and conflict against certain regulations and tax is calculated on the value declared by the assessee.

The big question that’s bothering everyone is how are the gains from crypto assets to be calculated? By assuming that cryptocurrencies bought first will be sold first (first in first out/FIFO) or by assuming that the ones bought last were sold first (last in first out/LIFO)?

Take a hypothetical example, if an investor bought one bitcoin in 2017 for $1,000, another in 2018 for $ 13,000. In 2020, of his two bitcoins, he sold one for $7,000.

For taxation purposes, the question is to know which cryptocurrency did he sell — the one purchased in 2017 or the one purchased in 2018.

The difference is that if the “FIFO” method is applied, then the tax will be on the gains of $6,000. And there will be no taxes if LIFO is applied, tax experts said.

“For the purpose of taxation, the FIFO method should be used to account for taxation. But as of today, there is no clarity around this mainly because even the asset class is not defined,” said Amit Maheshwari, tax partner at tax consulting firm AKM Global.

Tax is always levied on gains. That is, sale price minus cost — but due to the nature of cryptocurrencies, ascertaining the cost and the gains have become tricky, tax experts said.

The main problem for taxation is that there is no clarity on what cryptocurrencies are. That is, whether they are currency, asset, commodity or something else. Till that is articulated, investors and traders will be able to get around taxation. The other problem is that tax rates may also differ for someone who is an investor and someone who trades for a living.

“There is no clarity on how to calculate the gains from cryptocurrency and whether it should be traded on a par with capital assets or in case of a trader it should be treated as a stock in trade. Valuation of crypto is also a challenge, particularly on crypto to crypto trades,” said Meyyappan Nagappan, leader, Digital Tax, Nishith Desai Associates.



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Cardano returns 150% in a month to become the third-largest cryptocurrency, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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A little-known digital token tied to the Cardano blockchain has just surpassed other top alt-coins to become the third-largest virtual currency worldwide, as network developers aim to capitalise on the surge in decentralised finance that has swept the world.

Currently, the popular alt-coin traded on cryptocurrency exchanges like CoinSwitch Kuber, Cardano’s native coin, ADA, defied a major price crash warning to rise to an all-time high, surpassing the previous record. For the very first time on Friday, the ADA/USD rate of exchange surpassed $2.56, marking the culmination of a 154.54% price increase that began on July 20. This was achieved despite renowned trader Peter Brandt’s warning of a price fall, which was predicated on a typical bearish pattern known as the head and shoulders pattern.

With the price of the ADA coin soaring by about 50% in only the past week, there is growing confidence that new technological advancements will enable payment systems on Cardano earlier than the previously declared date of September 12. This will allow its network to provide profitable services like DeFi, where Ethereum presently holds a dominant position.

Upgrade set in motion as ADA prepares for DeFi
In anticipation of the planned “Alonzo” upgrade, which is scheduled to be released on September 12, ADA investors are continuing to drive the value of Cardano higher. The Alonzo upgrade will bring smart-contract* functionality to the blockchain, allowing Cardano to establish itself as a legitimate player in the decentralised finance (DeFi) space.

ADA is among the most highly sought-after cryptocurrencies for new traders due to its still-relatively low price and excellent marketing as one of the potential “Ethereum killers.” There is little reason to suspect that Cardano is a favourite of the crypto world, and ADA is among the most highly sought-after cryptocurrencies for new traders due to its still-relatively low price and a promising future.

With Cardano’s ability to handle smart contracts—self-executing agreements among buyers and sellers—the token has gained consistently while Ethereum, Cardano’s core competitor, continues to dominate the growing $100 billion decentralised finance sector.

Recently, the Solana blockchain ecosystem began to take shape with DeFi and NFTs, but despite the fact that Cardano has no actual use cases as of yet, the cryptocurrency’s market capitalization is about 4x the size of Sol’s market capitalization of $20 billion. Cardano has practically risen from the ashes on the backs of speculators and the promise of a fantastic and extremely transparent development team.

*What are Smart Contracts?
Smart contracts, also known as blockchain contracts, are distinguished by the method in which they assure conformity between the two parties involved in the transaction. The immutability of a self-executing contract is one of the most notable characteristics of this type of contract. It implies that once codes, regulations, and even transactions have been written into the blockchain, it is hard to reverse, alter, change, or tamper with them.

Smart contracts, similar to the traditional ones, are contracts between two or more parties that do not require the participation of a third party to monitor or enforce the agreement.

It is completely self-executing!
As part of its operation, the blockchain network preserves a transaction record that is visible, secure, and unchangeable, ensuring that evidence of ownership is established and transferred. Contract discussion and application are made considerably more accessible, and the whole edit record of the deal is made publicly visible to all parties involved.

Cryptocurrencies on a bullish run
Cardano returns 150% in a month to become the third-largest cryptocurrencyWhen people use decentralised finance, also known as DeFi, they are transferring financial functions directly onto digital ledgers, allowing them to perform things such as, lend or borrow cash and collect interest in a savings-like account, all without the need for traditional middlemen such as banks. Its growing prevalence is part of a broader trend of rising blockchain usage, which is becoming more widespread.

A series of recent rises in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether, ADA, and other tokens pushed the cryptocurrency market to surpass $2 trillion in value this weekend, a first since the mid-May crash.

With a gain of 1,300% in only one year, ADA is among the top-five best-performing cryptocurrencies, outpacing gains of 1,030% for Binance Coin, 330% for Ether, and 59% for Bitcoin, among other cryptocurrencies. The token, on the other hand, is extremely vulnerable to the enormous volatility of the larger cryptocurrency market.

As a result of RBI’s crypto crackdown in 2018, the value of ADA plummeted by roughly 90%, ushering in a years-long bear market for the young sector. However, with the emergence of popular crypto exchanges in India, investments in crypto assets jumped from $200 million in 2019 to $40 billion in 2020. As of today, CoinSwitch Kuber, India’s leading crypto exchange has over 9 million registered users invested in crypto.

All eyes will now be on the September 12 “Alonzo” upgrade and how it will tie back to ADA’s current positive run. If things go well, ADA could be seen as a primary competitor to Ethereum, ushering yet another era in the cryptocurrency sector.

Disclaimer: The above content is non-editorial, and TIL hereby disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, relating to the same. TIL does not guarantee, vouch for or necessarily endorse any of the above content, nor is responsible for them in any manner whatsoever. The article does not constitute investment advice. Please take all steps necessary to ascertain that any information and content provided is correct, updated and verified.



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Big B 1st Indian star to roll out NFT collection, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Talent management company Rhiti Sports and decentralised NFT exchange platform GuardianLink.io have jointly launched a first-of-its-kind NFT platform in India – BeyondLife.club – which will list celebrities, athletes and brands from across Southeast Asia. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, transform digital artworks into unique verifiable digital assets that are tradable on the blockchain.

Actor Amitabh Bachchan will be the first Indian celebrity to roll out his NFT collection through BeyondLife.club, Rhiti Group chairman Arun Pandey told ET. The collectibles will represent Bachchan’s work and will mark the opening of the exchange. “I have joined Rhiti Entertainment, Singapore and will be launching NFTs soon on the platform,” the Bollywood superstar said.

The financial details of the collaboration were not disclosed.

“The platform, enabled by GuardianLink, will revolutionise digital storing of creative properties including art, collectibles, collages, and other forms of digital assets for gaming and trading that can be easily accessible by stakeholders,” Keyur Patel, chairman of the decentralized no-code NFT exchange platform, told ET.

He said GuardianLink.io will allow users to upload, mint, publish, price protect and auction to create value for the owner.

BeyondLife.club will allow collectors to buy NFT using Indian currency through digital payments and credit cards, complying with local laws, while allowing overseas buyers to transact using virtual currencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.

NFTs are used to represent ownership of digital goods like images, videos, or songs. They are rapidly gaining in popularity among artists, singers and sportspersons.

Last week, Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi launched his own collection of NFT crypto art called Messiverse. Globally, celebrities such as Paris Hilton, musicians Eminem, Grimes, Lindsay Lohan and actor Kate Moss have their own NFT collections.

In March, India-born but Singapore-based blockchain entrepreneur and coder Vignesh Sundaresan revealed that he was the mystery buyer – ‘Metakovan’ – behind the landmark NFT art piece by digital artist Beeple, which was sold for $69.3 million. Till date, Beeple is the most expensive NFT ever sold.

The platform exchange will enable artists and brands to create financial value for their work, manage transactions including receiving payments, transfer of NFTs, settlements and swaps, and is accessible globally for enthusiasts who are early adopters of the NFT wave as well as collectors.

Compared to global artists, Indian ones have only now started participating in NFTs, with the digital asset space so far being limited to crypto millennials and tech savvy audiences, Patel said.

“We are bridging the gap between crypto-savvy users and art collectors by eliminating the complexity of participation in the space.” He said.

The idea of BeyondLife.club and GuardianLink is to create a system that is compliant with regulations, inclusive, and unique to help in long-term value creation. “That’s the model we are presenting,” he said.

Pandey of Rhiti Sports said NFTs are a hot favourite among artists across the world to create financial value for their content.



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Citi considering bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Citigroup Inc is considering offering bitcoin futures trading for some institutional clients, a spokesperson for the bank said on Tuesday, citing increased demand in the cryptocurrency space.

Bitcoin prices rose past $50,000 on Monday, after having weathered a crackdown by Chinese authorities on domestic cryptocurrency mining companies earlier this year, as mainstream adoption by corporations and the wider public gathers pace.

Media outlet Coindesk reported earlier on Tuesday that Citi is awaiting regulatory approval to begin trading bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, citing a source within the bank.

“Given the many questions around regulatory frameworks, supervisory expectations, and other factors, we are being very thoughtful about our approach,” a Citi spokeswoman said in an email.

“We are presently considering products such as futures for some of our institutional clients, as these operate under strong regulatory frameworks,” she added.

The bank was weighing the option of providing cryptocurrency related services in May, according to a Financial Times report.

Business Insider reported in late July that JPMorgan Chase & Co will allow all of its wealth management clients access to cryptocurrency funds.



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Top global banks crash crypto party, invest heavily in blockchain, currency firms, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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Despite being very vocal about how bad Bitcoin supposedly is, top global can’t ignore the potential revenue streams and importance of having a strong strategic position in the crypto economy.

Most major banks including Standard Chartered, Barclays, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs are investing in crypto and blockchain-related companies in 2021.

Out of the top 100 banks by assets under management, 55 have invested in cryptocurrency and/or blockchain-related companies. Either directly, or through subsidiaries, according to Block Data.

The most active investors based on the number of investments in blockchain companies are Barclays (19), Citigroup (9), Goldman Sachs (8), J.P. Morgan Chase (7) and BNP Paribas (6).

The investors active in the biggest funding rounds are Standard Chartered ($380 million in 6 rounds), BNY Mellon ($320.69 million in 5 rounds), Citigroup ($279.49 million in 9 rounds), UBS Group ($266.2 million in five rounds) and BNP Paribas ($236.05 million in 9 rounds).

Where are they investing?

About 23 of the top 100 banks by assets under management are building custody solutions, or investing in the companies that provide them.

Custodians offer financial services to look after their clients’ funds, for a fee. They either build their own technology to offer this service, or use a technology provider whose solutions they can integrate into their own systems.

Why are banks investing in cryptos

Seeing cryptocurrency exchanges with a fraction of their staff become substantially more profitable or valuable than many banks. This started as early as 2018, when Binance, the leading exchange at the time, recorded $54 million more profit than Deutsche Bank, with just 200 vs 100,000 employees. More recently, Coinbase’s valuation was higher than Goldman Sachs, with just 4% of their employees.

Countless requests from their clients to provide Bitcoin solutions along with a change in regulations in 2020 that allows banks to offer crypto custody solutions is also among the reasons for banks to turn to cryptos.

The investments

Standard Chartered has invested $380 million via 6 rounds in firms including blockchain network Ripple, whose XRP token has a capitalisation of around $48 billion. It’s also an investor in Cobalt, a trading technology provider based in the UK. BNY has put money in Fireblocks, whose platform allows financial institutions to issue, move and store cryptocurrencies.

Citibank has invested $279 million in 9 rounds. It has put money in SETL, whose ledger technology is used to move cash and other assets.

UBS, with $266 million and 2 rounds, is an investor in Axoni, whose technology is used to modernize infrastructure in capital markets.

BNP Paribas has invested $236 million in 9 rounds and was developing real-time trade and settlement applications using smart contracts based on the DAML programming language with Digital Asset.

Morgan Stanley with $234 million with 3 investments has invested in NYDIG, a crypto custody firm and the bitcoin subsidiary of Stone Ridge, a $10 billion alternative asset manager.

JP Morgan Chase has bet $206 million via seven rounds and has investments in ConsenSys, an ethereum software company.

Goldman Sachs has put $204 million through eight investments, and its investee firms include Coin Metrics, a provider of blockchain data to institutional clients.

MUFG has put $185 million in six investment rounds in firms including Coinbase, the US cryptocurrency exchange that went public in April, and in Bitflyer, a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange.

ING has bet $170 million spread across 6 investments and has backed HQLAx, a blockchain liquidity management platform.



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Decentralised finance, the latest front in crypto’s hacking problem, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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London: For most of the 13-year life of cryptocurrencies, exchanges were the epicentre for cyberheists. Now, a bigger hacking risk in the growing sector has exploded into view: peer-to-peer crypto platforms.

One such site, Poly Network, was at the centre of a $610 million crypto theft last week, one of the biggest ever. Within days of the heist, the decentralised finance (DeFi) platform said the “white hat” hacker or hackers had returned nearly all the loot.

The unusual ending to the Poly Network saga belies fast-emerging risks in this growing corner of crypto, where an estimated $80 billion or more is held, interviews with industry executives, lawyers and analysts show.

DeFi sites allow users to lend, borrow and save—usually in cryptocurrencies—while bypassing traditional gatekeepers of finance such as banks and exchanges. Backers say the technology offers cheaper and more efficient access to financial services.

But the heist at Poly Network—previously a little-known site—has underscored the vulnerability of DeFi sites to crime. Would-be robbers are often able to exploit bugs in the open-source code used by sites. And with regulation still patchy, there is usually little or no recourse for victims. Centralised exchanges, which act as middlemen between buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies, had previously been the main targets of crypto cyberheists.

Tokyo-based exchange Mt.Gox for instance collapsed in 2014 after it lost half a billion dollars in hacks. Coincheck, also based in Tokyo, was hit by a $530 million heist in 2018.

Many major exchanges, under the regulatory spotlight and striving to attract mainstream investors, have since bolstered security and heists on such scale are now relatively rare.

Less Secure
An onus on security at major platforms such as Coinbase Global Inc. has pushed less-secure venues to the sidelines, said Ross Middleton, chief financial officer at DeFi platform DeversiFi.

“What’s happened is the big exchanges have got really good (on security) and the smaller exchanges aren’t around anymore,” he said. “The frontier is definitely DeFi now.”

Losses from crime at DeFi platforms are at an all-time high, crypto intelligence firm CipherTrace said last week, with thieves, hackers and fraudsters making off with $474 million from January through July.

The spike came as funds poured into DeFi, mirroring flows into crypto as a whole. According to DeFi Pulse the total value held at such sites is now more than $80 billion, compared with just $6 billion a year earlier.

DeFi specialists say security risks tend to lie at newer sites which may run on less secure code.

“There is a widening security and risk gap between old, battle-tested DeFi protocols, and new, untested DeFi protocols,” said Rune Christensen, former head of the body behind high-profile DeFi application Maker.

Proponents says the use of open-source code means vulnerabilities can be quickly identified and solved by users, reducing the risk of crime. DeFi can police itself, they say.

Yet for financial watchdogs and governments across the world looking at regulating the crypto sector, DeFi is increasingly in focus.

Enforcement Action
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler has signalled he would take a tough stance on DeFi. Such platforms may be captured by US securities laws, he said in a speech this month, calling on Congress to draft legislation to rein in DeFi and crypto trading.

The SEC this month brought its first enforcement action involving DeFi tech, alleging the company issued unregistered securities and misled investors. The SEC did not respond to further questions on its stance.

Officials at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission have also signalled greater scrutiny.

Commissioner Dan Berkovitz in June called DeFi a “Hobbesian marketplace”—a reference to a 17th century philosopher who saw life without government as “nasty, brutish and short”. Unlicensed DeFi platforms for derivatives were violating commodities trading laws, he suggested.

Elsewhere, moves are slower. DeFi is still far from the political agenda in Britain, for instance.

A spokesperson for Britain’s financial watchdog said while some DeFi activities may fall under its scope, much of the sector is unregulated.

For some analysts, greater regulation in inevitable, with little sign that DeFi sites can do the job themselves. “The unfortunate situation is that (Poly Network) was seen as just an average Tuesday in the DeFi world,” said Tim Swanson of blockchain firm Clearmatics. “The industry likes to congratulate itself by claiming it resides on transparent systems, but it has repeatedly shown it is incapable of policing itself.”

Reuters’ Michelle Price in Washington and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York contributed to this story.



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CoinDCX raises $90-m funding led by Facebook co-founder’s B Capital

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CoinDCX, on Tuesday, announced it has raised $90 million (₹670 crore) in a Series C round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital Group. The latest round surged the cryptocurrency exchange’s valuation to $1.1 billion, making it the first Indian cryptocurrency start-up to attain the unicorn status. Returning investors Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, Block.one, Jump Capital among others also participated in the round.

Hiring new talent

The fresh capital raised will be utilised to spread awareness on cryptocurrency across the country and hiring new talent to expand and strengthen its team.

“We are actively hiring for various roles that include developers, customer success professionals, security analysts, and marketing, sales & growth professionals to support the growing business. Currently, we are 185 employees in strength and will soon be reaching the 200-mark. Our aim is to increase our employee strength to 300 by this year-end,” Sumit Gupta, Co-founder and CEO, CoinDCX, told BusinessLine.

“Apart from this, we will be joining hands with key fintech players to expand crypto investor-base, set up a research & development facility, strengthening the policy conversations through public discourse, working with the government to introduce favourable regulations, education, and ramping up the hiring initiatives. But those discussions are at early stages currently,” he added.

Additionally, CoinDCX will be building next generation products with cutting edge innovation, by improving its existing product array while strengthening its product team. In the coming months, CoinDCX will also be launching the CoinDCX Prime initiative, its latest offering in the HNI & Enterprise space, providing legally vetted and safe investments, as well as Cosmex, CoinDCX’s global trading product. Founded in 2018, CoinDCX, at present, has over 3.5 million users.

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CoinShares data, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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NEW YORK: Bitcoin investment products and funds registered outflows for a fifth consecutive week, as investor sentiment remained cautious in the midst of increased global regulatory scrutiny, data from digital asset manager CoinShares showed on Monday.

Outflows from the world’s most popular cryptocurrency totaled $33 million in the week ended Aug. 6, compared with $19.7 million the previous week. But so far this year, bitcoin inflows remained a robust $4.2 billion.

Total crypto outflows, meanwhile, added up to nearly $26 million, although CoinShares noted that the magnitude of outflows was much less than in May and June.

Sluggishness in the crypto market was due in part to global regulatory crackdown, analysts say.

“There’s all this focus on crypto because with all the new financial products and innovative solutions, governments, which are here to protect investors, are going to wonder whether this is a good idea and so, they’re going to look more into these,” said Matthijs de Vries, chief technology officer at infrastructure provider AllianceBlock.

Bitcoin on Monday hit an 11-week high above $46,000 . Since mid-July, bitcoin has gained 46% against the dollar.

Data also showed that ether, the token used in the Ethereum blockchain, also saw outflows of $2.8 million, from a nearly $9-million outflow the previous week.

Last Thursday, Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain network, went through a major software upgrade, which is expected to stabilize transaction fees and reduce supply of the ether token.

Ether’s supply is being reduced through “burning,” in which tokens are sent to specialized addresses that have unobtainable private keys. Without access to a private key, no one can use the tokens, putting them outside the circulating supply.

About $59.2 million worth of ether tokens have been “burned” since Thursday’s software upgrade, according to ultrasound.money, a website that tracks ether burning and supply.

Investors expect ether to accelerate gains as the Ethereum network burns more of its tokens. Ether was last up 4.9% at $3,161.93.



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Risks & Regulatory Imperatives, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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In today’s age of the Internet, fiat and account-based electronic money are in a state of flux. A decade after Bitcoin was introduced to the world by Satoshi Nakamoto, token-based digital currencies have proliferated to include a wide variety of private cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies and stablecoins. Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are a direct liability of the central banks. Stablecoins, on the other hand, are fiat collateralised (linked to fiat currencies such as the US dollar or euro.) or collateralised as per the value of the underlying asset or reserve.

Regulators across the globe are concerned about the unprecedented growth of tokenized money, stablecoins in particular, and its potential to disintermediate incumbent financial institutions , create volatility and financial stability risks.

Let’s Decrypt Stablecoins
Are the concerns over stablecoins legitimate? Let’s understand this token and its various types in detail to make an informed opinion.

So, what are stablecoins? Unlike Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies, known for wild volatility, stablecoins are blockchain-based cryptocurrencies backed by safe reserves.

But, are stablecoins really stable?

Let’s have a look at different types of stablecoins classified solely on the basis of the value that underpins them.

Types of Stablecoins
● Fiat-collateralized stablecoins: These stablecoins are collateralized by fiat money, such as US dollar, euro or the pound, on a 1:1 ratio. Common examples are Tether (2014), Gemini Dollar(2018) and TrueSD.

● Stablecoins backed by other asset classes: There are a few stablecoins, which are backed by a basket of multiple assets (commercial papers, bonds, real estate, precious metals, etc). The value of these stablecoins can fluctuate over time subject to movement in commodity and precious metal prices. Digix Gold, backed by

physical gold, was introduced in 2018. SwissRealCoin, launched in 2018, had a Swiss real estate portfolio.

● Crypto-collateralized stablecoins: Crypto-collateralized stablecoins are more decentralised than their peers and are backed by cryptocurrencies. The flipside is price volatility. To address the risk of price volatility, these stablecoins are over-collateralised. Dai (launched in 2017) is the most popular crypto-collateralized stablecoin.

● Non-collateralized stablecoins: These stablecoins do not have any backing and are decentralized in the true sense. The supply of non-collateralized stablecoins is governed by algorithms. Basis, introduced in 2018, is the most common stablecoin in this category.

Risks from Stablecoins
Tether, arguably the largest stablecoin issuer, disclosed in March that it held over 75% of its reserves in cash and cash equivalents, most of which are in the form of commercial paper. The remaining assets include loans to unaffiliated entities (12.55%), corporate bonds, funds & precious metals (9.96%), and additional investments which include Bitcoin and other digital tokens (1.64%).

The commercial paper holdings of Tether outnumbered leading money market funds (MMF) in the US and Europe.

In the event of a mass selloff of Tether coins along with other stablecoins, short-term credit markets will have to bear the brunt. In June this year, the crash of Iron, an algorithmic stablecoin, gave us a glimpse of the risk they run. That made Mark Cuban, an America’s billionaire entrepreneur and a victim of Iron collapse, to raise his voice for regulating stablecoins.

Fitch Ratings has rightly cautioned that potential asset contagion risks linked to the liquidation of stablecoin reserve holdings could increase pressure for tighter regulation of the nascent sector.

Clarion Call for Regulation
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet L Yellen has underscored the need to act quickly to ensure there is an appropriate US regulatory framework in place.

“You wouldn’t need stablecoins; you wouldn’t need cryptocurrencies, if you had a digital US currency,” US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell told a Congressional hearing this July.

He made it clear that the Fed is done letting stablecoins run amok. “We have a tradition in this country where the public’s money is held in what is supposed to be a very safe asset,” Powell said. “That doesn’t exist for stablecoins, and if they’re going to be a significant part of the payments universe… then we need an appropriate framework, which frankly we don’t have.”

Last year, European Commission came out with a regulatory framework proposal for crypto assets and stablecoins. The Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system, has highlighted the potential of global stablecoins (GSCs). FSB says, “A widely-adopted stablecoin with a potential reach and use across multiple jurisdictions (so-called ‘global stablecoins’ or GSCs) could become systemically important in and across one or many jurisdictions, including as a means of making payments.

But those who back stablecoins say with the established use cases in cross-border payments, settlements and financial inclusion, a global regulatory framework is all that is needed to harness the full potential of stablecoins.



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India’s first Bitcoin rewards company, GoSats raises seed funding of $700k, BFSI News, ET BFSI

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GoSats; a Bitcoin Rewards Company, has raised $700k seed funding from a group of investors. The platform focuses on mainstreaming bitcoin adoption to help average consumers become passive earners of bitcoin.

The seed funding round featured some prominent names like Alphabit Fund, Fulgur Ventures, Stacks Accelerator, and SBX Capital. The funding round was also supported by a few angel investors including Ajeet Khurana, former CEO of Zebpay, Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO of Unocoin, Mohit Madan, Co-Founder of Oropocket, Sharan Nair, CBO of Coinswitch Kuber, and a few others.

Trevor Owens, the Managing Partner at Stacks Accelerator said, “GoSats is the gateway for a billion people in India to own Bitcoin. In a time when inflation is destroying wealth around the world, Bitcoin protects the wealth of people and allows them greater freedom and ownership over their future. That’s a great thing, and I’m honored to be an investor in a company that can benefit so many people.”

CEO of GoSats, Roshan, also the former Chief Scientist of Unocoin, shares his views about the vision and growth of the company saying, “It’s fascinating that a significant number of our user-base never held bitcoin before they signed up with GoSats and we are happy to facilitate their journey into the world of crypto-assets in a risk-free manner. Through this funding, our focus is to scale the adoption of bitcoin in India and to build a bitcoin rewards solution for brands.”



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