The Central Bank of Taiwan is eyeing new rules that would bring bitcoin under the island’s existing anti-money laundering regulations.
CoinDesk
120 Million? Vitalik Proposes Cap on Ether Cryptocurrency
The creator of the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency has floated a possible change to the network’s long-opaque ether issuance policy.
CoinDesk
Malta Watchdog Proposes New Blockchain Gaming Guidelines
The Malta Gaming Authority has published draft regulations for digital game companies that want to use distributed ledger or blockchain platforms.
CoinDesk
Thailand Proposes New Cryptocurrency Gains Tax
Thailand’s cabinet is set to vote on implementation of a new 10% capital gains tax on profits from cryptocurrency investment. Royal Decree will empower the SEC to regulate digital currencies.
New Tax Part of Royal Decree
The Thai Revenue Department has asked the cabinet to vote on an amendment to the new revenue code which would include a proposed 10% capital gains tax on profits from trading in cryptocurrency according to a source inside the ministry of finance.
The Bangkok Post reported this morning that the tax will be part of a Royal Decree proposed to allow the SEC to comprehensively regulate all aspects of the crypto market including ICO’s.
The new decree will classify cryptocurrency as digital assets, not currency, meaning that the SEC will be charged with regulating all aspects of virtual coins. Rapee Sucharitakul the secretary -general of the SEC said the regulations should set standards for information disclosure of cryptocurrency trading while also overseeing the launching and proceeds generated by ICO’s.
He was further quoted by the Post speaking about investor protection included in the new regulations as saying;
“The regulatory framework will cover cryptocurrencies in several areas, including investor protections and how cryptocurrencies have sometimes been used as a medium for money-laundering, tax avoidance and Ponzi schemes”
This ruling will come after what has been a twice extended period of consultation to review the regulatory framework of cryptocurrency in the Kingdom.
Regulations a Long Time Coming
Chairman of The Thai Fintech Association, a startup accelerator Korn Chatikavanij, who previously served as the country’s finance minister between the end of 2008 and mid-2011 said in an interview last week that his organization supports the new plan.
“I agree with the Finance Ministry’s [view] of letting the SEC be the only organization governing digital assets, because it already oversees securities and has a profound understanding of digital assets,”
Said Korn, according to a Friday report by the Bangkok Post.
Others in the government have cited similar laws that have now passed in the U.S. as a positive step since they help to regulate trade in cryptocurrency while tapping into a previously untaxed source to generate income for the nation.
Traders may seek to invest outside of Thailand in order to avoid paying the tax but could face punishment once they bring the funds back in, including possible liability under Thailand’s very strict money laundering act. Either way there is likely to be an exodus from exchanges in the once crypto-friendly nation.
The Royal Decree will be forwarded to the cabinet for consideration today and is expected to be accepted and put into enforcement by the end of the month.
The post Thailand Proposes New Cryptocurrency Gains Tax appeared first on NewsBTC.
Turkish Lawmaker Proposes National Cryptocurrency
Politicians in Turkey are reportedly eyeing on launching the country’s proprietary cryptocurrency.
CoinDesk
Russian Ministry Proposes Capital Mandates for ICO Organizers
One of Russia’s government ministries has proposed a law that would introduce a capital threshold for initial coin offering (ICO) organizers.
New York Lawmaker Proposes Study of State-Backed Cryptocurrency
A New York lawmaker has proposed researching the creation of a state-backed cryptocurrency.
CoinDesk
Russian Finance Ministry Proposes Draft Law on ICO Regulation
Russia’s Finance Ministry has introduced a draft federal law on the regulation of digital assets and initial coin offerings.
CoinDesk
Joannes Vermorel Proposes Scaling Bitcoin to Terabyte Blocks
Most people will agree Bitcoin is struggling in many ways. On the technical level, the network is almost unusable for everyday purchases and needs. Joannes Vermorel provides an interesting solution in this regard. His idea is also pretty controversial, though, as it may not be feasible. Terabyte blocks would certainly solve a lot of issues in this regard. It may very well be an interesting opportunity for Bitcoin Cash developers to explore.
Scaling Bitcoin – or any of its hard forks – is not easy. So far, Bitcoin Cash seems to be better off than Bitcoin in this regard. However, we always need to look toward the future and make further improvements. Joannes Vermorel is one of the people thinking big in this regard. His new proposal, while technically feasible, certainly paints an interesting picture for the future. In his opinion, terabyte blocks should become the new normal over time.
Can Terabyte Blocks Even Work?
More specifically, the concept of terabyte blocks makes a lot of sense in many different ways. it would allow every human on the planet to send 50 transactions per day. That in itself would solve all Bitcoin scalability issues. Moreover, this would also help reduce fees to around one-tenth of a cent. An interesting proposal, although we will also need different infrastructure to accommodate such a change.
On-chain scaling solutions are always controversial. Not everyone can accommodate such changes due to technical reasons. Vermorel proposes mining pools build a terabyte mining rig at some point. It would run 256 different nodes, all of which require rather powerful hardware. One of those rigs would cost around .5m, which is quite a steep price. Add the extra storage on top of that and the electricity consumption, and the venture becomes ridiculously expensive. Moreover, we need more gigabit Ethernet connection options before this can even become feasible.
It is evident this proposal warrants some further investigation. Given Bitcoin Cash’s willingness to possibly scale to gigabyte blocks, terabyte versions are the next step in the evolution. It is unlikely Bitcoin would ever use such a proposal, as the developers prefer smaller block sizes. It’s always good to see such interesting scaling proposals. While neither Bitcoin nor Bitcoin Cash may follow this example, it shouldn’t be dismissed whatsoever.
The post Joannes Vermorel Proposes Scaling Bitcoin to Terabyte Blocks appeared first on NEWSBTC.
US Commodities Regulator Proposes Definition for Cryptocurrency ‘Delivery’
The CFTC has published a proposed interpretation of how it will deem that a cryptocurrency has been delivered from a buyer to a seller.
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