Here’s what happened this week in Bitcoin in 99 seconds.
New Zealand’s tax agency, the Inland Revenue Department, released a groundbreaking ruling, stating that salaries and wages may be legally paid in cryptocurrency. Income tax will be applied to such payments as per usual. To qualify, payments must be in regular amounts in cryptos which are immediately convertible to fiat.
Chinese crypto investor Dovey Wan tweeted regarding the activities of PlusToken, a Ponzi scheme with a total estimated value of about $3 billion. Wan claims the collapsed scheme is now liquidating its ill-gotten gains on multiple major crypto exchanges, which may be causing some downward price pressure.
Samsung released its new S-10 range of smartphones with preloaded support for cryptocurrencies like Ethereum. Notably absent from Samsung’s Blockchain Keystore app was Bitcoin support, but the company issued an update which adds this feature. The app stores private keys in the Secure File system to improve the security of Android mobile wallets.
Coinbase spent $55 million to purchase Xapo’s Custody service. This service is famous for cold-storing crypto assets in a high-security bunker under the Swiss Alps. It’s estimated that Coinbase now stores around 860,000 BTC – or roughly 5% of the total supply – thanks largely to this most recent acquisition. The company reports it now has $7 billion in assets under management.
And finally, after successful testing, major new institutional crypto exchange service, Bakkt, has finally secured regulatory approval. The exchange will launch on the 23rd of September.
That’s what happened this week in Bitcoin. See you next week.
https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-news-summary-august-19-2019/
