Neo Guide

Despite the prevalence of crypto, not everyone seems to be attentive to how they will pay taxes for his or her crypto transactions ⁠— mostly because there are plenty of doubts and ambiguities surrounding crypto taxes. However, the IRS has recently issued new guidelines and has made the hassle to squash the vagueness around crypto taxes. Without further ado, let’s attempt to answer the burning questions that the majority of crypto users ask.

1. For my cryptocurrency, is it necessary that I file taxes?

Definitely. And even before the IRS began asking about cryptocurrency on Form 1040, this answer was true. But, that you’ll automatically owe any taxes is what answering yes doesn’t mean. As an example, you won’t need to pay any taxes if all you were doing was holding crypto in an exceeding wallet. The IRS only wants to remember what quantity crypto you have got in your wallet and desires to own accurate information about your holdings. You will be slapped with a hefty fine, owe a tax debt to the agency, or perhaps be criminally prosecuted if you fail to report income or capital gains from cryptocurrency.

2. What quite taxes are cryptocurrencies subjected to?

According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies don’t seem to be considered securities. Due to this, the IRS treats cryptocurrency transactions as property transactions. As an example, selling crypto within a year of buying it’ll subject the transaction to Short-term Capital Gains Tax (SCGT).

ALSO READ: The Possibility of Blockchain in Wealth Management

3. On my tax returns, how do I report cryptocurrencies?

To report your crypto gains or losses on your tax returns, on IRS Form 1040, you would like to test “yes” to the question: “in any virtual currency, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest at any time in [year]?” Then, to observe the price basis for every crypto you employ and their sale price, you’ll have to create a crypto tax report by filling out the IRS Form 8949. After that, you furthermore might need to divide your crypto transactions between short-term gains and long-term gains. Finally, you’ll complete Schedule D of Form 1040 using the data you’ve gathered in Form 8949. This may allow you to know exactly what quantity tax you owe on your crypto gains.

4. If my salary is paid in crypto, how am I able to report this since the value of crypto fluctuates?

When calculating your taxes, the salary you receive in crypto is going to be subject to income taxes. Thankfully, receiving compensation in crypto isn’t as complicated as reporting crypto gains. You won’t have to worry about crypto price fluctuations because the fair value of the cryptocurrency on the date you were paid is what’s going to be added to your gross income. Due to this, it’s crucial that you simply keep accurate records so you’ll prove when your crypto salary was deposited into your account.

If you wish to own a smooth crypto career and stop yourself from running into trouble with the IRS, you ought to educate yourself on how the agency treats crypto gains. If you continue to have plenty of confusion when it involves crypto taxes, take care to use the services of a trusted tax services firm in your area.

FSCA: Binance Not Authorized to Offer Financial Services to Soutn Africans

Cryptocurrency exchange firm Binance recently announced that there would be changes in their offers to their South African customers after being warned by FSCA. The changes include that they will be ending offers of options, margin, futures, and leveraged tokens products to their users in South Africa.

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The Financial Sector Conduct Authority is Africa’s financial regulator and has warned the public that the company isn’t authorized to render intermediary services or provide financial advice. This is in terms of South Africa’s FAIS Act or the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002. After receiving the notice, the cryptocurrency exchange company made it clear in a statement that they do not render any intermediary service nor provide any financial advice.

Even regulators from different countries including Netherlands, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy, Canada, Thailand, Lithuania, U.K., and Malaysia are extensively inspecting Binance for possible insider trading and possible market manipulation.

Restriction of their South African users from creating new accounts will be effective immediately and that they have 90 days in which to close their account; or to lessen their position in the financial products. Binance added that they will no longer be allowed to open or expand new positions, but will be allowed to top-up margin balances in order to stop liquidations and margin calls from occurring.

It was also announced that by the end of January 6, 2022 at exactly 11:59 PM (UTC), users will be deprived of the ability to close or reduce their positions, once all remaining open positions are closed.

Crypto Lending: Learning the Definition of this New Trend

Crypto enthusiasts are frequently invited to “HODL” their resources keeping them safe at a pocket before the purchase cost tag on their preferred money enjoys. But like you’d really come to feel uncomfortable about earning your hard earned money sitting at a bank using a minimal rates of interest, a frequent question is that: just how will you receive your digital money into rise?

This is really where crypto lending is sold from unlike the typical loan where you can finance buying Samsung TV no credit check. Not only does it enable savers to get attention on their paychecks of Bit coin, nonetheless it empowers debtors to recreate the price of their own digital assets using it as security for financing.

Crypto Lending Explained

After investing, among the primary challenges might be cash-flow — and there is nothing worse than needing to repeat the funds you have got tangled up in funds to get shortterm expenses and also lack of liquidity.

Let us suppose Steve has two BTC. He does not desire to market some of it because he is convinced that prices will enjoy significantly. Steve’s also stressed, if he can wind up regretting his crypto, there will become a risk he ultimately eventually ends up with less Bit coin if he buys it back at a subsequent time.

Crypto lending systems may arrive to the rescue. Ordinarily, Steve is going to receive the ability to make use of his Bit coin as security — and be given financing from stablecoins. Due to the volatility of assets that are digital, he will ordinarily need to “overcollateralize,” meaning he will need to lock more BTC compared to overall value of their capital he is receiving.

Once he has reimbursed back the mortgage, and interest, his crypto is going to be returned full — and he will earn a handsome profit when BTC wound appreciating since he called. His crypto could just be in danger when he neglected to stay informed about the loan provisions, or whether the financial importance of this Bit coin maintained as collateral dropped under the worthiness of their loan he’d received.

Thus… if did crypto lending begin to remove? It had been right across the time that savings found a screeching stop in 2020 because of this outbreak. This saw the rates of interest become slashed, and financing for bigticket items require a nose dive. Lots of individuals were searching to find different means to produce their resources benefit them. Crypto loans turned into a fast and effortless means to acquire usage of fiat currencies nearly immediately, all without attempting to sell it. All a sudden, the occasions of Bit coin and Litecoin collecting dust in a market or cold-storage were numbered.

Unlike signature credit credit cards, even unsecured loans are a great deal more stable for your own creditor, allowing the borrower to benefit from inexpensive interest prices.

Crypto currencies can be quite volatile, and which explains the reason these loans are always overcollateralized. This gives insurance to get the creditor if the price of crypto plummet. But this could negatively affect the borrower — specially if the stage that they utilize takes them to consistently maintain their loan to value (LTV) ratio.

Some of the serious bonuses most view in an crypto loan is that, unlike conventional banking, so you wont be susceptible to a own credit history being appraised. Which usually means that financing is much more accessible to folks who do not have a credit heritage, underbanked consumers that do not possess a banking account and also selfemployed workers who battle to access charge because their varying earnings do not meet a bank strict lending criteria. Repayments is also flexible.

And if it usually takes a few days because of loans to clean in the conservative financial realm, BTC loans may be virtually instantaneous. You can also manage to produce your funds liquid without triggering a taxable event — and also you’re able to fix the loan to accommodate your requirements. Users can even switch between crypto resources, and that means you might trace Ether and borrow Tether, on exactly precisely the exact same platform.

ALSO READ: Why Canadians Are Having A Hard Time Saving Money

The Way to Have Yourself a Bit Coin Loan

If you prefer the noise of an BTC loan however, you are not certain where to begin with, you’ve got just two chief options — centralized and decentralized lending systems.

Centralized eco systems like BlockFi, Nexo and also Binance need to follow certain rules and procedures to become compliant. You are going to need to make a free account by simply enrolling in the favorite platform and proceed through Know Your Client procedures which have been set up to reduce fraud and money laundering.

These programs on average have protocols in place to make certain that your security remains safe. Some protect crypto resources via insurance or maintain nearly all the electronic assets within their own custody in cold-storage , meaning they are from an online connection.

Centralized crypto lending systems will still list all withdrawals and deposits using block-chain technology, observable to everybody else, and supply a excellent way to make attention on Bit coin, along side a number of different crypto currencies along with stablecoins such as USDC along with DAI. So to put it in perspective, the ideal 67146 checking accounts rates around scarcely scratch beyond the 1 percent APY markers, yet many programs offer upto 8 percent to crypto rates of interest. It’s well worth doing your own homework to find the very best bargain — and steer clear of paying off fees.

There is more paper work involved in obtaining financing through a CeFi platform, nevertheless the simple fact there is a regulated environment — and also a customer care representative who is simply a click or a call a way — can make these programs more attracting conventional investors.

The 2nd solution for crypto lending is to proceed using a decentralized platform, also called as DeFi such as short.

What Exactly Is DeFi Lending?

DeFi lending systems are wholly decentralized, and trades are managed by code as opposed to by people. On services like Aave, Compound and dYdX, smart contracts utilize protocols and algorithms to automate advance payments.

Anybody can get into the protocols onto a decentralized fund platform, making them completely transparent, as nothing could be hidden on the block-chain. Unlike CeFi programs, there isn’t any middleman or fiscal principle, this usually means that you do not need to undergo a confirmation process just like KYC. But, DeFi interest-rates for crypto lending regularly light compared to that which centralized rivals could offer.

Finding a BTC or even ETH loan — or even another sort of crypto loans onto a DeFi stage — is extremely quick because you will never have to pass all sorts of homework. Due to contracts that are smart, a user will have to do is make an application to your loan and send the crypto they would like to utilize as security to a predetermined wallet connected with the lending stage.

The users of de-centralized lending systems are able to try to qualify for that loan of almost any size without needing to ensure their identity into another party. Loans might be encouraged from stablecoins like USDC, fiat monies, or crypto currencies like Ethereum or even BTC.

On most decentralized and centralized lending systems, you are going to have the alternative to open a checking account together with your crypto, in addition to trade tokens or simply take loans out.

Together with both kinds of financing systems in their first stages, it’s apparent this is a thrilling space to see. There exists a whole good deal of room for growth, and also the capability to get into borrowing with no typical formalities can possibly be considered described as a game changer for the individuals and also the financial services industry.

Treasury Department Takes First Step Toward Plans of Regulating Stablecoins

As response to Federal Reserve Chairman Powell’s warning on the freely traded cryptocurrencies, Treas. Sec. Yellen met with the country’s top regulators today. According to the Treasury Department’s announcement, the discussions will focus particularly on stablecoins, since the Federal Reserve Chairman had said that

”We are seeing cryptocurrencies having something like bank deposits, money market funds or for that matter a narrow bank, all rapidly growing without appropriate regulations.”

The focus on stablecoin is of particular interest since they are freely transferrable like cash, but have been trading in the cryptocurrencies market as well.

The Treasury Department statement said that the working group set to convene today (Monday) will delve into the regulation of stablecoins to foster its growth and innovations in order to significantly alter the rapid growth of highly volatile cryptocurrencies.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen remarked in the statement that their aim in bringing together the top regulators is to assess the potential benefits of stablecoins and to analyze their risks, as well as formulate regulations to mitigate the risks posed to stablecoin users, the trading markets and the financial systems.

The new Treasury Secretary emphasized the importance of collaboration between regulatory agencies in developing regulatory policies that can impact the rapid growth of digital assets. The discussion will also include recommendations for the development of new oversight authorities. Treasury Secretary Yellen expects to receive written recommendations in the coming months.

What are Stablecoins?

While stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency that uses the blockchain technology, they deviate from other digital money because their price value is linked to the value of another asset class like gold or of a specific fiat currency. The purpose of which is to somehow stabilize the price value of each type of stablecoin.

Stablecoins are popular with cryptocurrency investors because the stable nature of their value has made them useful even when trading outside of the volatile cryptocurrencies world. However, they also pose significant risks as some dollar-pegged stablecoins have been found as not actually backed by US dollars, but by combinations of equally volatile assets.

In February of this year, the use of Tether and its associated crypto exchange Bitfinex in New York was banned by NY State Atty. General Letitia James. Mainly because false statements have been made with regard to tether’s currency backing.

Yet stablecoins like other cryptocurrencies open the world to everyone because it dispenses with the need to pass through traditional intermediary institutions like banks, when used for sending payments.

Yet unlike other cryptocurrency of which price values have a tendency to fluctuate wildly in ways that make their values unpredictable, stablecoins enable owners to determine how much their digital asset is worth. This makes stablecoin more practical to use for everyday transactions even outside of the cryptocurrency world.

The Possibility of Blockchain in Wealth Management

Most traditionalists within the wealth management industry will still now see words such as ‘cryptocurrency’ and also ‘blockchain’ and also run a mile. It’s simple to know why. Input the sometime-murky universe of Bitcoin and the like and you go into a universe that feels just like the Wild West of wealth transport. International boundaries barely exist and management stems from databases, but not labs. A cheque is likely regarded as a classic of some worth.

But look past the somewhat squalid ago and uncertain regulatory potential and you would need to be absolutely the absolute most hard-nosed of traditionalists to complete the underlying technology doesn’t have any significance or program from wealth management. Actually: it could just be its own potential.

What’s blockchain?

To make that debate it is crucial to acquire a shared comprehension of blockchain. Paradoxically, among the greatest descriptions available are available from the BBC article ‘Cryptoqueen: This woman tricked the planet, then disappeared.’ Hardly a ringing endorsement for the near future of wealth management, however here is how Jamie Bartlett, the manufacturer who traveled in search of their’Cryptoqueen’, clarifies what blockchain does that is so significant:

“The reason many men and women are excited about Bitcoin is that… it is dependent upon a distinctive kind of database referred to as a blockchain, that resembles a massive novel – one which Bitcoin owners possess separate but identical copies of. Every single time a Bitcoin is delivered to somebody else, a list of the trade goes into everybody’s publication. No one – not banks, not authorities, or the individual who invents it is accountable or may alter it. There are some very smart maths behind this, however, this usually means that Bitcoins can not be faked, but they can not be hacked, and also they can not be double-spent… The vital point is these distinctive blockchain databases are exactly what create cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin work.”

In summary, blockchains are self-explanatory, self-writing, publicly accessible databases, which monitor the movement of resources. In this instance, the advantage is Bitcoin, however, blockchains have been set to use or analyzed on many different asset classes.

Blockchain and Present resources: ‘tokenisation’ and instantaneous transfer
Blockchain’s program to riches management will probably arrive from the shape of its capacity to ‘tokenize’ objects that were previously hard to split at scale or be carried out so in ways that didn’t encourage investment from a few quarters.

Property and other investments, like jewelry and fine artwork, have been cited as ‘good matches’ to get blockchain. A bit of jewelry, state, is ‘broken down’ into pieces. Everybody who buys a token gets their own buy listed inside the blockchain database. It is general knowledge, therefore money-laundering and tax avoidance have been countered. After the part of jewelry increases in value, investors may market their tokens and realize their profits.

Whilst few riches managers now counsel on jewelry buys, lots have customers with real estate that, sooner or later, should transfer or release the riches saved in that land. In a grid, a homeowner can sell 49 percent of a house’s tokens to shareholders, enhancing their own wages, however keeping a vast majority share in the house, providing them control over if they live there or even lease it out, state. At the stage the residence is no more desired, the 51 percent ‘controlling discuss’ is available for sale, and also the house changes hands. The token owners that have tokens containing the remaining 49% may continue to their own investment or market it since they were constantly able to.

The benefits are apparent and trades are instantaneous. On the other hand of matters, the best thing about this advantage can be observed through the prism of day-long global financial transfers becoming something of the past. Somewhat nearer to home, think about this: if you continue to sell a home, how long can it choose you?

ALSO READ: Suggestions On How To Invest In Bitcoins

Legislation and other issues yet to be solved

Obviously, there are enormous and justifiably put regulatory hurdles to conquer and the crypto-equity release thought won’t ever come to pass. Sometimes in which an exciting opportunity is present, for example, blockchain, it might be well worth recalling that complicated regulation is required and is set up in different regions to protect us. Without oversight, the image of ‘prospective equity launch’ we painted can create a method that quickly produces a housing deficit: where houses are possessed in a digital blockchain but dwelt in by several real men and women.

If it were as straightforward as placing a paper about the way blockchain was likely to be controlled.

James Kaufmann, a partner at law firm Howard Kennedy, advised International Adviser: “those trying to govern the business barely comprehend it,” and, “blockchain poses problems which present rules simply can’t manage.”

But invention generally, finally, finds a manner. In the exact same International Adviser post, Vanguard detail a blockchain job for distributing benchmark information to asset managers such as Netwealth (see Netwealth UK reviews). with the goal of benchmarking and monitoring. “Before the project, there wasn’t any conventional database accessible for safely sharing market information across multiple data readers,” a spokesperson said. “This can boost efficacy, further enhance benchmark monitoring, and possibly reduce the probability of disruptions related to manual procedures.”

The near future

Transferring benchmarking data seems less ‘hot’ compared to the inventions often mentioned in precisely exactly the exact identical breath because blockchain, however, it’s at least a beginning and a natural one in that. Wealth management is also, as most of us know, a comparatively slow-moving business, and accepting the most latest electronic inventions as becoming as mainstream as precious as money will take some time since it needs to.

The technology and potential are there however for its wealth management industry. Rarely do these 2 items exist for long without being combined from the natural bedfellow of chance.

Coindesk Clarifies Coinbase Went Public via Direct Listing Not IPO

Coinbase has joined the Nasdaq market, which has been drawing much interest, but Coindesk clarifies that the move is not via Initial Public Offering (IPO). CoinDesk’s Managing Director of Research, Noelle Acheson, said Coinbase went public via direct listing, which is a new option available to companies looking to get listed in the stock trading market.

According to Ms. Acheson the clarification is important as the movement to go public “could shape the narrative of the digital asset industry in the future.” However, news media has been misbranding Coinbase’s action as IPO rather than direct listing, which could affect the cryptocurrency company’s equity strategy.

Direct Listing and Its Distinction from IPO

As the Managing Director of Research for Coindesk, Ms. Acheson pointed out that the differences between IPO and direct listing are material, and the misbranding is already causing confusion in the trading market. According to her, direct listing is a new approach to going public which quite interestingly, is suited to a crypto company.

Unlike the shares of an IPO that are distributed at a pre-established price; direct listing shares do not have a pre-established share price.

The pre-established price of an IPO is set by investment bankers based on their estimation on how high the market will bear a price. Investment bankers usually receive a percentage of the total amount raised by an IPO; usually by as much as 7%. They base their estimation on preliminary expressions of interest coming from institutional investors.

In a direct listing, the market’s reaction on the initial day of trading day influences the starting price. Direct listed shares are put on display for a 10-minute period on the first day of trading, to which interested buyers enter their bids, while sellers (the existing shareholders of the company) enter their offers. After which, Nasdaq uses both information in calculating the “current reference price.”

In the case of Coinbase, Goldman Sachs as the company’s financial consultant decides with the concurrence of Coinbase, whether trading for the listing will go ahead with the current reference price. If it’s a go, applicable orders will be entered and executed at the said price once trading commences.

A Quick Look at the Evolution of Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware

Many in the cryptocurrency industry believe that if not for the creative minds of computer engineers, growth in crypto mining would not have been attained. Originally, bitcoins could be mined using personal computers and laptops. Today, the most efficient bitcoin mining hardware that has stood the test of time is the ASIC bitcoin mining machine.

As the number of bitcoin users grew so did the difficulty of mining for bitcoin as a viable means of acquiring the asset. Yet observers in cryptomining like Associate Professor Rakesh Kumar of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of University of Illinois, had previously remarked that the rising dollar value of bitcoin was the strong motivating factor behind the evolution of mining hardware over the past years.

According to a recent CNBC news article, a $100 bitcoin investment purchased and held since 2009 are now assets worth several millions. Last Thursday, BTC hit another record-breaking price of $48,000, which means a 2009 $100 worth of BTC is now roughly worth $4,800,000. As the turns of events have it, bitcoin has become mainstream in the commodity trading business due to the widespread and substantial participation of traditional Wall Street investors.

Stages of Innovations in the Development of Bitcoin Mining Machines

Several years ago, innovators discovered that the specialized electronic circuit graphics processing unit (GPU) originally designed for gaming applications, demonstrated that when reprogrammed, can perform a range of computational tasks for bitcoin mining purposes.

Although the use of GPU increased efficiency sixfold, compared to using ordinary computers, hardware engineers still looked for solutions to improve cost-effectiveness in bitcoin mining.

In 2011, an integrated circuit called a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) became the next best solution to achieve higher hash rates at low cost. Still, FPGA has to be configured by a computer hardware designer, before it can transform a computer into a highly efficient mining machine; at twice the ability of the highest grade GPU to perform mathematical calculations.

However, configurations must be made on both software and hardware level, which made building a mining machine quite labor-intensive before it can run the code better and more efficiently than a GPU.

In 2013, Chinese company known as Canaan Creative came out with a pre-designed application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), which quickly overshadowed the cost efficiency gains of the GPUs and FPGA-built machines. It became the much awaited turning point in the history of bitcoin mining as the innovation led to the production of ASIC computer hardware specifically dedicated and optimized to perform calculations.

Other manufacturers like MicroBT and Bitmain later developed improved versions of ASIC chips combined with highly advanced hardware that can cost-effectively calculate a 100-billion times faster than the average CPU used back in 2009.

Wealthy HNW People Creating a Buzz for Showing Interests in Cryptocurrencies

There is an increasing number of wealthy people specifically coming the High Net Worth (HNW) sector who’ve been showing greater interest in cryptocurrency. This came as a revelation of the study conducted by the deVere Group, an independent financial advisory organization who conducted a similar survey last year.

What is noteworthy is that this year’s deVere survey shows that about 73% of their respondents expressed interest in buying their own digital assets before reaching 2022; indicating a huge increase when compared to last year’s findings of only 68% who showed inclinations toward investing in cryptocurrencies.

According to the study, it is apparent that many now perceive the potential of digital currencies as the likely money of the future,. Not a few professied interests simply because they do not want to stay behind in the past.

About the deVere Group’s Cryptocurrency Survey

The deVere Group made a timely release of its latest study, as the report came out on the same day when Bitcoin’s total market cap recorded a peak of $336 billion, while bitcoin price rallied to reach over $18,000, almost duplicating the $19,763 record-high milestone achieved in December 2017.

This year’s study involved a survey of more than 700 High Net Worth individuals or HNWs coming from various regions such as Asia, Africa, UK, US, Latin America, Australia, and the Middle East. While the term Net Worth in accounting denotes the value of assets after all liabilities and capitalization have been deducted from assets, the term High Net Worth individuals in the financial markets, refer to those whose uncommitted assets amount to at least US$5 million.

The deVere Group found that almost 75% of the millionaires who responded to their survey are either owners of crypto assets or are of the mindset to invest in cryptocurrencies before the year 2022.is over.

The Increasing Interest in Crypto Assets Among High Net Worth People of Wall Street

The CEO of the deVere Group, Nigel Green remarked that it does not come as a surprise that crypto assets, particularly bitcoin, is attracting numerous rich investors; showing interests on how digital currencies work. After all, Bitcoin is constantly performing well with its year-to-date showing of 125% growth.

Among the rich HNW investors who participated in the survey, not o few are connected with the largest Wall Street Banks,. Several of whom are now trying the cryptocurrency services being offered by PayPal, which mainly offers buying, selling and holding of digital currencies and not as a form of online payment. .

Unlike before when those in Wall Street were at first skeptical of Bitcoin, many are now beginning to accept the concept of digital currencies. Even Jamie Dimon,, the CEO and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase who once said Bitcoin is some sort of a fraud is giving a different opinion. In a latest New York Times interview, Mr. Dimon proclaimed that he is now open to the concept of crypto assets but believes the blockchain technologies supporting cryptocurrencies should be properly backed and regulated.

HNW billionaire Ray Dalio, who is a hedge fund manager still expressed reservations toward cryptocurrencies specifically for Bitcoin. Nonetheless, Mr. Dalio has now expressed willingness to learn about cryptocurrencies and be corrected in his views about Bitcoin. In his tweets, he also mentioned that he still cannot envision big institutional investors, central banks, and multinational companies using digital currencies.

FB’s Calibra to Offer Payment Processing Services in Lieu of Libra Cryptocurrency

The latest about Facebook’s cryptocurrency project known as Libra, is Calibra’s shift in the development of a conventional payment processing system.

The partnership with the non-profit Libra Association is no longer focused on developing blockchain technology to support FB’s Libra token. It can be recalled that the plan encountered serious opposition from legislators and regulators. During last year’s Congressional hearings, FB officials who were grilled by House Representatives failed to provide credible defense of its ability to protect potential consumers, who will consider using the Libra cryptocurrency.

Can FB’s Calibra Offer the Same Financial Services of WeChat Pay?

The opposition to Facebook’s cryptocurrency project is mostly due to the social media site’s involvement in several scandals affecting the security and privacy of user information. Nonetheless, the FB subsidiary still plans to launch a payment processing system called Facebook Pay.

In doing so, FB will be able to offer FB users the same e-wallet services that leading mobile social-app WeChat provides to its millions of app users. Although it is not yet clear if Calibra will have the same features as WeChat Pay and its QR Code payment protocols.

The Calibra platform’s digital payment system will accept government-backed currencies like the U.S. dollar, U.K pounds, Canadian dollars, Australian dollars and the likes. Eventually, Calibra’s payment systems will include Libra tokens as part of the currency options available to FB users

FB’s payment processing subsidiary is set to launch its platform in October, after Trump’s ban on the China-developed mobile messaging and social app WeChat, takes effect on September 20, 2020.

However, it is still not clear whether U.S. lawmakers and regulators will allow Facebook to operate its Calibra subsidiary as a financial services provider, Zuckerberg’s plans to capture former WeChat app users via a Calibra app, can still face regulatory pressures.

Singapore Moves Forward w/ Law Legitimizing Cryptocurrency as Payment Mode

The government of Singapore has taken a step forward in recognizing cryptocurrencies as legal tender through the Payment Services Act (PSA).

The Act, which passed parliamentary legislation last January 2020 includes cryptocurrency as among the specific payment services allowed as part of the country’s payment systems; officially categorizing digital coin payments under “digital payment token services.”

The PSA sets the regulatory guidelines that the Monetary Authority of Singapore will follow in overseeing not only cryptocurrency operations but all other payment services currently being utilized in the country’s payment system.

The list of specified payment services mentioned in the new legislation includes: payment accounts creation, local money transfers, foreign or cross-border money transfers, merchant-purchases payment services, e-money issuances, digital or cryptocurrency payment services and money-changing activities.

MAS Allows 7 Cryptocurrency Firms to Operate Pending License Approval

As a demonstration of the government’s willingness to promote new and innovative payment methods, the Monetary Authority of Singapore gave 7 cryptocurrency operators temporary authority to operate.

Within a period of 6 months, Coinbase, Binance, Bitstamp, Luno, Gemini, Wirex and Upbit can offer cryptocurrencies as modes of payment, while pending the MAS’ decisions on whether to approve or reject their respective license application.

Their immediate acceptance as part of Singapore’s payment system was in line with their early compliance in notifying MAS about their cryptocurrency operations in Singapore

SEC and FBI Views on Cryptocurrency Rise Amidst COVID-19

Cryptocurrency Frauds

While the U.S. SEC sees the rise in cryptocurrency a good sign, the FBI sees the increase as a sign of more cryptocurrency frauds taking place.

Only recently, Ms. Hester Peirce, the current commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), was pleased to note that many investors are carrying out investment strategies by diversifying portfolios; including investing in cryptocurrency markets.

The SEC Commissioner, who has oft been described as crypto-friendly, said the COVID-19 crisis, albeit disrupting all industries, has underscored the significance of conducting work and business using virtual spaces. That being the case, many have also shown interest in diversifying their investment portfolio by way of the crypto space.

However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seeing a different side when it comes to increased cryptocurrency demand. The FBI is wary that with the increase in demand for cryptocurrency, there will be a corollary increase in cryptocurrency scams and fraud schemes.

New Modi Operandi Employed by Crypto Scammers

The FBI gives advice about new cryptocurrency fraud schemes by providing details on how scammers and fraudsters carry out their crypto-malfeasances.

One of the most common is by sending out emails containing threats of blackmails. The modus operandi is to demand crypto payment in exchange for a piece of information that could embarrass you, your family or your business. Currently during the COVID-19 health crisis, blackmails come with threats of infecting you and everyone close to you, with COVID-19, regardless of whether the blackmail threat is founded on truth or conjectures. :

Some work-from-home (WFH) employees have been duped into believing that a caller is his or her employer, who is making a request to deposit crypto funds to a nonprofit organization as donation. The request is made on the pretext that the employer does not have cryptocurrency but would like to make a donation to an organization that is accepting only crypto money. The WFH employee will be given assurance that the employer will reimburse him or her as soon as the crypto donation has been confirmed.

Luring customers to buy non-existent treatments or or a piece of equipment that comes with guarantee to protect buyers from coronavirus infection. However, the seller accepts only cryptocurrency payments being a more secure form payment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These are only some examples of cryptocurrency frauds that have surfaced ever since countries have put citizens under national lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

UK Cryptocurrency Firms Face Tougher Regulations Under the Brexit Regime

After Great Britain’s Brexit, or withdrawal from the European Union, became official last January 31, 2020, the country’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) came out with a formal announcement of its sole authority to monitor and regulate cryptocurrency-related activities.

According to the FCA announcement published last January 10, 2020, the focus of supervision will be the UK-registered businesses engaged in cryptocurrency operations and their compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorist Financing (CTF) regulations and requirements.

Even prior to Brexit, the FCA had issued a warning in July 2019 to UK-based cryptocurrency firms. As a regulatory body, it deems cryptocurrencies as “ill-suited” to offer as investment products to small investors. The FCA believes that cryptocurrencies offered as exchange-traded notes and derivatives, pose a great risk to consumers due to the widespread misinformation about them as a financial product.

The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulator for all financial services companies and financial markets in Great Britain. On the other hand, banks, credit unions, insurers, major investment firms and building societies, are under the regulatory supervision of the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), to which the primary goal of regulations is to promote the safety and soundness of those types of firms.

FCA’s List of Requirements for Cryptocurrency Businesses Based in the UK

Along with the announcement of its authority to regulate UK firms engaged in cryptocurrency operations, the FCA also provided a list of requirements with which such businesse must comply.

1. Conduct risk identification and assessment pertaining to AML and CFT

2. Development of policies and controls aimed at eliminating identified risks related to AML and CFT.

3. Apply customer due diligence by identifying and verifying customers by obtaining customer name and photograph based on an official document confirming a person’s identity, date of birth and residential address.

The FCA also stated

“We intend to proactively supervise compliance with the new regulations, and will take quick action when and where firms fall short of desired standards in ways that cause risks to the integrity of the UK market”

China’s Cryptography Law Takes Effect : Introduction of First National Cryptocurrency to Follow

China’s Cryptography Law, which the National People’s Congress legislated and passed sometime in October 2019, took effect last January 01, 2020. The law intends to regulate cryptocurrency encryptions as a way of strengthening the safeguards against the threats posed by cryptocurrency operations to China’s national security.

In fact instead of combatting the blockchain technology system supporting cryptocurrency operations, the China’s State Cryptography Administration (SCA) of the Chinese Communist Party, developed the guidelines on how cryptography should be used by both the private and public sector.

According to reports, it took the SCA five (5) years to develop the initial draft that details the guidelines promulgated as Cryptography Law. Although viewed as a way of fostering the cryptocurrency business in China, it is largely perceived as a precursor to future laws that will govern the use, operation and application of China’s own Central-Bank backed cryptocurrency.

Currently called as the Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC, its introduction will make China the first country to introduce a national cryptocurrency unit.

Overview of What China’s Cryptography Law Includes

The primary purpose of China’s Cryptography Law is to regulate encryption in its use for cryptocurrency operations that fall in line with the blockchain technology. The Cryptography legislation enumerates and describes three different types of encryption : Core, Common and Commercial encryptions.

Core and Common encryptions pertain to codes used in safeguarding all state secrets, which are further sub-categorized as “Secret,” “Highly Secret” and “Top Secret”. The Cryptography Law requires all agencies of the public sector to use core and common encryption in storing and transmitting state secrets contextual to China’s national security.

Private sector firms on the other hand have to use Commercial codes to protect their proprietary trade secrets.

In imposing the Cryptography Law, the main guiding principle is the protection of China’s national security. Therefore the new law sets forth guidelines on how cryptography should be used to help safeguard national security against cyber security threats on a nationwide scale.

Threats include encryption efforts deemed as causing harm to the Chinese Communist Party and any application that undermines public interest and the country’s national security.
That being stated, China’s Cryptography Law also gives details about punishment on anyone found using codes that threaten the state and its citizens.

Moreover, the law specifically states that companies in the business of providing cryptographic systems to consumers must first undergo examination and and authentication performed by the Chinese state.

China’s Cryptography Law Does not Bar Foreign Participation in China’s Cryptocurrency Industry

Enactment of the Cryptograph Law does not bar foreign users and providers of foreign encryption systems to participate in the country’s cryptocurrency industry.

However, international legal experts are wary of the conditions under which foreigh digital currency will work. The Cryptography Law allows a foreign cryptocurrency entity’s participation provided it merits the approval and certification of the state; albeit without any clear descriptions on how this condition can be met.

The condition also denotes that the Chinese government has the right to examine the underlying source code of any new digital currency technology, as a means of ensuring the protection of national security. It worries lawyers that in vetting a cryptocurrency company toward the issuance of a certification, the Chinese government will have backdoor access to the private and/or foreign entity’s cryptocurrency system.

SEC Dismisses Bitcoin ETF Proposal : Bitcoin Market Not Mature Enough

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finally came out with an official decision to dismiss proposals for creating a Bitcoin ETF market. The rejection though does not come as a surprise to Bitcoin ETF proponents, given the complexity of how cryptocurrency exchanges work via the blockchain technology.

According to legal experts, the SEC’s main worries include the bitcoin market’s high level of potential for fraud and manipulation; whilst regarded by U.S. regulators as an investment tool that is yet too small and still immature to support.

Although Bitwise officials contended in its proposal that the need for a Bitcoin ETF arises from their research findings that 95% of crypto currency tradings are not legitimate, this reasoning did not work to support its case.

What Makes a Bitcoin ETF Different from Bitcoin?

Bitcoin may be the largest digital currency in the crypto money market but is still unregulated, despite its popularity as a digital asset that can be exchanged and traded for profit.

If recognized by the SEC as legitimately traded investment tool, the price of Bitcoin ETF will be monitored and tracked. That way, interested bitcoin investors need only to determine the current price and market performance of bitcoins, without having to own and trade bitcoins just to do so.

An SEC approved Bitcoin ETF eliminates the need to be invested in bitcoin, which comes with worries on how to best deal with the complexities of its storage and security features. Bitcoin digital money is unlike the more common types of ETFs, such as shares of stocks and/or commodities bonds, which simply have investors looking closely at a related price when venturing into buying or selling an ETF commodity as an investment asset.

In becoming a Bitcoin ETF, the cryptocurrency becomes a type of marketable security that investors can buy and trade based on current index price and performance. As such, bitcoin companies will be under SEC’s system of surveillance-sharing agreement, to which they will allow tracking and close monitoring of how the bitcoin digital money is moving in terms of buying and selling activities.

The bitcoin though flows in a largely unregulated environment; making the SEC hesitant to allow a Bitcoin ETF participating as a type of publicly traded investment tool.

Key Players To Make The Blockchain Technology And Cryptocurrency Mainstream

Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin in particular, has about 14 million in distribution despite its instability. Because of its volatility, free and paid crypto signals are available in the market for real time trade recommendations and ideas to ensure users and investors do trades that are favorable to them.

Investors who are surmising the future potentials of the blockchain and cryptocurrency have pushed most of the present market cap, and this is probably to continue until a particular measure of stability in value as well as acceptance in the market is realized. Aside from the specified value, those invested in crptocurrency seem to be depending on a distinguished “inherent value” of crypto.

The public ledger of the blockchain technology underlying cryptocurrency has the capacity to disturb an extensive multiplicity of transactions, including the usual systems of payments. These ropes in bonds, stocks, as well as other financial assets wherein records are digitally put in storage and where it presently necessitate a reliable intermediary to verify transactions.

Key Market Players to Forward the Evolution of Cryptocurrency

For the cryptocurrency market to attain its subsequent stage in its progression en route for mainstream acceptance as well as steady expansion, key market players have an important role to play.

Consumers and Merchants

Cryptocurrencies offer consumers cheaper as well as quicker peer-to-peer alternatives for payment compared to those offered by the usual financial service providers, not having to supply any personal data. Although cryptos carry on to get some approval as an option for payment, volatility of price as well as the speculative investments urge consumers to not make use of crypto to buy products and services but to trade it instead.

Tech Developers

Numerous brilliant tech developers have dedicated their efforts to mining cryptocurrency, whereas others have concentrated on activities that are more entrepreneurial in nature like creating wallet services, exchanges, as well as alternative digital currencies. For the crypto market to get acceptance from the mainstream, consumers and businesses will have to see crypto as a solution that’s user-friendly as compared to the usual transactions. Moreover, the industry must develop teachnologies and protocos for cybersecurity.

Investors

Generally, investors seem to be certain of the opportunities linked with crypto as well as cryptography. The underlying technology’s “inherent value” provides investors with a reliable reason to be hopeful about it.

Regulators

The governments’ attitudes are erratic in terms of the classification, management as well as the legality of crypto. Furthermore, regulations in various regions are evolving at dissimilar paces.

Financial Institutions

For a long time, financial institutions like banks have linked individuals with money to those who require it. However, this intermediary status has been weakened, and disintermediation in the sector of banking has quickly evolved. The outcome is the emergence of Internet banking and the increased utilization of alternative methods of payments by consumers.

Plus Token Scammers Still in Control of Huge Sum of Stolen Cryptocurrency

During the later part of June, 2019, complaints from Plus Token e-wallet users in China, South Korea and Japan about their inability to withdraw from their account, had prompted Chinese law enforcement authorities to act swiftly. Their initial investigations led to the arrest of six (6) Chinese nationals working as core team of the Plus Token mobile wallet operation.

Dovey Wan Blows the Whistle on Plus Token’s Ponzi-Like Scheme to Alert the Cryptocurrency Community

News of the arrest did not receive wide coverage, which apparently was still under investigations. However, in early July, Dovey Wan, co-founder of cryptocurrency company Primitive Ventures noticed that the Plus Token site was moving out digital money in small amounts.

The movements made use of e-wallets not registered with the company when traded with crypto exchangers Bittrex, Binance and Huobi.

Although Ms. Wan tweeted about a possible Ponzi Scheme happening at the Plus Token site, cryptocurrency exchangers were unable to identify which e-wallet to block, since there were no digital currency transactions directly related to Plus Token.

Apparently, the Plus Token scammers have taken advantage of the sophisticated blockchain system of recording transactions. In using encryptions containing public and private key codes instead of real information about traders, the blockchain system makes it difficult to immediately trace and establish the identity of persons involved in cryptocurrency transactions.

As Dovey Wan had found out and later tweeted, unidentified Plus Token operators still at large were able to transfer around 70K Bitcoin(BTC) and 800K Ethereum (ETH) early in July. Ms. Wan summed up the entire amount that Plus Token had stolen from its investors, and arrived at an overwhelming estimate of about $3.2 billion-worth of cryptocurrency. .

The major players behind the Plus Token Ponzi-scheme still has control over the stolen cryptocurrency. Since July, they have have been transferring the digital money into different crypto wallets from which they can withdraw and convert the cryptocurrency into real money.

Crypto-Analyst Firm Reports that Plus Token Scammers Used Online Mixing Services to Pre-Launder the Stolen Cryptocurrencies

A related report coming from Token Analyst, a London-based crypto-analytic firm, said that the Plus Token scammers have been using online mixing services as a means of masking the origins of their fraudulent blockchain transactions even before the scam was discovered. Doing so enabled the fraudsters to trade the stolen digital currency at legitimate exchangers since the cryptocurrency online mixers were able to mix the money in different e-wallet accounts owned by Plus Token.

That being the case, the stolen money have been laundered and made to look like legitimate funds used for conventional transactions via the blockchain platform.

Various Helpful Applications of Cryptocurrency in Modern Life!

To a great number of people, cryptocurrencies are seen to be a risky investment. This is true especially among insiders in Silicon Valley and millennials. But what they are actually missing is, in the midst of hype and talks about these digital currencies, it was programmed to “do something”. Thus, it has wide range of use.

Because Sending Money is now more Simplified!

A very popular advantage associated to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin is it capability to send and to receive payments at high speed and low cost. Now, if this money would go through traditional mediums, the fees will be significantly higher. Not to mention, there are going to be lots of processes it will go through before the receiver actually receives the money.

Just think of the inconvenience that it has. What more if that money is needed urgently?

For sure, you aren’t thinking that your assets and your bank account will be frozen anytime soon. But sorry to break this to you, this is a real-life situation and it has happened already to lots of people. All it needs is for a person be accused of financial misconduct. After that, it’s goodbye with your money and assets. When this happens, people have nowhere else to go but to accept the fact that they have nothing and fight for what they believe is right.

Use Crypto as a Form of Investment

With the onset of digital currencies fundraising, it helped anyone who has a connection to the internet to invest in early-stage startup techs. At the same time, it provides new startups with the funds and capital they need to continue their business. Basically, it is a win-win situation for everyone.

If the investment has pushed through, founders will be able to rake in profits, likewise with the investors.

Now, if you want to buy cryptocurrencies and use it for investment, or you are a budding entrepreneur who lacks of funds, you can take advantage of tradeline sales web site to acquire additional funding needed.

It’s Leveling the Field

Back then, getting access to these types of deals will only be available to seasoned and experienced capitalists. Thanks to the introduction of cryptocurrency, it has carved way in creating new opportunities to a wider spectrum of investors. Having said that, small entities can now compete with bigger and more established companies. Thus, it gives everyone an equal chance to earn.

How Cryptocurrencies Work : Understanding the Blockchain Technology

Cryptocurrencies as medium of payments, investments or borrowings can only transpire by way of blockchain technology. It is important therefore to have a thorough understanding how one becomes a cryptocurrency owner in order to take part in transactions using digital currency as medium.

First off, bitcoin is only one of numerous cryptocurrencies used to transact business outside of the conventional financial institutions. Digital currencies other than bitcoin are collectively called altcoins, which is short for alternative coins. Some examples of popular altcoins are Litecoins, Ethereum, Ripple, ZCash, and Cardano; there are several more available as an alternative to bitcoin.

Secondly, cryptocurrency transactions require the use of a blockchain platform or application in order to connect to other cryptocurrency users, to third party digital currency brokers, to traders or digital currency-wallet providers.

Thirdly, there are two ways by which an individual can acquire a particular cryptocurrency. One is by buying a preferred type of digital money from a broker or from an e-wallet provider using actual cash. The other method is by earning a unit of cryptocurrency for solving every set of related cryptocurrency transactions recorded in a blockchain open ledger. Solving and linking encryptions used in the blockchain ledger is a method of confirming the validity of a transaction that made use of bitcoin or a type of altcoin as payment or exchange mode.

How Does the Blockchain Technology Record and Validate Bitcoin Transactions?

The reason why this cryptocurrency technology is called a block chain is because several digital currency transactions occurring via a blockchain platform will be linked. The purpose of which is to tell a story of how one bitcoin or altcoin user came to own his or her cryptocurrency, and of how he made use of that particular virtual money.

A block refers to the time-stamped cryptogram code used in recording each related transaction in the blockchain ledger. Every block contains the cryptogram code containing the public key generated by the blockchain platform and the private key supplied by the cryptocurrency sender or payer.

Difference Between a Blockchain Public Key and Private Key

A public key is an encryption that identifies the kind of transaction that the blockchain will record. Let us say BitUser A buys $50 worth of bitcoin from BitTrader B. The public key generated by the blockchain platform will refer to this transaction. In order to complete a block, BitTrader B as sender must provide the private key to validate his authorization for issuing the bitcoin.

A private key therefore validates a cryptocurrency user’s ownership of the digital money being transferred to another. An owner receives a private key every time he receives digital currency as part of a chain of transactions. If the private key is invalid or missing, the transaction will not go through since it remains unconfirmed or unvalidated.

In our example, bitcoin recipient BitUser A received a private key, which serves as his authority to use or transfer the digital money to another recipient. In the same way, the new recipient will also receive a private key that will allow him to transact his own virtual currency deal. Miners will then solve and link all blocks of cryptogram codes connected to the bitcoin purchased by BitUser A. Doing so provides full authentication that all virtual currency used in the series of transactions came from legitimate owners.

Tax On Cryptocurrencies

The season of Tax is the time when taxpayers prepare their financial accounts and reports of the year prior. It commences in January and concludes in April. For many taxpayers, preparing tax could be a bit difficult especially if they are hopeful for a better return on their tax, which is why they employ the help of a Tucson tax preparer or any other tax prepare in their locale. In the US, the annual tax returns of individuals must be filed by the 15^th of April subsequent the reported earnings.

Taxes are obligatory fees levied or imposed on people and businesses or corporations and is implemented by a local, regional or national government so as to finance public services and programs and government undertakings. In economics, these taxes befall whoever pays the tax, such as businesses and the consumers of the products and goods.

Tax on Cryptocurrencies

By now, we all know that cryptocurrencies are digital currencies or virtual money that is built with cryptographic codes that provide secure transactions. Cryptocurrencies are difficult to fake compared to the traditional currency that we have. Because of its rising popularity and use, the law considers cryptocurrencies as property, which are subjected to the regulations of capital gains and losses similar to reals estate, bonds, stocks, as well as other types of property. Hence, tax should be levied.

In the US, paying taxes on cryptocurrecines like Bitcoin has become a priority for many individuals after the Internal Revenue Service or IRS publicized on the 2^nd of July 2018 that one of their primary efforts for the year is the taxation of cryptocurrencies or virtual currencies.

With cryptocurrencies, the challenge related to taxes is the data or records composing the all transactions such as the mining income, buys and sells, trades and transfers, as well as other activities involving cryptocurrencies. These data or records are most probably distributed across numerous diverse platforms and exchanges, therefore making the calculation of tax and the process of reporting very difficult.

Making Crypto Tax Reporting Easier

Always keep a record of all your cryptocurrency exchange, where you sold or bought them.

Keep records or accounts of any cryptocurrencies that you have received or accepted as an income

Learn and train yourself to calculate or compute your bitcoin gains and losses as well as on your investments on cryptocurrencies

Just like taxpayers who seek help from tax preparers, get the advice or help of an expert on crypto tax

Report your losses on cryptocurrencies to save on your US tax bill

Business Finance Strategy : Establishing a Working Capital Fund

Develop an understanding of the importance of a financial strategy when venturing into a business. Bear in mind that going into business is not just about making profit from an innovative product or idea.

Making profit is merely the goal, while the money infused as capital to build the business is the foundation. Money is invested to acquire assets to use in selling an innovation whether as a product or as a form of service. It is therefore pertinent to have a financial strategy on how to make vested money and profit yields work toward building a sound financial condition for the business.

It is not wise to let a business run without having any business financial plan integrated as part of management processes. Simply going where the business flow takes you is a flimsy business finance strategy. Mainly because this is a hit-and-miss stance which could find your business drifting while waiting for a lucky break, or eventually veer away from what you originally perceived as your business mission.

Example of a Business Finance Strategy

We have established beforehand that the main goal of operating a business and of investing seed money into a business is to generate profit. If you are a startup venturer, it is best to keep your profit making goals in proportion to your seed capital. Avoid aiming for big profits by entering into get-rich-quick methods or by way of unfair trading practices. Such methods may work at first, but will eventually backfire on you.

A business finance strategy is incorporated as part of a business plan. In a detailed manner, the strategy specifies how cash that is available on hand will be allocated and used in running the business.

Establishment of a Working Capital Fund

An example of a business finance strategy is one that establishes a Working Capital fund. The fund must be placed in a deposit account in order to segregate money purely for operational purposes. Other liquid capital funds must be allotted for investing on a major additional asset, or for the settlement of current liabilities or long term-obligation in a planned manner.

The next strategy is to implement a system of projecting cash flows for each month, as a way of earmarking Working Capital funds. That way money collected from business operations, flowing in as additional working capital fund will only represent increments. At the end of a cash flow period, any amount exceeding the original balance of the Working Capital Fund will immediately identify the operating period as a growth month.

On the other hand, if at the end of the period the Working Capital Fund is less than the original balance, then a deficit occurred. This denotes that business operations for the month did not bring in enough cash to cover the expenditures for the period, let alone generate potential increments to the capital funds.

In such cases the Working Capital fund requires replenishment, but a review of the cash receipts, expenses and other disbursements must be performed to ensure propriety and validity of transactions that resulted to a deficit.

Digital Currencies Will Change The Financial Landscape

Cryptocurrencies, Cryptocurrency Frauds

You must have certainly heard about digital currencies or what is known these days as cryptocurrencies. Bitcoins, Peercoins, and others are becoming more and more popular in the marketplace. Statista says that there are more than 1400 Bitcoin ATM all over the world. Cryptocurrency is also becoming a trend in many online deals for various industries.

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As we are entering another decade of this digital era, the financial industry will continue to revolutionize and make a huge change in the way we deal with our transactions and savings. We are almost in the era of cashless transactions as we embrace electronic and digital currencies.

Let’s take a look at the professionals’ point of view on the impact of digital currencies in the financial landscape in the years to come.

1. Inexpensive International Money Transfers

Digital currencies are a huge help for international money transfers. Many people can take advantage of bitcoins to receive or send money internationally. This bypasses expensive foreign exchange services of banks and other payment processors.

2. Better Security To Protect Digital Currencies

At present, it’s unfortunate that a few of us lost money in online transactions. Regardless of how small or big the amount of lost, financial technology will move to develop a stronger, more secure system to protect digital money and digital transactions.

3. Alternate Currency Reserve (In Volatile Economies)

Digital currency is relatively new thus it is less stable when compared to currencies such as the EUR and USD. However in several nations susceptible to inflation like Venezuela, their digital currency, bitcoin is in more ways stable compared to their own national currency. As a result, it’s no surprise that the use of Bitcoin in Venezuela has expanded almost seven times at the start of the year.

4. Efficiency – Faster, Easier, And More Secure Payments

Digital currencies make payments faster, simpler and even more secure. Because of efficiency when using digital currencies, this could impact how banking institutions work. Banks should commence using the concept of digital currency.

5. Market Transparency

Digital currencies lead to changing the conventional way of doing business. People who use digital currencies appreciate market transparency. The availability of public ledger creates transparency for all users. For this reason, there is a big chance that traditional transactions will go down while digital currencies will continue to rise and may take over the financial system.

6. Cryptocurrency Empowers The People

Cryptocurrencies will be less complicated due to lesser intermediation. With this new structure, the cryptocurrency code will set the rules. Bank personnel that took advantage of the system their own personal profit will eventually suffer a loss from their misdeeds. This revised financial structure eliminates the banking institutions as the middle person and gives more power and flexibility to the people.

7. Possibilities of One World Currency

We are moving towards global conglomerate that digital currency could become a currency for the entire world having the same value regardless of the country and removes expensive currency exchange rate as we know today.

Digital currencies as we know today serves a lot of benefit to many users. Although it is not yet widely accepted by the general public, the vision that most finance professionals are looking at could be possible. In fact, we have started way back then when financial technology had been introduced starting with credit cards and ATM machines.

Understanding Blockchain As A Lawyer

Lawyers follow blockchain developments with great interest. The underlying blockchain technology will lead to a revolution on several fronts.

From the point of view of many lawyers, blockchain will also change the legal world. Lawyers enlisted with LA Century Law recognize these changes and thus take time to understand blockchain as a whole. Lawyers often receive questions related to bitcoin, ICO, and the AFM. Thus, it is their duty to review these questions and provide an answer based on their legality.

It is striking that the media often states that it will mainly concern virtual money (bitcoin or ethereum, or other altcoins), but little is written about the underlying technology, blockchain. Here too, the financial supervisor keeps an eye on developments and (fortunately) recognizes the possibilities.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain is the structure behind (among other things) the bitcoin network (and now various blockchain networks). It’s a tricky subject but there’s a simple explanation. The blockchain consists of an infrastructure of transactions, which are validated by the network. These transactions are performed within a blockchain network, a decentralized database in which all transactions are registered and validated. The reliability of the transactions is continuously validated by the network itself.

Nodes (computers within a blockchain network) verify all information through algorithmic calculations and then agree on it. When all nodes together have reached consensus, then they agree to the transaction and it is added to the chain of the blockchain as a valid block. Sounds complicated, but is actually simple as it is.

Blockchain: the new internet or is it just hype?

Blockchain is often difficult to handle because blockchain technology is not yet widely applied, but blockchain technology will be widely implemented in the next ten years. Sometimes a comparison is made with a ledger. Lawyers also use a third party (trusted third parties, such as a bank, notary, a broker) for a transaction, but that can change with blockchain technology.

Blockchain is a common, digital administration, in which the blockchain itself ensures the validation of every transaction. The transaction is presented online as a block and that block contains all the information about the transaction. This block is then checked by miners. The miners receive a small compensation for the work they provide. If the miners in the network decide that it is a valid transaction, the block is approved and added to the blockchain. That can be a transaction in money, but it doesn’t have to be.

The possibilities of blockchain are endless. Every transaction can take place via a blockchain; This includes providing certain services, wages, administration, everywhere that currently requires an intermediary, but broad applications can also be applied (controlling drones, robots, etc.).

The advantage of blockchain technology is that the network ensures that no fraudulent transactions can take place. These simply do not pass the control of the blockchain and the transaction does not take place. Moreover, the great advantage of a blockchain is that the transparent administration can always be found in detail. All transactions with data, balances, and properties can be found on the blockchain. That is why the term “single source of truth ” is used.

Blockchain lawyer about risks

At the moment we are still on the eve of the implementation of blockchain technology and it is regrettable that it is also being misused, but lawyers are convinced that the technology will be further evaluated and the world will have changed in ten years’ time. When applying Blockchain technology, privacy (the forthcoming European Regulation on personal data), the financial supervisor (the AFM and the DNB), errors in coding, etc. must also be considered.

Build Income through Monthly Income Investments

Most people earn their money through purposeful, social, planned and conscious, physical and mental activity.

Passive income, in turn, means generating income without any direct consideration. It thus represents the counterpart to active, work-based income or monthly income investments.

However, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to do anything. Passive income is about making regular earnings with a one-time investment. You can either invest financially or in the form of labour.

How long it takes to build a steady passive income depends entirely on the type of income source you choose. One thing is certain. You don’t generate passive income overnight.

Monthly income investments through Cryptocurrencies

To build a passive income with cryptocurrencies, you can choose between several methods.

Mining: With mining, you make your computing power available and receive payment for it in the form of Bitcoin and the like. However, you need advanced technical knowledge and must first invest a lot of money in high-performance hardware.

Staking: Fewer resources are required for staking and, compared to mining, it is a somewhat easier method to generate passive income with cryptocurrencies. They keep money in your wallet and take on various network functions. Checking or verifying transactions is common. You will then receive staking rewards for completing it.

Lightning Node: By operating a Lightning Node, you provide payment channels through which people can carry out their Bitcoin transactions. You will receive fees for every transaction. However, this requires very extensive technical know-how.

P2P loans: To receive interest in return, you can offer your cryptocurrency assets to other private individuals. This method also offers technically inexperienced people the opportunity to earn money with cryptocurrencies.

Acquire customers: Crypto companies are interested in attracting as many users as possible to their platforms. Because of this, they are often willing to pay commissions when you generate new customers for them. You can do this, for example, through advertising, affiliate links or recommendations.

Monthly income investments: Passive Income through crypto and other forms

There are now many people who have earned a golden nose through real estate, stocks or affiliate marketing. And the list is getting longer and longer.

So it can be said that there are many opportunities for passive income. But even with the most successful people, this did not happen overnight.

First-Class Investment For Building Wealth

Although the interest rates on traditional investments such as savings accounts, fixed-term deposits and overnight deposits have been at their lowest point for years, these are still among the most popular investments. However, investors cannot generate a reasonable return with it. To invest your money profitably, there are better investments. Every investment has its advantages and disadvantages.

Aplus asset: How can consumers invest their money properly?

First of all, reducing debt comes before investing.

If potential investors are debt-free, these are the next steps:

Get an overview of your financial situation and find out how much money is freely available for 해외선물.
Define investment goals
Determine different types of investment in order to diversify the risk of loss. The principle of “putting everything on one card” is bad advice when it comes to investing.

Aplus asset: Find the right investment

In order to avoid a total loss, it is important to build your own investment on several pillars. The past shows, for example, that funds with an investment horizon of at least 15 years have often developed positively. But nobody can look into the future. Smart investors know about their risk and therefore diversify their investments. Part of the capital should therefore be invested securely, for example in fixed deposits.

Aplus asset: How should you divide your investments?

Depending on the type of investor, there are different strategies for investing your money. Security-oriented types, for example, want more than 75 percent to rely on safe investments. With the remaining 25 percent, they are willing to take a little risk with overseas futures and the like.

For the other types, the following applies the more risk you want, the greater the proportion of capital that flows into equity funds. In the risk-oriented group, this can amount to 40 percent and more. For a bit of security, ten percent should flow into safe investments and into pension funds.

Aplus asset: Be aware of several investments and costs

There are many different ways that you can invest your money. To be satisfied with your investments in the long term, you should first find out all about your options. It makes sense not only to seek advice from the house bank but also to obtain further offers.

Suggestions On How To Invest In Bitcoins

The most recent craze in the financial world is undoubtedly Bitcoin. This virtual currency has been praised by people who believe in the concept. Other critics mainly see Bitcoin as a bubble without any real value. But what are Bitcoins actually? And where can you best invest in Bitcoins?

How can you best invest in Bitcoins?
When you invest or speculate on the price of Bitcoins, you naturally want to achieve the best result. For this, it is important to apply a good strategy. First, it is important to understand that Bitcoin is very news sensitive. Negative news can directly influence the price very negatively and vice versa. When a large party is hacked, the price can immediately collapse. If a bank indicates that it will support cryptocurrencies, this can actually push the price up. If you want to take maximum advantage of investing in Bitcoin such as ‘Yvonne Catterfeld Bitcoin’, it is, therefore, wise to take these movements as much as possible. Be sure to go short on Bitcoin when you expect a drop. When things go badly with Bitcoin, it can drop dramatically. Remember that every percent drop can be a percent gain for you the right way! If you want to buy Bitcoin for the long term, it is important to time it well. The Bitcoin price often moves in waves. The hype comes back to life when mostly positive news comes out. The trick is to buy Bitcoins when the price has plummeted. That way you have the most space to make a nice profit! Investing in Bitcoins is only suitable for the investor with nerves of steel. Do not expect the price to just go up. Set realistic goals and make a plan. That way you increase the chance of success!

What exactly are Bitcoins?
Bitcoin was first introduced in 2008 as a form of virtual currency that was issued without the involvement of Central Banks. The financial crises of the past period have led to a sharp decline in confidence in the banking sector. As a result, investing in Bitcoin was seen by many people as an attractive way to generate income without the intervention of traditional banks. Bitcoins can be mined by discovering specific numbers of 64 digits using an algorithm (a Bitcoin number is somewhat similar to a prime number). When someone has discovered a Bitcoin number, it can be traded. If someone is unable to discover a Bitcoin themselves, they now have the option to purchase Bitcoins or parts of Bitcoins that are offered for sale online. Bitcoin has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. People who bought Bitcoins in the early days made huge profits. It is therefore not surprising that many people are still interested in trading Bitcoins.

Risks of investing in Bitcoins
However, there are also risks. Central Banks, including the Nederlandsche Bank, warn against the risks. The Bitcoin exchange rate is very unstable. The volatility can ensure that you achieve a high return. If you’re not careful, the high volatility can also cause you to lose a hefty amount. Another risk of Bitcoins is the fact that the Bitcoin deposit guarantee scheme does not apply. This is because there is no central issuer of Bitcoin that can be held liable. There are also a number of legal questions. The anonymity of Bitcoin makes it interesting to use the currency in malicious transactions and to finance illegal activities. So it is important to be aware of the risks when you are going to invest in Bitcoin. You can lose your entire investment. There is also the risk that you will be robbed when physically buying Bitcoins.

Timing when investing in bitcoins
Timing is very important when you start investing in bitcoins: this is because the price of the cryptocurrency can fluctuate significantly. If you had invested € 100 in bitcoin in 2020, you would have had assets of almost € 500 million by the beginning of 2021! However, if you step in at the top, you can also lose a large part of your investment. People who invested € 100 at the peak of 2017 had only € 34 at the end of 2018. The problem with timing is that this is very difficult: few people manage to predict the market properly. It may therefore be smart to apply dollar-cost averaging. You then periodically buy up bitcoins, so that you buy at both the depths and the highs. Of course, you can adjust the strategy a bit to the situation: when the price has dropped considerably, you can buy extra and when the price has risen sharply you can even sell some bitcoins.

How can you trade bitcoin safely?
You read a lot of negative experiences about bitcoin on the internet. Precisely because bitcoin is so popular, you see that many people are being scammed. In the hope of getting rich, people buy bitcoins or other crypto coins from an unreliable party. Therefore, make sure that you buy the bitcoins from a reliable party such as Bitvavo In addition, avoid scams and do not accept offers that seem too good to be true. There is no unique formula when it comes to bitcoin investments. You can certainly get a high return with bitcoin investments, but there is also the chance that you will lose a large part of your money. Therefore, only invest in crypto coins with money that you can really afford to lose.

Examples of Key Differences between Traditional and Fintech Lenders

There is no doubt that fintechs in Australia have now established solid reputations for providing consumers, hassle-free and easy to access financing products. When compared to traditional lenders, there are stark differences between the two, particularly in conducting and carrying out key lending processes and activities.

First off, traditional lenders like banks, make the onboarding process tedious and time-consuming, while the opposite is true with fintechs. Primarily because fintechs leverage advanced technologies, including the use of online and mobile platforms.

Examples of Key Differences between Traditional and Fintech Lenders

Below are two examples of how such differences have given fintech lenders an edge over traditional lender:

Document/Data Collection and Loan Documentation

Applying for a loan or financing facility with traditional lenders entail visits to the brick-and-mortar office of a lending company — to manually fill up a loan application and to submit as well as sign the required documents. After which, traditional lenders will assign their in-house credit investigator to background check and verify the validity of information contained in the documents submitted by the loan applicant.

The entire process is not only time consuming, but also creates additional costs that loan applicants have to pay for as processing fees. At which point, the loan applicant will have shelled out a substantial amount of money just to have his or her application processed. Processing fees are paid even if there is still uncertainty if the traditional lender will approve or disapprove the loan application,

This is one aspect that fintech lenders have disrupted in traditional lending methods. Through the use of technological innovations, fintech lenders have enabled loan applicants to apply and submit documents at any given time and from any location by simply scanning and sending the scanned copies as attachment to emails. Validation of the information contained therein are carried out digitally and swiftly, to which the processing fees collected are minimal.

Moreover, fintech lending technologies allow approved borrowers to affix digital signatures on loan contracts and other related documents.

Credit Analysis and Underwriting

Traditional lenders are highly dependent on the analytical skills, capability and efficiency of Credit Analysts in determining the potential success of loans. Since the process of analyzing is done manually, it usually takes a credit analyst about 4 to 6 weeks to complete an analysis, before the Credit Manager can perform the underwriting process. This denotes an additional period before a loan applicant receives notice of approval or disapproval.

In contrast, lending companies that harness state of the art technologies use underwriting algorithms in analyzing the digitally collected information of loan applicants. The artificial intelligence (AI) of their analytics engine is self-learning, as it develops certain rules for discerning data available in government records, tax returns, credit history, location of applicant’s residence, number of household members and such other information used for generating a score that a Credit Manager uses as basis for decision making.

Awesome even, is that such processes can be completed in a matter of 24 hours at the most. That being the case, consumers and retailers do not lose time waiting for a fintech’s decision to approve or disapprove a financed purchase transaction.

Just some words of caution though, as the success of fintechs in Australia has also spawned the emergence of unscrupulous individuals who present themselves as tech-savvy lenders. Moreover, do not be too eager to close Australian car loans with car dealerships that are quick to close financing deals — especially if they are not holders of Australian Credit Licenses.

Be in the know that some unlicensed dealerships maintain sales-driven collaborations with traditional lenders. As such a financing transaction is actually between the traditional lender and the consumer, which gives the former the right to repossess the vehicle in the event the consumer fails to make a specific number of monthly payments.

Why Canadians Are Having A Hard Time Saving Money

The huge bulk (85 percent) of Canadians agree that they “have to save money, but almost two-thirds (64 percent) aren’t making savings a priority,” uncovers a fresh CIBC (CM:TSX) (CM:NYSE) survey. And, while many admit they might get by with much less, several do, and several state “extra cash” is for “fun or pleasure.”

The Vast Majority of Canadians understand they want to conserve more, however, almost two-thirds are not making savings a priority: CIBC Poll (CNW Group/CIBC).

“With consumer spending nevertheless strong and fueled with a very long length of record low rates of interest, the analysis proves that very few Canadians are making savings a priority, and that’s about because we venture into the holiday spending season,” states David Nicholson, Vice-President, Imperial Service, CIBC. “That can be the time of year when a lot of people make space in our budget spending on presents, Black Friday and Cyber Monday earnings, and holiday celebrations, but do not think twice about just how small we have saved till sorrow walks in with our New Year’s resolutions.”

“People think that it’s too difficult to spare, but the simple reality is that we have simply become rusty at conserving. It is about changing your mindset, also getting into the habit of saving frequently,” states Mr. Nicholson. “The challenging part is working out self-control along with your spending so you can boost the amount that you save over time.”

No longer explanations

The vast majority of Canadians (82 percent) acknowledge they could invest, or get with, less every month — generally $360 less before setting the pinch.

Further, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) get “extra cash” annually — approximately $2,300 generally as far as $13,100 in the shape of cash gifts, employer incentives, and tax prices. However less than half (44 percent) will conserve the excess money, and just two in five say that the “extra cash is to get pleasure.”

ALSO READ: Digital Currencies Will Change The Financial Landscape

One of those who get additional cash, some by earning money online in Quebec (or argent en ligne quebec in French), during the entire year, many (66 percent) utilize it to purchase themselves presents, pay regular costs, or even to chip away at debt. Just two in five (41 percent) will place those additional funds aside for a crisis, or to increase retirement savings.

With interest rates expected to edge and individuals living longer in retirement, Canadians have to perform more than just spend less, states Mr. Nicholsonsaid

“The true issue is, how do you afford to save money? Each day that you delay starting a savings program, the more difficult and more costly it has to satisfy your own goals later in life,” he states. “The sooner you begin a savings strategy the earlier your money could be put to work for you.”

‘Give to’ yourself

The survey findings reveal that easy saving customs operate with over half (55 percent) of Canadians agreeing they would be more inclined to save in case a set amount went off their cover and into dedicated savings accounts.

“Educating yourself first is a simple and effective savings plan,” states Mr. Nicholson. “For many people, it is really simpler, to begin with, a savings target, place an automatic savings program to fulfill that aim, then, only spend what is left-handed.”

“Using a budget and budget helps decide the ideal savings level based on all your short- and – long-term targets and yearly cash flow. By preparing the withdrawal on money back, we eliminate the urge to spend those bucks, instead of attempting to conquer it,” he adds.

Earning cash to a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) will provide an additional boost to your own savings because the investment or interest income that is earned will probably soon be tax-free, helping your money grow quicker. Cash at a TFSA may likewise be removed without penalty and employed for several short- or – long-term savings targets, for example, to purchase a vehicle, renovate your house, have a holiday, tap it to get a crisis, or store it for retirement.

“Before you become prepared for the very first major shopping weekend of this season, consider twice and place yourself on the peak of the gift-giving listing,” states Mr. Nicholson. “We automate our invoice payments, why don’t you automate our economies? It will be able to let you get through the approaching season, and receive your savings on course.”

5 hacks for fail-proof economies

Get to a savings mindset
Establish a target
Decide just how much you can reduce
Ensure it is automatic and regular
Maintain credit and spending in assessing

Debt Collection – Avoiding Delinquent Debts In The Future

Recovering debts or unpaid invoices is vital to any business or company as this plays a crucial part in your cashflow. Whether you own the business, are the manager of accounts receivables, or simply the one in charge of retrieving the unpaid invoices of the business, the task of following-up on these aging debts is never easy, fun or a favorite job to do. This is probably why some businesses delay this task which causes poor cash flow as well as an unhealthy business outcome. While some businesses don’t see this as a priority, following up and collecting delinquent debts should be one of your top priorities if you want your business to remain afloat.

Carrying Out Debt Collection

Debt collection isn’t easy which is why you need to have effective and efficient collection strategies and practices as well as maximize the know-hows of your collection team. However, if you don’t have a collection team or have insufficient internal resources to carry out the task, it would be better to hire the service of a professional debt collection agency, such as https://www.frontline-collections.com/, to assist you in this endeavor.

By hiring the expertise of a third-party debt collection company to collect these debts, it would be possible for you to pay more attention to more significant things and be able to effectually run the daily operations of your business. If you need the expertise of a debt collection agent, do check out https://www.frontline-collections.com/.

What You Can Do To Prevent Late Payments

While hiring an expert is one good option to recover aging unpaid debts, there are things that you can do in order for late payments to not happen in the future as well as minimize issues on collection. Here are some:

Make Certain Your Collection Policy Is In Black And White

A lot of times, when specific instructions and guidelines are given verbally, it usually enters one ear and then goes out the other. Not everyone, can remember every single detail of our daily discussions and conversations. Ensure that your collection policy is clearly written down for your customer’s or client’s reference. It should also include the terms of payment of invoices and bills as well as other client documents. This way, in the event you don’t receive payment on the agreed date, you can send a collection notice. It is also important that you save copies of these collection letters or notices for record.

Clearly Communicate to your Customers Your Payment Policy

Ensure that you have an established collection strategy and communicate it to your customers so that they are aware of payment expectations. This will be much easier for your customers or clients to pay you. Ensure that your customers understand clearly the policy and payment process before agreeing to your T&S.

Timing Is Important

In terms of getting paid for the services or goods that you have provided; it is important that you don’t put off contacting your clients or customers when the payments begin to slow down. Immediately after you are able to make a sale, give your customer an invoice. If the invoice has passed its due date, rebill your customer right away. Periodically, send invoice reminders to your customers with all the necessary the information they need to pay.

https://youtu.be/ZG7R65cQwC0

Gold IRA And Cryptocurrency IRA For Your Retirement Plan

Your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is an imperative aspect to your entire retirement plan. One of the key advantages of making use of an IRA is having complete control over it. You also have the freedom to select which financial firm to work with as well as investments. However, with this additional control, extra legwork is also needed in your part in order to set up your account according to your specifications.

The Best Gold IRA

The best gold IRA is one option. But if you would want to hold tangible gold in your IRA, this can’t be regular account as it needs to be separated. Also called precious metal IRA, a Gold IRA functions similarly to a regular IRA wherein it has comparable contribution limits as well as rules on distribution. But, rather than holding paper-based assets such as bonds and stocks, Gold IRA is reserved and allocated for holding real tangible bullion such as gold bars, gold coins as well as other accepted precious metals like silver, palladium, and platinum. Below are three pros of Gold IRAs:

TAX BENEFITS. Just like a standard IRA, Gold IRA has some unique tax treatment. One is that contributions to a conventional IRA are tax-deductible, and approved withdrawals are tax-free from Roth accounts.
GREATER CONTROL. With Gold IRA, it is constantly self-directed, meaning you can manage your holdings directly as well as make every decision in your investment.
LONG-TERM HOLDING. Because IRA is more of a buy-and-hold kind of investment that is long-term, Gold is very much fitting to an IRA wherein you don’t touch your assets until you retire.

Cryptocurrency In IRA

Another option for an IRA is cryptocurrency. The advantages of making an investment on an IRA that is self-directed will differ from one investor to another and will depend on what the investor regards as essential and important. Again, like Gold IRA, Cryptocurrency in IRA has its benefits. Below are some:

POSSIBLE TAX BENEFITS. Provided that you keep or hold your cryptocurrencies in a Digital IRA, whatever growth that your account achieves will entirely be tax-free. Your earnings may be subjected to tax when you make a distribution.
POTENTIAL LONG-TERM GROWTH. With the continuous adoption of cryptocurrencies in various industries and private enterprise, it is predicted that the value of digital currencies such as Bitcoin may reach up to 100,000 USD in a decade.
DECENTRALIZE STRUCTURE. The decentralized structure of cryptocurrencies makes them impervious to institutions that are centralized. This means that values of cryptocurrencies aren’t influenced by central banks and governments.
SECURITY. Cryptocurrency transactions are intermediated as well as verified via p2p protocol of their network of Blockchain which makes them remarkably secure and swift. Furthermore, these digital currencies are kept privately in software wallets that are heavily encrypted.

How Finding A Lawsuit Loan Company Can Save You Money

The litigation loan sector is growing quickly. Lawsuit loan firms (also referred to as litigation financing companies) offer a means to allow you to have the money upfront.

This way you may continue to pursue your situation prior to a settlement or award would be created without worrying about missing important invoices and obligations.

If you are in the middle of personal injury litigation, by way of instance, it can be quite tricky to think of the money to cover your health bills, routine bills, and living expenses — particularly in the event that you’ve had to miss hundreds of hours of work.

Nevertheless, this developing sector is not yet controlled as with other consumer financial products, which makes plaintiffs particularly vulnerable to large prices in addition to more expensive, protracted litigation.

Knowing the sheep from the wolves could be very difficult. So here are 7 quality of great lawsuit loan firms so can make your decision properly.

Works nicely with you and your lawyer

A respectable litigation loan company will reach out to you and work closely with your lawyer. In the event, the business and attorney construct a working connection, that will permit you to concentrate on regaining without needing to manage every small detail of your situation.

In the event, the creditor pushes you to sign a contract immediately, be skeptical.

Simple to reach and incredibly receptive

You are coping with sufficient — the harms, the litigation, the invoices — the final thing you want is to play telephone tag or not have the ability to make it through to your lawsuit loan firm.

You ought to have the ability to generate a quick call, speak with a real individual, and receive your queries or issues dealt with immediately. Should you need to leave a message, then you ought to expect a return phone that same moment.

ALSO READ: Cryptocurrency Backed Loans – What are they?

Clear loan provisions

Ensure that to read all the loan conditions carefully prior to coming to an arrangement. Some litigation loan businesses attempt to slide additional fees to the bargain, and since they are specialists, these charges can be simple to overlook.

A pro guideline to follow:

When the wording is protracted and hard to comprehend, you should walk off. The expressions and fee arrangement ought to be easy, clean, and specific.

Low rates of interest and modest without additional interest

Do not be swindled from your whole settlement only for needing some excess cash as you await your litigation to become solved. In the event the loan organization is attempting to bill you 30-40% interest, then find a different one.

Another factor to look out for is if the creditor compounds the interest, if so, just how frequently. Compounding interest fairly simply suggests that you are paying interest to your interest, which means that you can quickly assemble a massive mountain of interest that is hard to repay or frees up a vast majority of your payoff.

The very ideal alternative is to locate a lawsuit loan company that protects easy interest rather, but these could be few and far between. This is essential to fully grasp to what degree your litigation loan will charge.

Zero program charges

Some litigation loan businesses charge you to look at your situation to find out whether you meet the requirements. You should not need to pay a charge for it, so be certain they aren’t charging before you are even their official client.

Risk-free

A great lawsuit loan company will not ask that you repay any money should you lose your situation. This is known as “no recourse financing.”

Another significant thing to describe the provider is whether it is possible that you wind up owing the creditor over your compensation or award sum could be worth. There ought to be a limit, but a few litigation loan businesses don’t incorporate one in their own arrangement, so make sure you ask before you sign anything.

Open to all queries

Last, if anything’s unclear, a great lawsuit loan firm should welcome inquiries. Their main job is to aid you. If they are not eager to do so, or should they appear reluctant to reply to your queries or concerns, then they likely are not the perfect companion for you.

The very last thing that you would like to do is register up an arrangement with a lawsuit loan company that simply wishes to benefit from your position and steal your cash.

The Blockchain Technology And Cryptocurrency In The Sports Betting Market

Engaging in football betting with bandar bola is one of the most widespread gambling activities that many football (soccer) fans enjoy as it makes it more interesting and adds thrill to the already exhilarating sport. Moreover, with bandar bola, you can be sure that you are in a safe sports betting environment as it is a trusted and licensed soccer betting site in the Asian market.

The industry of gambling, which includes online sports betting and online casino, carry on to evolve to ensure individuals have an excellent gambling experience. As it is a billion-dollar industry, a lot of people are roped into various gambling markets to have a piece of the potentially lucrative betting action. However, as large sums of money are involved, operators need to look for ways and measures to make the environment safe not only for their players but also for them as well.

The Blockchain Technology And Cryptocurrency

People, for centuries, have been wagering on outcomes, and this ever-popular section of gambling is an inherent component of our culture. As most sports depend on competition, individuals feel that betting on their much-loved players, team or competitors is a good idea. With the sports industry experiencing global development, the gambling feature of it undergoes growth and development as well.

Just like other industries, the online gambling industry has now incorporated the use of the blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies due to their great security levels as well as ease of use. As online bookies keep on progressing, it is certain that cryptocurrency will significantly influence the future of the sports betting markets and industry.

Sports Betting With Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies or digital money have entered and become part of the many aspects of the lives of people. The possibility and potential of money that is decentralized is remarkable, and its use may direct towards numerous advancements in payment methods. And as mentioned, even the gambling industry, sports betting most especially, understand the possibilities that cryptocurrency and the blockchain offer, which is why it is now possible to engage in sports betting using various cryptocurrencies.

Many operators and bettors know the time it takes to process payments using legal tender, and it is somewhat long. This is one of the major reasons blockchain and cryptocurrency are used. Because of them being decentralized, digital currencies are way more fitting to be an option for payment compared to the usual payment methods using fiats. Depositing and withdrawing cryptocurrencies are much shorter and quicker, making them an asset that is really favorable and promising among many gamblers. However, when engaging in sports betting with cryptocurrencies, do note that legal regulations for both sports betting and the use of cryptocurrencies vary across the globe. Regardless, it doesn’t remove that fact that cryptocurrencies are safe and secure, which makes them suitable for sports betting.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Bitcoins for Online Casino Gambling

The use of cryptocurrencies is now supported in many countries that even online casinos are accepting bitcoins as deposit, and in funding customer payouts. While the main advantage of using bitcoins for online gambling activities is keeping one’s anonymity intact, there are also potential drawbacks.

After all, the value of cryptocurrencies tend to fluctuate, because their values depend on the supply and demand attributable to a digital currency.

Bitcoin casinos accepting the digital coins as deposit will only assign a specific amount of casino credit for a player to use. Presumably, the value of the credit is based on the current US$ exchange value of the cryptocurrency at the time of the deposit.

The question that one would ask, is at what US$ value will an online casino convert a customer’s amassed winnings in his account? The likely answer to that is by the same U.S. dollar value that was used in determining the equivalent credit that a player received when he made the deposit.

While there is a possibility that there will be a difference between the USD value of bitcoin at the time of deposit and time of payout, bitcoins as far as online casino transactions are concerned, will have the same effect as having bought and sold bitcoins at the same rate on different dates. That way, an online casino player will refrain from hoarding his winnings and wait until the bitcoin price value goes up.

In the same way, when a payout is requested, a bitcoin casino is obliged to pay a customer at the agreed bitcoin exchange rate, regardless of any increase or decrease in the price of bitcoins at the time of the payout request.

However, it would be wise for a player to carefully review the terms and conditions of the bitcoin casino before deciding to become a member.

Are there Online Bitcoin Casinos Operating in Asian Countries?

If there is any region where the use of bitcoins for gambling is practical, it would be in Southeast Asia. While trusted online gambling operators in countries like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand use Virtual Private Network (VPN) in order to keep gambling transactions private and undetected, some are also accepting bitcoins as additional protective shield. One Asia facing bitcoin gambling site that we know of is 918kiss Bitcoin Casino.

Even in Asian countries, a traditional online casino deposit and payment system still transacts either by way of bank accounts or e-wallets. The drawback however is that in the event that an online casino customer hits a huge jackpot, the bank involved in the payout will have to report the transaction, in compliance with the international Anti Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

As opposed to the use of bitcoins as a medium for deposit and payouts, blockchain transactions remain confidential and anonymous. Banks and other payment processors on the other hand, are required to report details of large financial transactions to the proper government authorities; including the name of the account holder and the nature of the financial transaction.

Cryptocurrency: things to consider when looking to buy bitcoin cash

With any investment in cryptocurrencies or any financial investment, it is important to consider security. This is particularly essential to brokers around the globe.

Choose your preferred payment method carefully

First of all, choosing a suitable payment method is of course particularly important. Different payment methods will be available in different places around the world, which means that you should definitely consider the speed and cost of each payment system available.

Will you have to set up your own wallet?

It is also very important to consider whether you need to set up your own wallet before buying bitcoin cash. Bitcoin cash customers need a wallet to adequately secure their money. There are wallet systems that are integrated into exchanges, but they are very prone to theft.

Comparison of costs

Fees and costs are of course always important, which is why this is an important decision criterion. It should be noted that using a cryptocurrency as a form of payment and transfer is much more reasonably priced compared to traditional methods. Costs and fees linked with bitcoin cash are commonly negligible.

Security and Protection

Security is obviously the absolute key to any cryptocurrency system, and therefore the precautions bitcoin cash has taken are extremely important. It should first be acknowledged that bitcoin cash was introduced because of concerns, both developer and community that the leading cryptocurrency in the market would be difficult to scale in the future. Therefore, the blocks in the bitcoin cash network are eight times larger than those of Bitcoin, which increases the security of bitcoin cash.

Bitcoin cash ownership is defined by bitcoin cash addresses, digital keys, and digital signatures. The keys are stored and created in the wallets of the users which are independent of the bitcoin cash protocol completely.

Every bitcoin cash transaction requires a valid signature in order to be included in the higher-level blockchain, and this can only be generated once the valid digital key is entered. Bitcoin cash aims to deliver on Bitcoin’s original promise as a peer-to-peer electronic currency by guaranteeing that users pay lower costs and fees than bitcoins while getting access to more dependable confirmations and rapid transactions.

Debt capital to finance your business

For many founders, financing their business is the first major hurdle because they do not have enough equity themselves. But this must not be an obstacle, because the debt often makes the bulk of the financing of a company and therefore represents an important second pillar. This is to fund you to a fixed-term borrow from lenders, such as by

Your house bank
Microfinance institutions
Promotional banks
Online loan exchanges

The borrowed capital must be paid back with interest. It describes the debts of your company that arise from liabilities or provisions. Bringing in outside capital makes sense if the costs arising from the use – such as interest costs – are lower than the expected benefit from your business venture. Hence, the debt should be used to:

the working capital fund
to cover long-term capital investments in combination with equity

Note that lenders require collateral from you in order to be able to extend a loan.

Pros and cons of debt financing

The advantage of debt financing is that, as the founder, you retain control and co-determination rights over your company and thus also the profit. In addition, there is a tax advantage for you in that you can claim the interest payments for tax purposes.

The disadvantage of debt financing is that you can only obtain debt for a certain period of time. You must have paid off the loan after the term has expired. In addition, you are also obliged to meet the agreed interest rates and repayment installments, even if your company should get into financial difficulties. Some people tried their luck in the game of chances sites such as qq online to earn extra money in order to pay off debts.

Debt / Loans

You should use borrowed capital for larger investments in tangible assets, such as the acquisition of fixed assets such as machines, buildings, systems, tools, and other work equipment or the acquisition of patents, licenses, concessions, etc. The borrowed capital is repaid for a fixed term and a defined interest rate. You can obtain outside capital in the following form:

Current account credit
Working capital loan
Investment loan
Microcredit

Retail Brokers And Cryptocurrency Brokers

One of the quickest growing brokers online in Europe is Degiro for retail investors. When you check out degiro review, you’d see that they have a transparent pricing structure and is leading in the market in terms of commissions and fees. They are oparting at a global scale and typically provide execution direct to market instead of via a local subsidiary. Moreover, the company also offers markets in bonds, stocks, futures, options, warrants and CFDs.

Degiro has gathered various awards and recognition in different nations. In Netherlands, for instance, they were merited first place in a survey conducted in 2015 as the Financieel Dagblad’s cheapest broker. Also in 2015, they also won the Golden Bull Award wherein Dutch brokers are evaluated in diverse categories, like trading opportunities, terms and conditions, commission fees, as well as investment tools.

Who Are Retail Brokers?

In the realm of investments, a broker is a company or someone who serves as an intermediary, a middleman, between the buyer and the security seller. Usually, brokers are obligated to be registered at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as with an organization that is self-regulatory like the Industry Regulatory Authority. Brokers principally working with institutional investors are called institutional brokers, whereas brokers serving individual investors are referred to as retail brokers.

What Do Retail Brokers do?

Licensed sales agents working for a retail brokerage companies who are certified to sell securities are usually called “registered representatives.” They may be trained to be able to impart investment advices to clients on particular kinds of securities as well as sell securities to make commissions for their company.

Retail brokers, because of regulator restraints, purely act as an intermediary. Hence, they don’t take any position or risks in the financial markets. However, they work at the core of the market and function to be in frequent contact with top players in major financial centers, such as insurance companies, banks, huge private companies and more, which allows to obtain unique, exclusive, and thorough knowledge and awareness of financial markets. Hence, they are able to confirm market liquidity, respond quickly to the needs of their clients with professionalism and confidentiality.

Who are Cryptocurrency Brokers?

With the advent, rise and use of cryptocurrency in various places across the world, people now also invest on it, and there are brokers who deal with these digital currencies. A broker, traditionally, is an individual or a firm that serves as a financial intermediary for people who would want to exchange fiat money for a certain service or product.

Somewhat similar to a traditional broker, a cryptocurrency broker offers financial services online for users or individuals who would like to buy or sell certain cryptocurrencies. It is recommended that people who are new to buying and selling cryptocurrencies or who are new to the cryptocurrency market hire the service of a cryptocurrency broker as they could present you with the most fitting environment to buy or sell the most appropriate cryptocurrency in the market.

Understanding what an Exchange is in Selling Your Bitcoin

If you need money, you can use långuiden or, if you have spare of Bitcoin, you can opt to cash it out. The thing is, cashing out your Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency isn’t a straightforward process as when you are trying to buy them. If you are firm with your decision of selling your Bitcoins online, then you may either chose to do direct trading, do a P2P transaction or do it through an exchange. For the purpose of this article, we will be focusing on the latter part.

Is it Good to do Exchange to get Money for Your Bitcoins?

While there are negative connotations among people for exchange, it is actually a one-stop solution with regards to trading Bitcoins. In such case when selling cryptocurrency, exchange acts as the middleperson that’s holding the funds of both the buyer and seller.

For this one, you have to setup an account with your preferred exchange. The majority of leading and trustworthy exchanges are requiring identification as well as a connected bank account. This way, you’ll have the means of withdrawing your funds. Then once done, you simply need to place a “sell offer” which states the currency you want to trade, asking price per unit and also, its amount. The exchange will be completed automatically as soon as someone matched your offer.

Once the funds are successfully credited to your account, the next thing that you have to do is withdraw them to the bank account you linked during the setup process. Sometimes, this may take a lot of time, particularly if the exchange is having some issues with its banks or perhaps, when facing problems with liquidity. In addition to that, there are banks that simply refuse outright in processing the transaction with funds acquired through crypto trading.

How much the Fee for Carrying out an Exchange Transaction?

Additionally, it is important to consider the fee you have to pay to use the exchange’s platform. To give you an example, there are exchange platforms that have a flat fee rate of 50 dollars for every withdrawal through bank transfer. The fees of withdrawal may drastically vary which depends on the exchange.

Lastly, it is necessary to take into account that despite having wallet services, these exchanges are not entirely reliable and secure in storing your funds. Some may be vulnerable to hacks and there have been times to which an exchange shut down and run away with the funds of the users. So you have to be extra careful in choosing the exchange platform.

Swiss Crypto Exchange Gives Europeans Alternative Access To Gold

The Swiss crypto exchange Smart Valor lists the cryptocurrency PAXG and thus gives investors alternative access to gold.

The global health crisis and shaky financial movements have led people sorting to personal loans for bad credit to meet basic needs. And while global stock markets are still in the corona crisis, crypto companies are preparing to offer investors alternative ways to invest in gold.

PAX Gold – Paxos brings Gold to the Blockchain

One of these projects is the cryptocurrency PAX Gold ( PAXG ) attached to physical gold because from now PAXG can also be traded in the currency pair Swiss Franc (CHF) and British pound (GBP).

The new currency pairs were made available since March 19 after the digital trading platform Smart Valor the cryptocurrency in their quotation has taken.

The New York-based crypto companies Paxos had his tethered to gold cryptocurrency 2019 on the market brought. On Smart Valor, it can be traded in euros (EUR) and US dollars (USD) in addition to CHF and GBP. There are also currency pairs with the market-leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin ( BTC ) and the stable dollar tether ( USDT ) linked to the US dollar.

While Smart Valor speaks of being the first European crypto exchange to list the PAXG, a spokesman for Paxos confirmed to Cointelegraph that this will allow PAX gold to be traded in CHF and GBP for the first time. The cryptocurrency is also the first gold-linked asset on Smart Valor.

According to Paxos, the PAXG is also available on the Kraken, HitBTC, BitThumb and itBit crypto exchanges.

Tokenized gold as a lifeline?

Olga Feldmeier, Managing Director of Smart Valor, says the coronavirus crisis is a driving reason for the listing of PAX Gold. As the American central bank announced on March 15 that it would lower the key interest rate to 0%, savings assets are increasingly at risk of depreciation.

“With the outbreak of Corona, we could find ourselves in a new economic crisis that is taking the extracts from the Great Depression of 1930. In these times, investors need a real alternative to protect their savings. For this reason, we decided to offer tokenized gold on the SMART VALOR trading platform. ” — Olga Feldmeier |Smart Valor

Paxos emphasizes that gold was largely able to maintain its value despite the crisis since the precious metal is a so-called safe haven. The crypto company also indicates that it has approval from the New York financial services regulator.

As Cointelegraph reported, Paxos launched PAX Gold in September 2019 as the “first cryptocurrency that can be exchanged for physical gold”.

Another argument for the PAXG is the fact that the Ethereum-based crypto token is tradable around the clock. Because some big exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange closed its doors due to the corona threat, this led the crypto markets are increasingly popular because they can be reached at any time.

“When the stock exchanges are closed and a financial crisis threatens, the crypto markets suddenly become an unexpected source of liquidity for many. The cryptocurrency and tokenized asset markets are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and never take a break, even if all other markets do. ” — Gunnar Jaerv|First Digital Trust,

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