Soros prepares to trade cryptocurrencies as prices plunge
George Soros called cryptocurrencies a bubble in January. Now his $26 billion ($33 billion) family office is planning to trade digital assets. Adam Fisher, who oversees macro investing at New York-based Soros Fund Management, got internal approval to trade virtual coins in the last few months, though he has yet to make a wager, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesman declined to comment. Soros, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said digital coins cannot function as actual currencies because of their volatility. But he didn’t predict the hard tumble that some observers had forecast at the time. “As long as you have dictatorships on the […]
This Australian fintech leader says cryptos won’t replace traditional currencies in ‘another three lifetimes’
The value of bitcoin lies in its use as a finite commodity protected by rock-solid cryptography, rather than a currency used to buy goods and services, according to Loretta Joseph, chair of the Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA). Joseph spoke to Business Insider following reports that Australian crypto trading exchanges must now comply with standards set out by financial intelligence agency AUSTRAC. The announcement followed an 18-month consultation period between AUSTRAC and the ADCA.“We have defined crypto as a commodity,” Joseph said. “It’s not a currency for use as a means of exchange.” “There was recently a key legal case in New York which defined bitcoin as a commodity. So […]
Aussie cryptocurrency exchange to trial BPAY’s Osko
Cryptocurrency exchange BTC Markets is trialling BPAY’s Osko service as a way to speed up conventional fiat deposits from customers. The company said it would support Osko, which runs as an overlay on Australia’s new payments platform (NPP), which went live in mid-February. The billion-dollar NPP allows banks to send payment messages in real time to each other via the Reserve Bank. In a brief statement, BTC Markets said it would trial Osko for deposits only, but that it expected the service to also support withdrawals within a few months. Osko presents an opportunity for cryptocurrency exchanges to support much faster deposits of fiat currency into their ecosystems, which can […]
Coinspot receives approval to become Australian-based crypto exchange
CoinSpot has announced they have been successful in their application to be registered by AUSTRAC to provide exchange services for crypto.
First Australian digital currency exchange regulated: Independent Reserve
Independent Reserve, the Australian digital currency exchange, yesterday became the first Australian exchange of its kind to be regulated. Independent Reserve is the first exchange to be regulated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC). Set up in 1989, AUSTRAC ensures Australian institutions conform to the required standards around Counter-Terrorism Financing and Know Your Customer rules. CEO Adrian Przelozny said the regulation represented a huge leap forward for the local digital currency industry. “We have been lobbying for increased regulation since we opened for business in 2014,” he said. “We passionately believe that the digital currency economy will – and should – become just another part of the mainstream […]
Cryptocurrency owners must be aware of tax changes
Changes to Australia’s anti-money laundering rules have come into effect today, and will see cryptocurrency exchanges and transactions more susceptible to the scrutiny of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), according to HLB Mann Judd’s Peter Bembrick. Bembrick, tax partner at HLB Mann Judd Sydney, said the rules would catch cryptocurrency owners by surprise, and ignorance is not a defence for failing to pay the appropriate tax. Bembrick said to avoid falling foul of the ATO, cryptocurrency owners should know that the ATO teats cryptocurrency as an asset for tax purposes, and, as such, the price in Australian dollars will change over time. There is also a taxable capital gain when […]
Australian Tax Agency Seeks Public Input Concerning Cryptocurrency Taxes
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has been researching how to formulate regulatory guidelines for taxing cryptocurrencies recently. This week the ATO is seeking input from Australian residents concerning how the country should tax digital assets. Over the past few months, the ATO has been drafting taxation guidelines for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The Australian tax agency has already described how it wants citizens to record all of their digital asset transactions and document the Australian dollar value amount at the time of each transaction. The ATO’s “Seeking Input” letter details its recently defined descriptions “resulted in queries from the community about how to approach specific tax events.” In order to deal […]
‘I’m not a silly investor’: SMEs accepting cryptocurrency as payment
When Robert Tadros was asked by a client last year if he would accept cryptocurrency as payment, he was “quite taken aback”. Being a believer in blockchain technology and a crypto-investor himself, the founder of search and social agency Impress!ve Digital was open to the request. “It’s an online store that the client operates. He was paying for his stock in cryptocurrency. So I embraced the idea.” Cryptocurrency client base increases In 12 months, Impress!ve, has grown 500 per cent from $600,000 to $3.5 million in annual revenue. Tadros attributes this growth to pivoting from a being a generalist agency to specialising in SEO, SEM and Facebook advertising. Three of […]
