Can Australia drive Bitcoin and FinTech Development in the Southeast?
After the 1st of July 2017, Australian blockchain and Bitcoin-related businesses that have relocated abroad can return. Coinidol.com contacted experts from Australia and asked them about the problems that the government should solve for the cryptocurrency and blockchain markets during the next year. Australia takes an important step toward Bitcoin and cryptocurrency acceptance with the government’s decision to drop the double goods and services tax (GST) starting July 2017. Double taxation – problem for the whole cryptocurrency industry Most countries have no problems with double taxation and GST being applied to Bitcoin purchases. And Australians often had to buy cryptocurrency overseas, which also blocks the development of a local cryptocurrency […]
Bitcoin rises to record high in blockchain-related boost
Digital currency bitcoin hit a record high overnight as demand for crypto-assets soared with the creation of new tokens to raise funding for start-ups using blockchain technology. Blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin, is a financial ledger maintained by a network of computers that can track the movement of any asset without the need for a central regulator. Bitcoin hit a record $US1760.40 on the BitStamp platform and was last at $US1747.89, up 6 per cent on the day. So far this year, bitcoin has surged nearly 80 per cent. Bitcoin’s market capitalisation overnight soared to $US52.5 billion, according to data from coinmarketcap.com. Aside from being an asset that can […]
Financial advisers should consider bitcoin as an asset class
There is no better way to understand blockchain technology than to invest in bitcoins, a digital currency that has outperformed traditional currencies in recent years, according to an industry expert. This week the cryptocurrency broke record-highs when it started trading above USD$1680 against the US dollar. As at May this year, the total market cap of the bitcoin market has more than doubled to US$23 billion since it hit the US$10 billion mark just three years ago. Australia-born chief executive of Silicon Valley-based blockchain outfit Wyre, Michael Dunworth, said for financial advisers who are trying to figure out how the industry will affect their business, there is no better way […]
Australia reaffirms pledge to fix Bitcoin tax issue
Australia’s government is pushing ahead with plans to solve the “double taxation” problem of digital currencies in the country. The government pledged more than a year ago to solve the policy dilemma, wherein Australian businesses are liable for goods-and-services (GST) taxes on any bitcoin sold – as well as taxes should they take them as payment. It’s a point of criticism expressed for years by the country’s bitcoin community, culminating with last year’s commitment. According to statements published today, the government is consulting with its fintech advisory group on the matter – though it cautioned that any material changes would depend on action on the provincial level. The policy document, […]
KPMG sees robots taking over tax compliance
When 800 executives were surveyed for a World Economic Forum report published in September 2015, three-quarters said company audits would be performed by artificial intelligence by 2021. A similar proportion reckoned the world would have witnessed the first tax collected via blockchain within that timeframe, while 45 per cent said robots would be occupying places at the board room table. Clearly, the tax profession is ripe for digital disruption. In a new briefing paper, KPMG envisages a world where much tax compliance work is done by machines, leaving humans to pick up the more complex tasks. While computers will do the heavy lifting on the number crunching front, tasks requiring […]
Venture capital 3.0: the initial coin offering explained
The venture capital community thrives on disruption. So what happens when the tables are turned and the medicine bottle has their name on it? There’s a new kid riding onto the financing block – riding roughshod across an unregulated landscape. Welcome to the world of the initial coin offering (ICO). An ICO is a hybrid: part crowdfunding, part software token, part speculation. In simple terms, an ICO is often described, somewhat inaccurately, as an IPO for cryptocurrencies. How it works – A tech start-up team creates an ICO using a blockchain-enabled software platform, usually open sourced. – The platform is powered by cryptography-based software tokens – called cryptocurrencies. – The […]
Blockchain to create winners and losers
Ordering a pizza is a fairly mundane transaction for many Australians. But when Laszlo Hanyecz convinced a Florida man to deliver two pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins in 2010, he made history for the first real-world bitcoin transaction. Today, cryptocurrencies can be used to purchase everything from clothing, technology and homewares to travel, artwork and fine dining. What is most interesting about bitcoin though, is the blockchain technology on which it is based — a revolutionary platform which is spawning applications across a broad array of industry sectors and functions. Just a few examples include smart contracts, neighbourhood microgrids for buying and selling energy, the protection of intellectual property, anti-money laundering […]
DigitalX partners with Lateral
Perth-based software companies DigitalX and Lateral have teamed up to leverage each other’s strengths in the creation of blockchain and ledger-based products. DigitalX said today its development partnership with Lateral, which is led by 2016 40under40 winner Tommy Shin, would provide a well-resourced team to design products and services for the blockchain industry. Blockchain, a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of ordered records, is considered a core component of the digital currency known as bitcoin, as it serves as the public ledger for all transactions. The partnership will work to introduce blockchain-based solutions to existing customers as well as new clients within Australia and abroad, with DigitalX […]
