The tide of regulation of cryptocurrency and blockchain could be turning in the United States. Following comments by newly-confirmed Treasury Secretary (and former Federal Reserve Chair) Janet Yellen describing Bitcoin as “inefficient” and “extremely volatile,” the price of the coin dropped 10% in 24 hours. During her confirmation hearings, Yellen
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Three Critical Questions That Will (Hopefully) be Answered by the SEC’s Lawsuit against Ripple
Late last year, the SEC filed a litigated action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executive officers (collectively, “Ripple”), alleging that Ripple raised over $1.3 billion in unregistered offerings of the digital asset known as XRP.…
Crypto Asset Regulation: Is the US or UK Keeping Up Best With This Emerging Market?
One driver for the first widely adopted cryptocurrency Bitcoin was to create a store of value that existed outside of government control. It is therefore no surprise that attempts to regulate the rapidly developing crypto asset market have required great efforts from regulators and legislators around the world to keep apace.
In this blog, we compare key drivers and results of the regulatory approach being taken in the US and UK. While the U.S. is leading the way on the enforcement of crypto regulations, the UK has taken greater steps in relation to banking approvals. With regard to tax treatment, the position is becoming much clearer in both jurisdictions.
First though, is there even “an” approach within each country?
IRS Answers Some, but Not All, Questions in Long-awaited Cryptocurrency Guidance
The first official guidance on the taxation of cryptocurrency transactions in more than five years has been issued.
The guidance includes both a Revenue Ruling (Rev. Rul. 2019-24, 2019-44 I.R.B. 1) and answers to Frequently Asked Questions on Virtual Currency Transactions (the “FAQs,” together with Revenue Ruling 2019-24, the “Guidance”) was issued on October 9, 2019 by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”). The Guidance provides much sought information concerning the tax consequences of cryptocurrency “hard forks” as well as acceptable methods of determining tax basis for cryptocurrency transactions. The Guidance also reasserts the IRS’s position, announced in Notice 2014-21, 2014-16 I.R.B. 938, that cryptocurrency is “property” for U.S. federal income tax purposes and provides information on how the rules generally applicable to transactions in property apply in the cryptocurrency context. However, important questions remain unanswered. It remains to be seen whether more definitive regulatory or administrative guidance is forthcoming.
The Guidance comes amidst an ongoing campaign by the IRS to increase taxpayer compliance with tax and information reporting obligations in connection with cryptocurrency transactions. In 2017, a U.S. district court ordered a prominent cryptocurrency exchange platform to turn over information pertaining to thousands of account holders and millions of transactions to the IRS as part of its investigation into suspected widespread underreporting of income related to cryptocurrency transactions. Earlier this year, the IRS sent more than 10,000 “educational letters” to taxpayers identified as having virtual currency accounts, alerting them to their tax and information reporting obligations and, in certain cases, instructing them to respond with appropriate information or face possible examination. Schedule 1 of the draft Form 1040 for 2019, released by the IRS shortly after publishing the Guidance, would require taxpayers to indicate whether they received, sold, sent, exchanged, or otherwise acquired virtual currency at any time during 2019.[1]
Taxpayers who own or transact in cryptocurrency or other virtual currency should consider carefully any tax and information reporting obligations they might have. Please contact the authors of this post or your usual Proskauer tax contact to discuss any aspect of the Guidance. Read the following post for background and a detailed discussion of the Guidance.
Except where the context indicates otherwise, the tax consequences discussed in this post generally apply to transactions involving cryptocurrency held by a taxpayer as a capital asset. This post does not consider tax consequences other than U.S. federal income tax consequences.
Utah Passes the Third State-Run “Sandbox” for Innovative Financial Products and Services
Utah’s governor recently signed into law H.B. 378, which created a sandbox program for companies providing “innovative financial products or services” in the state. The program, run by Utah’s Department of Commerce, requires companies to apply and meet certain requirements in order to participate in the sandbox. Importantly, H.B.…
FTC Freezes Assets and Operations of Four Promoters of Cryptocurrency Investment Schemes
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently sought and received a temporary restraining order (TRO) against four promoters of alleged pyramid schemes involving cryptocurrencies. The promoters were charged with violating the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.
The FTC’s complaint (filed under seal…
Federal Court Grants Preliminary Injunction, Affirms CFTC Jurisdiction over Virtual Currencies
Earlier this month, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered a preliminary injunction order against Patrick McDonnell and his company, CabbageTech, Corp. (together, the “Defendants”). In a landmark ruling, the order upheld the CFTC’s position that “virtual currencies”…
Multi-Billion Dollar Japanese Tech Conglomerate to Process Salaries in Bitcoin
GMO Internet Inc. (“GMO”) is a Japanese-based tech conglomerate with over 4,700 full-time employees and a market cap of over 200 billion yen. Since May 2017, the organization has taken steps to enter the cryptocurrency space, including the creation of a cryptocurrency exchange targeted towards institutional investors and retail traders and the formation of a cryptocurrency mining business in Northern Europe.
Recently, GMO released a statement that domestic employees will have the option to receive part of their salary payment in bitcoin. This announcement is both interesting and important for a multitude of reasons, particularly because Japan is one of the primary players in the cryptocurrency world. According to jpbitcoin.com, a Japanese website serving as a central hub for cryptocurrency news and information, yen-based bitcoin trades accounted for nearly half of all bitcoin trades in November. And while Japan’s Finance Minister recently remarked that bitcoin “has not yet proven to be credible enough to become a currency,” Japan’s Financial Services Agency confirmed that that bitcoin can be used as legally accepted payment in the country.