Bitcoin Price: US$ 20,362.22 (-6.19%)
Ethereum Price: US$ 1,437.32 (-6.20%)
The launch of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the US could be detrimental to citizens’ financial privacy, according to Congressman Tom Emmer, who believes that programmable CBDCs could easily be weaponised to spy on individuals and monitor politically unpopular activities. Emmer introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act in February to halt the progress of The Digital Dollar Project, which has seen considerable developments in recent months. In other news, Bitcoin briefly slipped below $20,000 on March 10, following the latest budget from US President Joe Biden and the collapse of crypto-bank Silvergate, which has emerged as a possible strong headwind for the crypto industry. A supplementary budget explainer paper also revealed that US crypto miners could eventually be subject to a 30% tax on electricity costs under a Biden budget proposal aimed at reducing mining activity.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has expressed a mixed stance on cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, citing both benefits and challenges posed by digital assets. The NBU previously banned citizens from buying cryptocurrencies using the national currency and set a monthly limit on such purchases, but the bank said the restrictions are temporary and will be gradually weakened as the functioning of the Ukrainian economy and financial market normalises. In other news, the deadline for Mt. Gox creditors to file claims has been pushed back another month to April 6, with the distribution of assets to creditors starting on October 31 instead of September 30. The official document cited various circumstances for the shift in deadlines, such as the progress by rehabilitation creditors in selecting and registering.
Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital has terminated its credit facilities with Silvergate Bank and paid off its term loan just as the crypto-friendly bank announced that it will be winding down operations. The decision to cut financial ties with Silvergate was “predominantly part of our financial strategy,” said Marathon VP of corporate communications Charlie Schumacher. Marathon said the move will free up over $68 million worth of Bitcoin held as collateral for the loan, eliminating $50 million worth of debt and reducing its annual borrowing costs by $5 million. Meanwhile, crypto traders suffered over $307 million of liquidations in the past 24 hours, with traders on Binance losing the most at $104 million, followed by OKX at $79 million and Huobi at $45 million.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has continued its crackdown on illegal Bitcoin ATMs, conducting investigations into several sites in East London suspected of hosting unregistered machines. The FCA conducted these investigations alongside the Metropolitan Police and will continue to “identify and disrupt” unregistered crypto ATM businesses in the UK. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2024 includes changes to tax treatment for “wash sales” of digital assets, subjecting crypto to “wash sale rules” that eliminate tax deductions on losses incurred on selling and quickly rebuying the same or a similar crypto investment. Other crypto-related line items of the budget include information reporting by “certain financial institutions and digital asset brokers for purposes of exchange of information,” a change to mark-to-market tax rules to include digital assets, and a requirement for US individuals with large holdings in foreign digital asset accounts to report those holdings to the IRS.
Source:
https://cointelegraph.com
https://coindesk.com
https://decrypt.co
https://theblock.co
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