currency
Latest
El Salvador may be the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender
El Salvador's President will propose a bill that would make Bitcoin legal tender — the first country to do so.
Hitting the Books: Future humans may mine rare earth metals from today's landfills
As futurist Byron Reese and entrepreneur Scott Hoffman explain in their new book, Wasted, mining rare earths is an intensive endeavor akin to extracting "a tablespoon of pepper that has been randomly spread through a pound of salt."
Coinbase struggles with outages during cryptocurrency volatility
Coinbase is reeling from outages as a massive cryptocurrency selloff takes place.
The UK's Alan Turing £50 bank note is a love letter to coding
The UK has unveiled its £50 Alan Turing bank note, and it's appropriately both very secure and a nod to the computer scientist's achievements.
Hitting the Books: America's loneliness crisis began well before the COVID quarantine
In her latest book, The Lonely Century, British economist Noreena Hertz takes an incisive look at the emotional, societal and political costs of "frictionless" business, how the pandemic has exacerbated these issues, and what we can do to reconnect with the people around us.
Tesla buys $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, will soon accept it as payment
Tesla will start taking Bitcoin payments for its products, and has bought $1.5 billlion worth of the digital currency.
You can now spend China's digital currency at an online store
JD.com has become the first online store to take China's official digital currency, although it's not quite ready for prime time.
PayPal drops domain registrar Epik over its 'alternative' digital currency
PayPal has terminated domain registrar Epik's account over the legality of its currency, although Epik is accusing it of political bias.
Steven Seagal settles with SEC over undisclosed bitcoin promotions
It seems that martial artist and actor Steven Seagal isn't above the law. In 2017, he touted the initial coin offering (ICO) for Bitcoiin2Gen (B2G), a digital currency that sounded shady right from the start. Seagal didn't disclose the fact that he was paid by B2G to encourage his fans to buy into the bitcoin, which is required by law when a currency qualifies as a security. (B2G didn't even bother to register as a security, which resulted in the state of New Jersey issuing it a cease-and-desist order.) The actor has agreed to pay $157,000 in disgorgement plus a $157,000 penalty.
The IRS won't ask you to report 'Fortnite' V-Bucks on tax returns
Don't worry, you won't have to factor in-game currency into your taxes... at least, not yet. The IRS has removed a guideline (cached here) from October that treated Fortnite's V-Bucks, Roblox's Robux and other in-game currencies with real monetary value as "convertible" currency that could be subject to federal taxes. In a follow-up, IRS Chief Counsel Michael Desmond confirmed to CNN Business that including in-game money was an error. The updated section now focuses on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, so you can likely rest easy if you received a V-Bucks gift card last year.
International money transfer service Travelex held ransom by hackers
Foreign exchange company Travelex has been targeted by hackers demanding $6 million (£4.6 million), in an attack many believe could have been averted months ago. The ransomware gang known as Sodinokibi -- also as REvil -- says it has downloaded more than 5GB of sensitive customer data, including dates of birth, credit card information and national insurance numbers, which it will publish if payment is not made within a week. The hackers originally demanded $3 million, but doubled the sum after two days of non-payment.
Facebook's Libra loses one more member as its council becomes official
Facebook couldn't avoid losing another Libra Association member before it formalized the cryptocurrency's council. Booking Holding, the company behind Booking.com, Kayak and Priceline, has withdrawn from the Libra Association just before the organization's members signed the council charter, elected its Board of Directors and appointed executive team members. The move leaves 21 initial members, including Facebook's own Calibra wallet as well as Lyft, Uber, Spotify and telecoms like Iliad and Vodafone.
EU grills Facebook over Libra's financial and privacy risks
It's not just central banks interrogating Facebook over its Libra cryptocurrency as of late. The Financial Times has learned that the European Commission has asked Facebook to answer a range of questions about Libra, including the risks to financial stability and data privacy as well as the company's ability to comply with counter-terrorist financing and money laundering rules. Officials also want to know how Libra would handle its reserves.
Facebook's Libra currency will get half its backing from the US dollar
Facebook was quick to promise that its Libra cryptocurrency would have the stability of real-world money behind it, but whose money will dominate? It's now particularly clear. Facebook sent a letter to German politician Fabio De Masi explaining that the US dollar will represent 50 percent of the backing for Libra. The remaining support will come from the euro (18 percent), Japanese yen (14 percent), British pound (11 percent) and Singapore dollar (7 percent). If you were hoping for currency representation from more parts of the world, you'll be disappointed.
Central banks to question Facebook over Libra cryptocurrency
Facebook is about to undergo further scrutiny of its Libra cryptocurrency, and it may have to answer some difficult questions. Officials speaking to the Financial Times said that Libra representatives are meeting with officials from 26 central banks (including the Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve) in Basel, Switzerland on September 16th. The European Central Bank's Benoît Coeuré is expected to chair the gathering, which will question Facebook over the digital money's "scope and design."
China's official digital currency is nearly ready
As much as China frowns on cryptocurrency, it's happy to introduce its own form of virtual cash. The People's Bank of China has revealed that its digital currency "can now said to be ready" after five years of work. Don't expect it to mimic crypto, however. According to payments Deputy Chief Mu Changchun, it'll use a more complex structure.
IRS reminds 10,000 taxpayers that cryptocurrency is subject to taxes
By the end of August, an estimated 10,000 taxpayers will receive letters from the IRS warning them that they may owe back taxes on unreported cryptocurrency earnings. While it might not be immediately obvious, you must include cryptocurrency earnings when you file federal taxes. As with tax evasion for traditional currency, anyone convicted of evading crypto taxes could face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
Facebook won't make Libra available until regulators are happy
Facebook is determined to reassure officials that its Libra cryptocurrency is above-board. As part of prepared testimony for a July 16th Senate hearing, Calibra head David Marcus has stressed that the social network won't offer the virtual money until it has "fully addressed" regulators' concerns and received approval. He also reiterated privacy promises. The Libra Association won't keep personal data beyond basic transaction info, Marcus said, and Facebook won't share Calibra wallet info with the rest of the company.
The Bank of England will honor Alan Turing on its new £50 note
The Bank of England has chosen Alan Turing, computing pioneer and a code-cracker during World War Two, to be featured on its new £50 note. Turing contributed significantly to the field of mathematics, but his achievements were not fully recognized during his lifetime as he was gay, which was illegal at the time.
House chairwoman wants Facebook to pause work on its cryptocurrency
You knew Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency would come under scrutiny as soon as it became official, and the US government isn't wasting any time. House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters has issued a statement calling on Facebook to pause development of Libra until Congress and regulatory bodies have had a chance to review it. The social network has "repeatedly shown a disregard" for safeguarding user data, Waters said, suggesting that privacy issues could come back to haunt this product.
