August 26th

Current Bitcoin Price: $20,782

Bitcoin price has slipped below the $21,000 level today, as price whipsaws around Fed chair Jerome Powell's speech in Wyoming.

Top-20 altcoins have taken a hit, as Ethereum falls 6%, BNB drops 4% and Solana takes a 7% hit.

Japan's Financial Services Agency (FSA) is looking at a tax reform proposal for next year, which may exempt crypto startups that issue tokens from paying taxes on unrealized gains.

Currently, such startups pay taxes on unrealized gains from their own issued tokens, due to the company's holdings being based on the market value at the end of the taxation period.

Two crypto lobby groups in Japan also recently asked the government to lower crypto taxes, asking for 20% capital gains for retail investors. Currently, Japanese investors are taxed up to 55% on capital gains.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision on the latest spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing from VanEck, which was filed toward the end of June this year.

The delayed decision will be made on October 11. Several other firms have also attempted to apply for a spot bitcoin ETF, with the SEC rejecting all efforts thus far. For each rejection, the SEC has cited concerns about investor protection and market manipulation.

Crypto exchange giant Binance has announced that it will temporarily suspend Ether (ETH) and ERC-20 token deposits and withdrawals during the Merge next month, as the Ethereum network completes its long-awaited transition.

A suspension will take place for both the Sept. 6 and Sept. 15 upgrades. Users will be credited with any hard-forked tokens in a 1:1 ratio with their ETH balances once the Merge is complete.