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HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS

March 29, 2022

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An open invitation to try a new philosophy."

- Mojoflo, Perpetutal Conduit of Positivity

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Our official playlist: High-energy music to keep you motivated to invest for the long term, staying focused on the positive.


Our Blockchain for Everyone playlist is now available for free on Spotify. Click here to listen.

Whale Reads



Whale Reads

Worthy news for aspiring whales


Environmental Groups Pressure Bitcoin Community to Lower Energy Use (Wall Street Journal): First, you read it in Bitcoin Market Journal, then you read about it in Wall Street Journal.


As we've been reporting, the pressure is on bitcoin miners to do something about bitcoin's runaway energy costs, especially in light of "The Merge," Ethereum's upgrade which will bring massive energy improvements.


Investor takeaway: If all goes well, The Merge will happen around July. Expect Ethereum to rise in value, in anticipation of its long-term energy efficiency.


If the bitcoin community can't get consensus around a similar upgrade for bitcoin, then ETH may even overtake BTC to become the #1 crypto by market cap.

Your Money is Growing



Your Money is Growing

Truth, in numbers


Here's a look at the estimated energy consumption of Ethereum on its current proof of stake technology (similar to that of bitcoin). Compare that with its planned upgrade to the ultra-efficient proof of work technology:

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Courtesy Carl Beekhuizen, Ethereum Foundation



Investor takeaway: As we've been telling you for weeks, this upgrade is significant. ETH will leapfrog BTC in energy efficiency, and given the decentralized nature of bitcoin, it's unlikely that BTC will ever be able to catch up. Seriously: our bets are on ETH.

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The Big Picture

with Evamarie Augustine


Hi Everyone,


The IRS and other government entities are looking at the crypto market—which has over $2 trillion in assets—and they want their piece of the pie.


In any given year, taxes are confusing and complicated. And for the past several years, cryptoassets have fallen into somewhat of a gray area.

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The last question shown above, asking about cryptoassets, has actually been on Form 1040 since 2019.


However, this year it has been amended. Instead of asking whether U.S. taxpayers obtained “any virtual currency,” it asks whether they took action to "dispose of" it. 


By asking taxpayers about disposing of this currency, the IRS is asking whether they used bitcoin, or any other virtual currency, to purchase goods and services.


In other words, any increase in the value of virtual currency will be taxed if it is sold for a profit, exchanged for another cryptocurrencies, or used for purchases.


While limited in scope, some major retailers accept bitcoin as payment, including Overstock.com, Inc., The Home Depot and Microsoft Corporation (for purchases at its Microsoft Store).


So if you used bitcoin as payment at Home Depot, any gain (or loss) would need to be reported. This situation is somewhat troublesome if bitcoin advocates want the cryptocurrency to function as a substitute for cash.


And if you receive cryptocurrency as income, you must report its fair market value in U.S. dollars at the time of receipt.

The OECD jumps in


Crypto has also increasingly become a focus for tax regulators outside the U.S.


The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which consists of 38 countries with market-based economies, publishes economic policy recommendations.


The group recently requested public comments for its Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, which would require crypto exchanges to share information with tax authorities. 


The OECD is looking for greater transparency—stating “crypto-assets could be exploited to undermine existing international tax transparency initiatives.”


The rules would require crypto exchanges to share information with tax authorities, and they would apply to various jurisdictions. When the OECD released its public consultation document on the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, more than 100 jurisdictions had adopted the Common Reporting Standard, or CRS. 


I spoke with Joshua Tompkins, managing director, Washington National Tax, KPMG LLP, who said:


“These rules would be coordinated with an expansion of the Common Reporting Standard to cryptoassets and are another indication – in addition to the recently released Biden administration executive order – that crypto is increasingly an area of focus for regulators and is here to stay.”


The proposal would require any exchange, retail transaction or transfer of tokens—in either hot or cold wallets—to be reported within 12 months from the effective date of the rules to comply with the reporting requirements. 


And there's more ahead next year 

As the U.S. government looks for funds to pay for the massive Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, one of the places they will look is crypto. Failure to comply with the above-stated rules could result in criminal and civil penalties.


In addition to the recent actions taken by the IRS, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) proposed requiring financial institutions to report any transactions involving "convertible virtual currency" or "digital assets with legal tender status" "greater than $10,000, or aggregating to greater than $10,000, that involve unhosted wallets or wallets hosted in a jurisdiction identified by FinCEN." 


As they say - the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes.


I appreciate all your likes, follows and comments! As always, thank you for reading. 


Make it a great day! 


Evamarie Augustine

Market Analyst

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