Main article: Bitcoin (Bitcoin) Cryptocurrency
2024
US government embezzled $922 million bitcoins confiscated from crypto exchange
At the end of February 2024, the US authorities transferred bitcoins totaling approximately $922 million from two cryptocurrency wallets that contained funds seized after hacking the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange in 2016. Then hackers were able to steal about 120 thousand bitcoins from users.
It is noted that the transfers of the US government occurred after February 28, 2024, the cost of bitcoin for the first time in more than two years exceeded the mark of $60 thousand. On this day, two crypto wallets, designated as a means of storing crypto assets confiscated by the US government from Bitfinex hackers, carried out several transactions.
According to CoinTelegraph, the first test transfer was made in the amount of 1 bitcoin (about $60.2 as of the specified date). Soon after, the wallet completed the second transaction for 2817 bitcoins ($172.74 million). Then there were two transactions from another wallet - a test one for 0.01 bitcoin ($613.35) and the main one for 12,267 bitcoins (approximately $748.46 million). As a result, the total cost of bitcoins transferred from two wallets amounted to about $922 million.
According to Arkham, there is another US government wallet containing about 94,600 bitcoins confiscated from Bitfinex hackers. Their total cost as of February 28, 2024 is estimated at $5.8 billion. The American authorities are silent about the purpose of transferring funds. In 2023, the US Department of Homeland Security transferred part of the funds stolen from the exchange to Bitfinex for subsequent compensation to victims of a hacker attack. This was the result of a joint effort by Bitfinex, American law enforcement and investigative agencies to recover stolen cryptocurrency assets.[1]
SEC officially approved Bitcoin ETF
On January 10, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission () SEC formally approved the opening of spot investment funds (ETFs) related to. bitcoin This is expected to be a landmark event for the digital asset sector and open access to cryptocurrency in the traditional financial market.
ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) - an exchange-traded investment fund in which shares are collected on the basis of an index, a valuable commodity, etc. The ETF may have trillions of dollars worth of assets under management. Each share of the ETF is secured by a certain share in the assets of the fund. Securities are traded on the stock exchange. In the context of bitcoin, the ETF allows an investor to monitor the price of cryptocurrency without having it on hand. After the approval of spot ETFs for Bitcoin, the demand for cryptocurrency should grow.
The SEC has approved 11 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) investing directly in bitcoin. These are, in particular, BlackRock, Ark Investments/21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco and VanEc. Their shares will be traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Exchange, as well as the Chicago Options Exchange (CBOE). Issuer fees will range from 0.2% to 1.5%, whereas a number of funds will offer zero-fee securities for a limited time.
American For more than ten years, the regulator has spoken out against ETFs tracking the spot price of bitcoin - since the first such fund was decided in 2013 by twin brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (owners of a cryptocurrency exchange Gemini). However, the SEC changed its attitude towards bitcoin ETFs in 2023, shortly after losing to Grayscale in court. A federal appeals court overturned the SEC's refusal to satisfy Grayscale's application to convert its existing bitcoin trust into a full-fledged ETF.[2]
2023: US authorities arrested 205 thousand bitcoins worth $5.6 billion or 1% of its issue in 3 years
As of March 2023, the US authorities have confiscated 205 thousand bitcoins worth $5.6 billion over the past three years. This is almost 1% of all its possible emission.
2021
Mayor Mayami: The ability to pay employees in bitcoins is the main priority
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said in October 2021 that the city's "top priority" is the ability to pay civil servants in Bitcoin. "I want us to stand out as a cryptostolic of the U.S. or the world," Suarez said.
The world's largest cinema chain AMC Entertainment plans to start selling in bitcoins by the end of the year
In August 2021, the world's largest cinema chain AMC Entertainment announced that it would begin accepting Bitcoin as payment for movie tickets and snacks purchased online at all its cinemas in the United States.
Twitter plans to use Bitcoin
At the end of July 2021, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey told investors that Bitcoin will be a big part of the company's future, as he sees opportunities to integrate cryptocurrency into existing Twitter products and services. Read more here.
American tax confiscated $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrencies
In June 2021, the US government auctioned off several free litecoin, bitcoin and bitcoin cash. The cryptocurrency was confiscated as part of a case of non-compliance with tax laws. Over the years, the government has seized, stockpiled and sold cryptocurrencies along with conventional assets. Read more here.
Start of sales of Tesla cars for bitcoin
March 23, 2021 Elon Musk announced the start of sales of Tesla cars for Bitcoin.
While this payment method is available only for customers from the United States, in other countries it will be introduced later this year.
"You can now buy Tesla for Bitcoin. Bitcoin paid by Tesla will be saved, not converted into fiat currency, "Musk wrote.
After the announcement of the company, the Bitcoin rate began to grow sharply. Cryptocurrency at the moment rose in price to $55.6 thousand.
Square payment system purchased $170 million in bitcoins
At the end of February 2021, it became known that Square, the payment system of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, bought bitcoins worth $170 million. In a quarterly report, the company said it had acquired about 3,318 bitcoins. Read more here.
BlackRock begins to invest in bitcoin futures
At the end of January 2021, investment giant BlackRock with $8.7 trillion in assets sent two statements to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), providing for the possibility of investing in bitcoin futures for its funds. We are talking about the structures of BlackRock Strategic Income Opportunities and BlackRock Global Allocation Fund. Read more here.
2020
US government proposes rules to regulate crypto wallets
The financial USA Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has proposed rules that will make it easier for authorities to track cryptocurrency transactions. This became known on December 25, 2020. And although 15 days are allotted for discussion of the initiative, the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange and the Electronic Frontier Fund are sounding the alarm, as the discussion period falls on winter holidays, and taking into account weekends, it is significantly reduced.
These rules were proposed on December 18, 2020 and relate to private cryptocurrency wallets. According to these rules, when transferring amounts exceeding $3 thousand to private cryptocurrency wallets, wallet owners must confirm their identity. In addition, wallet owners wishing to do business with other wallet owners must provide their personal information to the cryptocurrency exchange. In turn, exchanges are obliged to store this information and provide it at the request of the authorities. If the owner of the wallet transferred more than $10 thousand in cryptocurrency per day, the exchange is obliged to inform the authorities of his personal information.
Specialists of the Electronic Frontiers Foundation have already described the possible consequences of the adoption of these rules. First, it will be more difficult for owners of private cryptocurrency wallets to remain anonymous when transferring funds to the wallets of cryptocurrency exchanges. Second, the rules make private cryptocurrency wallets less attractive to potential users.
However, there is another, more serious problem. Some cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, record all transactions publicly. That is, if a user exchanges his bitcoins through a cryptocurrency exchange, he must send a large amount of identifying information about this wallet, which will become available to the US government. Knowing who owns the wallet, the authorities will be able to see absolutely all transactions ever carried out by its owner. This means the government will be able to access far more data than FinCEN's proposed rules provide.
FinCEN is an anti-financial crime agency. It is a bureau within the US Treasury Department. It is engaged in the fight against money laundering, as well as with the financing of terrorism and financial crimes.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a non-profit human rights organization founded in the United States in July 1990 to protect the rights enshrined in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence in connection with the advent of communication technologies [3].
Software developer MicroStrategy bought bitcoins for $475 million and earned $300 million from this
In mid-December 2020, it became known that the developer software MicroStrategy intends to continue investing in. bitcoin The company has already acquired cryptocurrency more than $400 million and earned about $300 million on this. More. here
Visa began issuing cards with cashback in bitcoins
In early December 2020 Visa , it announced cooperation cryptocurrency startup BlockFi with and introduced a new credit card with cashback in bitcoin. Credit card users Bitcoin Rewards will be able to receive 1.5% of their purchases back in the form of the most valuable digital asset in the world, as well as a one-time payment of $250 in a crypto asset if they spend more than $3,000 in the first three months, BlockFi reports. More. here
US authorities confiscated $1 billion of cryptocurrency from a criminal online community
In early November 2020, the US Department of Justice announced the confiscation of 69.37 thousand bitcoins, the total value of which exceeds $1 billion. In addition, the US authorities seized the equivalent number of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin Gold coins. We are talking about the largest confiscation of cryptocurrencies.
The funds were withdrawn from the wallet of the user, who appears in the case as Individual X. According to the Ministry of Justice, we are talking about a hacker who hacked the Silk Road darknet site in 2020. On November 3, 2020, he signed an agreement to transfer coins to US law enforcement agencies. On the same day, the funds were transferred from the address stored since 2013 to a new wallet.
The Silk Road wallet was considered the fourth largest bitcoin holder in the world. As told in the US Department of Justice, a large transaction with cryptocurrency was recorded by the US Tax Office (IRS). The funds were withdrawn from the wallet of a user who hacked the marketplace earlier this year and signed an agreement to transfer bitcoins to US law enforcement agencies.
The message of the Ministry of Justice does not indicate what the government is going to do with bitcoins. Previously, the ministry has already sold confiscated cryptocurrency at auctions. Such sales are carried out in the same way as in the case of ordinary confiscation, and the profit goes to the organizer of the auction and becomes an increase in its budget.
As he writes, Wall Street Journal the arrest was the result of an investigation launched earlier this year by the Ministry of Justice, the criminal investigation department of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS CI) and two private companies that create software for bitcoin analytics - Chainalysis and Excygent. The channel CNBC notes that confiscation can only be temporary, since the government still needs to prove its case before the judge.[4]
Visa debit card released to receive cashback in bitcoins
In early April 2020, the startup Fold, which created an application for purchases with support for bitcoins, joined the program to support fintech developers Visa Fast Track. Thanks to this, Fold has released the Fold Rewards Card debit card, which will allow the user to receive cashback in bitcoin instead of traditional bonus points when paying for purchases in dollars. Read more here.
2019
Bitcoin founder ordered to pay $4 billion to the family of his late partner
At the end of August 2019, the court of the western district of Palm Beach in Florida (USA) ordered Craig Wright to pay 410 thousand bitcoins (at the time of the verdict, this is about $4 billion) to the family of his late business partner Dave Kleiman. Read more here.
US tax demanded to disclose income in bitcoins and warned of sanctions
In mid-August 2019, cryptocurrency investors received letters from the US Tax Office (IRS), which demanded the disclosure of revenues related to trading virtual assets and warned of possible sanctions. Read more here.
Banks began issuing loans secured by cryptocurrencies
In mid-August 2019, Silvergate Capital Corporation, which is a holding company for Silvergate Bank, announced the issuance of loans secured by cryptocurrencies. Read more here.
US presidential candidate accepts donations in bitcoins
At the end of July 2019, Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang began accepting donations in bitcoins as part of his election campaign. Read more here.
2018
In the US, bitcoins can pay taxes
On November 25, 2018, it became known about the emergence in the United States of the opportunity to pay taxes using cryptocurrency. Ohio was the first to introduce the new technology. Read more here.
US bailiffs auction confiscated bitcoins for $4.3 million
In October 2018, the United USA States Marshals Service announced an auction from which about 660 bitcoins (corresponding to about $4.29 million at the rate at the time of publication of the message by the department) will be sold, which were confiscated in federal criminal, civil and administrative cases.
The auction, which will be held on November 5, 2018, will be divided into two rounds. In the first, six portions of 100 bitcoins will be sold, and in the second, the remaining 60 coins. To participate in the auction, you need to register by October 31 and make a deposit of $200 thousand. Auction participants will not be able to view other people's bets and change offers after they are made.
The US Federal Penitentiary and Bailiff Service reported that some of the assets being auctioned include bitcoins seized during investigations into the cases of traders Theresa Tetley and Thomas Mario Costanzo.
Teresa Tetley in July 2018 was sentenced to a year in prison on charges of trading cryptocurrency without the necessary license and laundering money obtained from drug trafficking. 120 bitcoins were seized from the defendants in this case - 40 from Tetley and 80 from Costanzo.
This is not the first time the American bailiff service has auctioned off confiscated cryptocurrency. So, in January and March 2018, 3600 and 2100 bitcoins were put up for auction, respectively. As a result of those transactions, about $50 million went to the US budget.
In July 2018, it became known that the US government confiscated more than 500 bitcoins belonging to Iranians, and their number continues to grow. It was noted that the confiscation took place without explanation.[5]
Cryptocurrency investor from California lost $24 million via smartphone and blamed AT&T
On August 15, 2018, a California cryptocurrency investor filed a $224 million lawsuit against AT&T, accusing the telecom operator of negligence, which allegedly caused him to lose about $24 million. Read more here.
Blocking the purchase of cryptocurrency by credit cards
In early February 2018, large American banks banned the purchase of cryptocurrencies using credit cards, fearing that customers would not be able to return money in the event of a collapse in the bitcoin exchange rate and similar currencies.
JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and Citigroup no longer allow credit card holders (both personal and corporate) to buy cryptocurrencies with borrowed money, Bloomberg news agency reported. Bank of America noted that the ban does not apply to debit cards.
Earlier, some banks have already begun to refuse customers to buy bitcoins using credit cards. Thus, Discover Financial Services introduced a ban back in 2015, and Capital One Financial - in January 2018. Discover Financial Services CEO David Nelms admits that the bank may reconsider its cryptocurrency policy depending on consumer demand.
Banks believe buying cryptocurrencies with credit cards could increase the risk to the lender if a buyer fails to pay off due to a sharp change in exchange rate. Bitcoin has lost more than half of its value since December 18, 2017, falling below $8,000 in early February 2018.
Another reason why JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America and Citigroup could prohibit buying cryptocurrency using credit cards, experts consider it difficult to track the movement of funds after ordinary money is converted into cryptocurrency. At the same time, banks are ordered to track the movement of funds in accounts in order to identify dubious transactions.
According to MasterCard, the number of international payments often used to buy cryptocurrencies on foreign online sites increased by 22% in 2017. At the same time, the dynamics began to decline significantly after the fall in the value of cryptocurrencies, they say in the company.[6]
2017
US levied taxes on cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrency exchange transactions in the United States will now be taxed, according to bitcoinist[7].. The corresponding law was signed by President Donald Trump.
Back in 2014, the US authorities determined the status of digital currencies, recording them as "property," and not "currencies." Therefore, earlier the American tax code allowed exchanging one cryptocurrency for another without paying taxes - in accordance with Article 1031 of the US Tax Code, this was considered an exchange of "similar assets" and was in the hands of traders of bitcoin and other digital currencies. In addition, dealers in real estate and art used this - it was possible to pay for expensive paintings or houses with cryptocurrency and evade taxes.
Now this loophole has been eliminated, tax will have to be paid for such transactions - article 1031 of the aforementioned code of laws will concern only real estate transactions, and the very definition of "property" will be interpreted precisely as "material property" (or existing in reality), completely excluding digital currencies.
First trading in bitcoin futures
On December 11, 2017, the first ever trading in bitcoin futures began. The debut was marked by an impressive increase in quotations.
Trading in bitcoin futures was started by the Chicago exchange Cboe Global Markets. Six minutes later, the cost of the futures (one bitcoin is equivalent to one futures), calculated for January 2018, rose 11% to $16 thousand. Four hours later, there was an increase of 20%, and after another half hour, futures reached a maximum of $18.9 thousand.
By the time the material was written (December 13, 9:00 Moscow time), the cost of bitcoin on the Chicago Stock Exchange was $17,382.
Futures are derivative securities that allow you to buy or sell an asset in the future at the price determined at the time of the transaction. With their help, traders can protect themselves from fluctuations in the bitcoin exchange rate and bet on the growth or reduction of its value. That is, to trade it as gold, oil or other raw materials.
The exchange's website did not cope with the huge influx of users: due to too much traffic, there were interruptions in its work. 2.5 hours after the start of trading, they had to be stopped at all - for a few minutes. The second five-minute stop occurred after another 1.5 hours.
Experts consider an important risk factor for the bitcoin exchange rate to be a high level of its concentration in few hands: by December 2017, 40% of bitcoins for almost $120 billion are concentrated in only 1000 investors (the so-called whales). If they decide to coordinate their actions, then nothing good should be expected for ordinary investors.
On December 18, 2017, CME Group will also begin trading in bitcoin futures. Exchange platforms expect that trading in bitcoin futures will attract traders and investors to the regulated market, which in the future will make it possible to make the still high-risk cryptocurrency a full-fledged investment instrument.[8]
In the United States, transactions with cryptocurrency will be equated to transactions with securities
In July Securities and Exchange Commission USA (SEC) announced its intention to bring under U.S. securities law transactions such as initial coin offering () ICO and token sales. The business resorts to ICO to attract investments through cryptocurrencies, and tokens are a virtual analogue of stocks.[9]
According to the SEC, transactions involving "virtual" organizations, purchases of securities for bitcoins, financing transactions through the blockchain should be equated to transactions with securities that must be carried out legally. The Commission explained its position by concern for the safety of market players during the use of innovative methods of raising capital. Under the SEC's vision, both tokens and exchanges where they are traded should be subject to federal securities laws.
Precedent
The SEC warned the market about the innovations in a report on the Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) investigation, which it published on its website. The investigation found that DAO sold tokens for Ether cryptocurrency without registering the transactions as securities transactions. At the same time, the company positioned itself as a crowdfunding project, but in violation of the requirements of the law it did not have either a dealer or a portal to attract funds registered by regulatory authorities.
The SEC drew attention to its DAO activities after hackers hacked its network in June 2016. By that time, the company managed to raise funds from the sale of tokens in the amount of about 7.9 million Ether coins (more than $132 million). By stealing part of the DAO funds, the hackers thereby caused the collapse of Ether.
2016: Florida state court rules Bitcoin cryptocurrency is not money
An American judge ruled in the summer of 2016 that Bitcoin was not money, rejecting money laundering charges against a man accused of selling bitcoin to disguised [10].
Miami County Judge Teresa Mary Poeller denied charges against Michael Espinoza, who was accused of engaging in money laundering and illegal activities when he agreed to sell bitcoin for a total of $1,500 at the current rate to disguised police officers who told him that they needed cryptocurrency to buy a database of stolen credit card numbers.
On the eighth page of the text of the court's verdict in the case, the judge decides: "By even counting, nothing from the point of view of the coordinate system we know does not allow us to reliably describe or determine what exactly Bitcoin is. "The court is not an expert in economic matters, but nevertheless even any person with limited knowledge of this area, it is quite obvious that Bitcoin is still very far from being the equivalent of money."
The judge concluded that Florida laws regarding accusing someone of money laundering if the accused is involved in financial transactions that encourage illegal activity have an extremely ambiguous interpretation if attached to the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
"The court has no intention of punishing a person for selling his property to other persons in a case where his act falls under the laws that appear in this case [i.e. regarding the sale of cryptocurrency] so vague that even legal professionals find it difficult to give this act an unambiguous definition." 'the court verdict read.
Notes
- ↑ com/news/us-gov-moves-922- million-seised-bitcoin The US government transferred $922 million worth of confiscated bitcoin after the BTC price exceeded $60,000
- ↑ SEC approves rule changes that pave the way for bitcoin ETFs
- ↑ [] https://www.securitylab.ru/news/515102.php The US government has proposed new rules for regulating crypto wallets
- ↑ Silk Road Bitcoins Worth Over $1 Billion Are Target of U.S.
- ↑ US Marshals To Auction Bitcoins Valued at Around $4.3 million In November
- ↑ Bitcoin Ban Expands Across Credit Cards as Big U.S. Banks Recoil
- ↑ The new U.S. tax code amends IRC Section 1031 (a) (1) concerning 'like kind exchanges,' excluding all cryptocurrencies from a previous legal loophole and making all cryptocracy trades a taxable event
- ↑ XBT-Cboe Bitcoin Futures
- ↑ The end of Bitcoin? The United States took up the regulation of cryptocurrencies
- ↑ detectives According to Finextra.com, PLUSworld.ru
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