This Week in Crypto – August 13th
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Crypto Compromise Within Infrastructure Bill: Rejected
An attempt to modify the crypto tax provision in the bipartisan U.S. infrastructure bill was shut down. This is being reported as a major blow to the “domestic digital asset industry”. The announcement came from Senators Cynthia Lummis and Pat Toomey. While receiving support from Democrats, Republicans, and Treasury Department, it was ultimately blocked by an unrelated increase in military spending. The infrastructure bill was shut down by a lone senator, and the bill is now moving back to the House.
“We’re not proposing anything sweeping or anything radical – [the compromise] makes clear that a broker means only those persons that conduct transactions where consumers buy, sell and trade digital assets,”
Senator Pat Toomey
“I am grateful to Senators Warner, Portman, Sinema, Toomey and Lummis for working together on this amendment to provide clarity on important provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure deal that will make meaningful progress on tax evasion in the cryptocurrency market. I am also thankful to Chair Wyden for his leadership and engagement on these important issues,”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
The $1 trillion infrastructure bill was not adopted after a vote Monday. If this was not the case, it would have exempted crypto transaction validators from a broadened definition of “broker”. Senator Toomey continued, saying it would specify who has tax reporting obligations within the digital asset sector. They define “broker” as, “any person who (for consideration) regularly effectuates transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person”. This means software developers, node operators and validators would not be required to carry or report transaction information. Only “brokers” would be required to do so.
Is The “Bad Guy” Always A “bad guy”?
A recent hack that left the Poly Network project out approximately $611 million is coming to an unusual conclusion. In the latest “vigilante” news, the hacker who initially stole the cryptocurrencies is returning the funds with a message included:
“In the defi world, you can trust nobody but the code and yourself.”
The hacker who hit Poly Network
Earlier this week the Poly Network project, a DeFi platform, was hacked and over $600 million in crypto was stolen. This hack was allegedly to bring attention to a major exploit within their systems. On Tuesday, they began to return the stolen funds to wallet addresses across the three chains.
Whether this is due to them being unable to spend the stolen funds, is still unknown. It was also revealed that Poly offered a reward of $500,000 in tokens to the hacker for returning the funds. The hacker declined the reward money. The Poly Network dubbed the attacker, “Mr. White Hat”. It remains a question if they are a true “white-hat” hacker, a hacker who aims to protect from attacks. The company was able to obtain IP addresses and email addresses associated with the hacker. This, as well as an inability to sell the stolen tokens, may have put pressure on the hacker.
Soccer Star Messi’s Latest Contract Includes Crypto Tokens
For Messi, it appears that it’s not all about the money. In the soccer star’s latest contract, he is making some unique requests. To join the French club, Paris Saint-Germain, he is asking that crypto fan tokens become part of his deal.
As one of the most influential players in the sport, this move is sure to have the industry talking. Messi has won FIFA’s player of the year award over five times, and his current annual salary is reported to be $41 million. So, if this doesn’t work out to be in his contract, maybe he’ll go out and create tokens on his own?
Flash sales for fan tokens have proven to be a very popular way for fans to get more engaged with their favourite teams and players.
The past year has been a rough time for many sports fans. Constant lockdowns and empty arenas have played on a loop. While digital tokens may not be as exciting as a foam finger, they’re definitely a great way for teams to monetize their fan engagement. And who knows? Maybe the tokens will come with a free hot dog.
A Late DeFi Summer?
Ahh, summer. The skies are blue, birds are chirping, and DeFi is heating up. Decentralized finance has been a huge part of the crypto industry in 2021. Who doesn’t get excited about the shift away from centralization?
Recent data from the last 30 days shows that the top 10 DeFi tokens have gained more than 20%. The top gainer, Terra (LUNA), even went up more than 115%!
Why is DeFi on everyone’s minds again? Well, the total locked value in DeFi platforms is getting closer to its previous all-time high.
DeFi trades have also been on the rise. Daily volume keeps on increasing for nearly every protocol. This isn’t surprising since the number of DeFi users now sits at a record high of over 3,000,000 people. As more people migrate away from traditional finance, demand for DeFi surges. It’s only a matter of time before nearly every metric breaks a record.
That’s the end of this week’s recap. If you want to learn more about cryptocurrency with NetCents, make sure to subscribe to our blog below! If you see an interesting story that you think we should feature, send us a message on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Did you miss last week’s news? Read it here!
