Headlines
▌White House slams digital assets in new report
A new White House report has criticised digital assets for failing to deliver on their original promises and posing risks to consumers and the entire U.S. financial system. The report pointed out that while digital assets have been touted as tools for distributing intellectual property and financial value, better payment mechanisms, a path to increased financial inclusion, and a way to cut out financial middlemen, “so far, cryptoassets have delivered no benefits.
To date, cryptoassets do not appear to offer investments of any fundamental value, nor serve as effective alternatives to fiat currencies, improve financial inclusion, or make payments more efficient; instead, their innovations have primarily been about creating artificial scarcity to support the prices of crypto assets — many of which have no fundamental value. This raises questions about the role of regulation in protecting consumers, investors, and the rest of the financial system from panics, crashes, and fraud associated with crypto assets.”
Policies
▌Texas introduced a bill to protect the rights of Bitcoin holders, miners and developers
Texas is promoting and protecting Bitcoin and its platforms, regarding the cryptocurrency as a cutting-edgeinnovation.According to the latest details of the bill, the 88th Texas Legislature now supports “individuals who code or develop on the Bitcoin network pursuant to Title I, Section 8 of the Texas Constitution." The bill also talks about the freedom of BTC miners to find any form of energy to secure the Bitcoin network. The new bill also stipulates that no citizen will be deprived of the right to own Bitcoin and talks about their protection. The bill also reaffirms the security of owning and handling bitcoin in the state.
▌Belgium will implement new cryptocurrency promotion rules on May 17
The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), Belgium’s financial market regulator, will implement a new set of rules for the promotion of cryptocurrencies within its jurisdiction, effective May 17, 2023. The new cryptocurrency advertising rules contain three key areas: information must be accurate and not misleading, advertisements must contain mandatory risk information, and cryptocurrency companies need to notify the FSMA before any large-scale activity.
Additionally, the regulator defines a mass event as any promotional activity by a company targeting at least 25,000 consumers. The regulatory move is reported to follow a survey of 1,000 investors in November 2022. Last year, the FSMA made it mandatory for all virtual currency service providers operating in the country to register, including exchanges and wallet providers
▌The IRS is considering taxing NFTs as collectibles
A document released on Tuesday showed that the IRS is considering whether imposing the same tax on NFTs as other collectibles such as stamps, artwork and fine wine will make an impact on collectors.The proposed guidance is the first time in a while that the IRS has clarified the tax treatment of digital assets, addressing a vacuum that has left some taxpayers guessing about their liabilities. The IRS and Treasury "are seeking feedback on upcoming guidance on the tax treatment of NFTs as collectibles under the tax code”, since collectibles under US tax law “do not have as advantageous capital-gains tax treatment as other capital assets”.
Blockchain Application
▌Google announced the launch of the artificial intelligence robot Bard to compete with ChatGPT
According to the British Financial Times, Google has announced the launch of the AI chat robot Bard in an attempt to compete with OpenAI'sChatGPT.The company is looking to regain lost ground in the race to commercialise generative artificial intelligence technology. Google said Bard will only generate answers in English, not computer code or answers in other languages, and will provide access on a first-come, first-served basis to users who sign up on waitlists in the U.S. and U.K.
Cryptocurrency
▌Arbitrum Announces DAO Airdrop Rules
Arbitrumhas announced the rules for its DAO airdrop, saying that one of the core principles of the airdrop is to reach Arbitrum’s sub-communities. Only projects with DAO and community treasury on Arbitrum are eligible to participate in this distribution, the only exception being the Ethereum core, a collective ProtocolGuild for developers and contributors.