American taxpayers will find a broader, more defined category encompassing cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in their 2022 IRS tax forms. The draft bill released by the Internal Revenue Service features a well-defined Digital Assets section that outlines if and how taxpayers will account for the use of cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and NFTs. Page 16 of the draft defines Digital Assets as any digital representations of the value recorded on a ‘cryptographically secured distributed ledger or any similar technology.’ 2021’s tax form required taxpayers to indicate whether they had received, sold or exchanged in ‘virtual currency’ – with this term changing in the yet-to-issued 1040 tax form for 2022. Taxpayers are required to answer the Digital Assets s...
Staked ETH withdrawal and lower gas fees are some of the developments expected with the next critical improvements for the Ethereum network, the Shanghai upgrade. The testnet version, dubbed Shandong, is now live. Developers can now begin working on the implementations; a process expected to continue until September 2023. This is the first major update since Ethereum’s consensus switched to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) in September after the Mainnet and Beacon Chains merged. Moreover, the coming upgrade introduces an elemental change to Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the technology that powers the network smart contracts. EIP-3540, or EVM object format, is one of the community’s most-anticipated updates since it separates coding from data, which could be beneficial for on-...
Over the past few years, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) have introduced a clear paradigm shift in blockchain governance. With their community decision-making and adherence to hardcoded rules, they have challenged the role of hierarchy and central authority that are present in modern organizations, especially as it pertains to business. Ideologically, DAOs have a lot in common with democracies: individuals holding an amount of a DAO’s specific token can allocate those tokens as votes on governance proposals. Once voting has concluded, the final outcome is executed autonomously by smart contracts. In functional democracies, however, citizens elect representatives to legislate laws and govern society, and periodic elections and an independent judicial system help ensure t...
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly column about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings, and all the fun stuff in between. This week: Cardi B goes to trial in a weird case over a bawdy album cover, Gunna is again refused bond in Atlanta, Ed Sheeran warns that a copyright ruling might “strangle” future songwriters and much more. THE BIG STORY: Cardi Heads to Trial Over Bawdy Album Cover In one of the weirder cases you’ll ever hear about, Cardi B is headed to a federal courthouse today to defend against claims that the cover of her debut mixtape “humiliated” a man named Kevin Brophy, who alleges he was unwittingly photoshopped into the artwork to make it look like he was performing oral sex on the now-superstar. Yes, you read that r...
The move comes as the administration has been meeting with oil company executives to negotiate ways to lower fuel prices ahead of the midterm elections in which inflation, partly driven by high energy prices, will be a key issue. The administration is also considering another release that would be separate from the previously authorized one, though a decision hasn’t been made on whether to do so, the two people said. “It’s on the table, but they haven’t made a go or no-go decision,” one of the people said. The administration also intends to announce plans to refill the reserve, two people familiar with the talks said. Details such as how much the administration would pay for the oil and when it would buy were still being worked out in one-on-one meetings with industry representatives, the ...
On this week’s The Market Report show, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss how much longer this crypto bear market could possibly last and when we could see some volatility back in the markets. To kick things off, we break down the latest news in the markets this week: Bitcoin price edges closer to $20K as ‘way worse’ US data boosts stocks A relief bounce on risk assets looks in store after Empire State Manufacturing Index numbers for October fall far short of expectations. The numbers fell to -9.1 for October, heavily below the forecast -4.3 and September’s -1.5 reading. Some industry analysts consider this to be way worse than expected, but could this actually cause Bitcoin (BTC) to rally in the near future? Bitcoin clings to $19K as trader promises capitulation ‘will happen’ B...
The blockchain industry does not exist in a bubble. The impact of the rest of the world’s economic turmoil seems to be stomping all over the progress of the “blockchain revolution.” Traditional markets like the S&P 500 index crashed by more than 11.5% in September, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index plummeted by 12.5%. However, Bitcoin (BTC) may have seen a decoupling, having only dropped 3% during this same period. For some, these are signs of a bottom for Bitcoin, but it does not necessarily mean an immediate reversal is upon the market. Are there other positive flashing signals we can see in the charts? Every month, Cointelegraph Research releases an Investor Insights report that analyzes key indicators from different sectors of the blockchain industry. Gauges from 10 segme...
On Oct. 18, the product team at cryptocurrency exchange Binance held an ask-me-anything session with users on Reddit. Of particular interest was a discussion that arose regarding retrieval fees for crypto sent on different networks than the recipient’s wallet address on Binance. According to user Maxx3141, who brought up the issue: “I accidentally send WETH [wrapped Ether] to my Polygon address two months ago. Your exchange supports Polygon, but just for MATIC. It was only like 100$ in value. I found out you previously could recover this for a 30$ fee, and I thought that was fine. But when I contacted you, I found out you just raised the fee to 500 BUSD.” Another user, Superb_Dragonfruit63, also raised the issue of having to pay 500 BUSD for crypto retrievals on unmatched...
An inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is protesting one of the Hall’s upcoming inductions. Complicating matters is that the protest comes from Jann S. Wenner, the founder of Rolling Stone and a co-founder and former chairman of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, who was himself inducted into the institution as a non-performer in 2004, when he was a recipient of the Ahmet Ertegun Award. Wenner says that entertainment attorney Allen Grubman, who is also a founding board member and set to receive the Ertegun award next month, does not meet the Hall’s criteria for the honor. “Allen Grubman has made no contribution of any kind, by any definition, to the creative development or the history of rock & roll,” says Wenner. “He has been chosen because of his clout as entertain...