Rio de Janeiro mayor to invest 1% of city reserves into Bitcoin
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, announced plans to allocate 1% of the city’s reserves to Bitcoin. He plans to turn the city into a major cryptocurrency hub. The mayor further added that the state was looking towards exempting firms in the crypto sector from paying taxes. Cities such as Miami in the US are also investing in crypto assets to boost their revenues.
Crypto prices today: Bitcoin Falls 1%, Ethereum Down 1.5%
Bitcoin is currently trading at $42,811, a 1% decline over the previous day. Ethereum fell 1.52% over the last 24 hours to $3,295. Solana fell 3.95% to $143.52, while Cardano has surged 11.2% to $1.52. Polygon (MATIC) is up 3% to $2.40. The global crypto market cap stands at $2.06 trillion, a 0.88% decline over the previous day.
Govt may consider levying TDS/TCS on crypto trading in Budget 2022: Report
Nangia Andersen LLP Tax Leader Aravind Srivatsan said the government may consider levying tax deducted at source (TDS) or tax collected at source (TCS) on sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies above a certain threshold. Such transactions may be brought within the ambit of “specified transactions” for the purpose of reporting to Income Tax authorities.
Walmart to venture into crypto and NFTs
US retail giant Walmart is reportedly positioning itself for a venture into the world of crypto and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Based on trademark documents it filed in December 2021 with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the company is also laying the groundwork to create its own cryptocurrency to contend with Bitcoin and Ether.
Crypto-related job postings jumped ~400% in 2021: LinkedIn
According to a recent study by LinkedIn, listing for jobs looking for candidates possessing domain knowledge and expertise in the area of crypto and blockchain surged 395% in 2021 in the United States. The job descriptions and titles majorly included terms such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain, and cryptocurrency. San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and Denver emerged as the prime areas that offered the maximum crypto-related job postings in 2021.
Use of Bitcoin for crypto payments declining: BitPay
Consumers and businesses are increasingly starting to use digital tokens other than Bitcoin for purchases, according to BitPay Inc. In 2021, Bitcoin’s use at merchants that use BitPay dropped to about 65% of processed payments, down 92% YoY. This is primarily due to the high volatility of Bitcoin. Ether purchases accounted for 15% of the total, stablecoins were 13%, and new coins added to BitPay in 2021 (Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, and Litecoin) accounted for 3%. More businesses have begun to use stablecoins for cross-border payments.
