Crypto

Traders in dilemma over disclosing cryptocurrency as foreign asset

Published

11 months ago

July 25, 2023

Traders in dilemma over disclosing cryptocurrency as foreign asset

Thousands of cryptocurrency traders who have moved their virtual digital assets (VDAs) to wallets of offshore exchanges like Binance face a dilemma as they fill their Income tax return (ITR) forms in which for the first time VDAs find a mention.

They are unsure whether to disclose their ‘overseas’ crypto holdings. Does transferring the coins from a wallet in an Indian exchange to a digital purse offered by an overseas exchange makes the VDAs a ‘foreign asset’ in the eyes of the Income tax (I-T) authorities? If it does, then hiding the information would be a gross violation. However, if they disclose the VDAs (transferred through the blockchain network) as ‘foreign assets’, it may be later construed as a breach of the Foreign Exchange management Act (FEMA).

Simply because moving cryptos originally purchased in India to a wallet abroad can be interpreted as cross-border flow of currency in the garb of VDAs. And, reporting of any foreign asset without any matching remittance of currency through the banking channels could be questioned later.

No clear answers

Today no one knows whether cryptos from an Indian exchange to a foreign wallet is a kosher transaction under the stringent foreign exchange regulations.

“Whether cryptocurrencies are assets at all, and if these are, are the cryptos in India or outside…these are burning questions without clear answers. However, reporting of foreign assets in the tax return form is to be considered from a disclosure perspective and not as a balance sheet reproduction,” said Rutvik Sanghvi, Partner at the CA firm Rashmin Sanghvi & Associates.

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A taxpayer has to report ‘income from transfer of VDAs’ in the ITR, requiring him to pay tax on the money he makes from a crypto sale. While there is no explicit provision for disclosing VDA assets, many professionals think it should be reported.

So, a person holding Bitcoins in a Binance wallet should ideally disclose the VDAs as part of her overall assets (AL or asset-liability Schedule) as well as report them as ‘other assets’ under the Foreign Asset (FA) Schedule in the ITR form.

“On a conservative basis, cryptocurrencies held in a wallet operated by a foreign company, as well as those purchased through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) route, should be reported under Schedule FA to avoid penal consequences. With amendments in the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and development of the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, information on these ‘assets’ will be available with the Indian Government sooner if not later,” say Sanghvi and fellow CAs Kartik Badiani and Mahesh Nayak in “Disclosure of Foreign Assets and Incomes”, a book jointly authored by them and published by the Bombay Chartered Accountants Society.

Till banks clamped down on the use of LRS for buying cryptos abroad, many resident individuals (who are allowed to remit upto $250,000 a year under LRS for acquiring certain capital assets) used the route to transfer funds overseas to buy cryptos. They are in the clear and may probably disclose their crypto holdings in the AL and FA schedules of the ITR if their total income exceeds Rs50 lakh.

FEMA a lesser evil than BMA

However, over the past two years as more and more banks in India blocked payments for crypto deals, many traders shifted their coins in wallets of foreign exchanges. Such asseesses today face the predicament over disclosing the coin holdings with overseas exchange wallets. But, a large number of practitioners believe that even if such transfers were a transgression of FEMA, disclosing them could mean less trouble.

“Violation of FEMA, though serious, is still better than defaulting under Black Money Act. It is advisable to report all foreign assets as the Black Money Act is in itself very draconian and punitive. Moreover, there is always a threat of the BMA order being shared with the Enforcement Directorate,” said Amit Maheshwari, partner at AKM Global, a tax and consulting firm.
Unlike overseas banks which share data of accounts of Indians, crypto exchanges are yet to part with similar information about traders. But that may change in the coming years as governments and central banks discuss ways to strip crypto deals of their anonymity to track the flows of coins and their beneficiaries.

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Crypto

Cryptocurrency Price Today: Bitcoin Dips Below $67,000 As Top Coins Continue To Land In Reds

Published

3 hours ago

June 17, 2024

Press Room

Cryptocurrency Price Today: Bitcoin Dips Below $67,000 As Top Coins Continue To Land In Reds

Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s oldest and most valued cryptocurrency, dipped below the $67,000 mark over the weekend. Other popular altcoins — including the likes of Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Litecoin (LTC) — landed in the reds across the board as the overall Market Fear & Greed Index stood at 55 (Neutral) out of 100, as per CoinMarketCap data. The BRETT token emerged to be the biggest gainer, with a 24-hour jump of over 15 percent. Notcoin (NOT) became the biggest loser, with a 24-hour dip of nearly 8 percent.

The global crypto market cap stood at $2.43 trillion at the time of writing, registering a 24-hour dip of 0.88 percent.

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Today

Bitcoin price stood at $66,480.09, registering a 24-hour gain of 0.42 percent, as per CoinMarketCap. According to Indian exchange WazirX, BTC price stood at Rs 59.66 lakh.

Ethereum (ETH) Price Today

ETH price stood at $3,517.76, marking a 24-hour dip of 1.25 percent at the time of writing. As per WazirX, Ethereum price in India stood at Rs 3.21 lakh.

Dogecoin (DOGE) Price Today

DOGE registered a 24-hour loss of 1.30 percent, as per CoinMarketCap data, currently priced at $0.1394. As per WazirX, Dogecoin price in India stood at Rs 12.23.

Litecoin (LTC) Price Today

Litecoin saw a 24-hour dip of 0.58 percent. At the time of writing, it was trading at $77.25. LTC price in India stood at Rs 6,959.64.

Ripple (XRP) Price Today

XRP price stood at $0.4816, seeing a 24-hour loss of 1.15 percent. As per WazirX, Ripple price stood at Rs 43.87.

Solana (SOL) Price Today

Solana price stood at $150.85, marking a 24-hour dip of 2.19 percent. As per WazirX, SOL price in India stood at Rs 13,358.12.

Top Crypto Gainers Today (June 17)

As per CoinMarketCap data, here are the top five crypto gainers over the past 24 hours:

Brett (Based) (BRETT)

Price: $0.1595
24-hour gain: 15.45 percent

JasmyCoin (JASMY)

Price: $0.03748
24-hour gain: 11.77 percent

Lido DAO (LDO)

Price: $2.17
24-hour gain: 9.21 percent

Dog (Runes) (DOG)

Price: $0.0073
24-hour gain: 9.18 percent

Jupiter (JUP)

Price: $0.9176
24-hour gain: 7.48 percent

Top Crypto Losers Today (June 17)

As per CoinMarketCap data, here are the top five crypto losers over the past 24 hours:

Bitcoin (NOT)

Price: $0.0186
24-hour loss: 7.24 percent

Akash Network (AKT)

Price: $3.18
24-hour loss: 5.04 percent

BitTorrent [New] (BTT)

Price: $0.0000009525
24-hour loss: 4.70 percent

Oasis (ROSE)

Price: $0.1117
24-hour loss: 4.22 percent

Ondo (ONDO)

Price: $1.14
24-hour loss: 4.04 percent

What Crypto Exchanges Are Saying About Current Market Scenario

Mudrex co-founder and CEO Edul Patel told ABP Live, “Bitcoin witnessed selling pressure over the past week as prices dropped below the $67,000 mark, but then easing up over the past 24 hours as price movement flattened. Bitcoin’s closest support level lies at $64,825, while the next resistance point awaits at $66,978. Meanwhile, Ethereum too has witnessed marginal selling pressure in the past week as the market gears up for Ethereum ETFs to go live in early July. The overall sentiment in the market continues to point to greed.”

Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX, said, “Bitcoin remains below its 50-day moving average, a technical indicator that could suggest a potential short-term price decline. However, a healthy buffer above the key 200-day moving average hints at a possible long-term bullish trend. If bulls can push Bitcoin above the 50-day hurdle at $66,425, it could trigger a rally towards the crucial resistance level of $69,000. Breaking decisively above that level could even put the coveted all-time high of $73,808 back on the table.”

Sathvik Vishwanath, CEO and co-founder of Unocoin, said, “The Biden administration is set to discuss bitcoin policy in early July, signalling a potential shift in US crypto strategy. The round table is organized by the pro-crypto-democratic Rep. Silicon Valley’s Ro Khanna and will be attended by billionaire Mark Cuban and other lawmakers. The meeting aims to maintain US leadership in bitcoin and blockchain innovation amid regulatory debates. Cuban believes Biden’s crypto stance could influence the 2024 election. Meanwhile, Trump has pledged to end Biden’s “war on crypto” and support bitcoin mining, promising a more favourable regulatory environment if elected. Bitcoin is trading around $66,400 with a bearish outlook.”

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Disclaimer: Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions. Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is subject to market risks. Readers are advised to seek expert advice and read offer document(s) along with related important literature on the subject carefully before making any kind of investment whatsoever. Cryptocurrency market predictions are speculative and any investment made shall be at the sole cost and risk of the readers.

Crypto

JPMorgan Doubts Crypto Inflows Will Remain as Robust

Published

10 hours ago

June 16, 2024

Press Room

JPMorgan Doubts Crypto Inflows Will Remain as Robust

America’s largest bank says the state of the cryptocurrency market may not be sustainable.

This year has seen crypto net inflows of $12 billion thus far — a figure that could jump to $26 billion by year’s end assuming flows continue apace — a trend driven by demand for spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), JPMorgan Chase analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou wrote in a note cited in a Sunday (June 16) report by Seeking Alpha.

While this number is impressive, Panigirtzoglou wrote it might not be entirely made up of new funds coming into the crypto space.

“We believe there has likely been a significant rotation away from digital wallets on exchanges to the new spot bitcoin ETFs,” he explained.

This movement is noticeable, he noted, as bitcoin reserves on exchanges have dropped by 220,000 BTC, or $13 billion, since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved bitcoins ETFs in January.

“This implies that the majority of the $16 billion inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs since launch likely reflects a rotation from existing digital wallets on exchanges.”

Panigirtzoglou attributed the rotation to “the cost effectiveness, deeper liquidity, regulatory protection and convenience of the ETF wrapper that has become market participants’ preferred choice of instrument for bitcoin exposure for both existing and new crypto investors.”

All told, the analyst has doubts that crypto inflows will continue at the same pace for the remainder of 2024, considering how high the price of bitcoin is relative to the cost to produce one or when compared to gold.

This isn’t the first time this year that the banking giant has expressed its doubts about bitcoin ETFs, writing soon after the SEC’s ETF approval that the funds would draw money for existing crypto products but not attract new capital.

“We are skeptical of the optimism shared by many market participants at the moment that a lot of fresh capital will enter the crypto space as a result of the spot bitcoin ETF approval,” the banks’ analysts wrote in January.

Last month saw reports that venture capital investment in crypto companies had begun increasing after cooling for two years, climbing to $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024.

“The crypto industry is still in its early stages, and there is a lot of room for growth and innovation,” PitchBook senior analyst Robert Le wrote in a report quoted by Reuters.

“Barring any major market downturns, we expect the volume and pace of investments to continue increasing throughout the year,” he added.

See More In: Bitcoin, bitcoin ETFs, crypto, cryptocurrency, J.P. Morgan Chase, jpmorgan, JPMorgan Chase, News, Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, PYMNTS News, What’s Hot

Crypto

Cryptocurrency exchanges to evaluate listed coins

Published

1 day ago

June 16, 2024

Press Room

Cryptocurrency exchanges to evaluate listed coins

Representations of cryptocurrencies Bitcoin, Ethereum, DogeCoin, Ripple, Litecoin are placed on a PC motherboard in this illustration. REUTERS-Yonhap

Implementation of Korea’s first cryptocurrency act on user protection to take effect from July 19

By Anna J. Park

With the implementation of Korea’s first law on virtual asset user protection, due to occur on July 19, cryptocurrency exchanges are set to comprehensively review the listing status of over 600 virtual assets currently being traded.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and the virtual asset industry on Sunday, 29 cryptocurrency exchanges registered to the financial authorities, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit and Gopax, must regularly evaluate whether to continue supporting the trading of their listed coins.

The exchanges are each required to set up their own evaluation and decision-making body within their organizations, with the said bodies assessing the reliability of the issuer of their listed coins, user protection measures, technology and security and compliance with regulations.

With regards to assets like Bitcoin, of which the issuer is not specified, alternative review criteria will be introduced.

When cryptocurrency coins do not meet certain standards, they will be designated as cautionary and will face delisting.

“Financial authorities will support cryptocurrency exchanges to conduct reviews on their listed coins every six months regarding whether to continue supporting the trading of the virtual assets. After this initial review, the exchanges will be required to conduct maintenance reviews every three months,” an official from the financial authorities said.

Financial authorities are also preparing guidelines for virtual asset transactions, aiming for them to be utilized by virtual asset exchanges from next month, when the virtual asset user protection law is set to come into effect.

The figures from the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit under the Financial Services Commission (FSC) showed that the total number of cryptocurrency coins listed on the domestic virtual asset exchanges stood at around 600 as of the second half of last year, which is about a 3.5 percent fall compared to the first half of last year.

Meanwhile, the financial authorities are also preparing a change in their internal structures to devise policies on the cryptocurrency industry effectively.

The FSC plans to establish a new bureau solely dedicated to virtual assets so as to oversee the overall regulatory framework for the virtual asset industry as early as the end of this month.

The FSC’s organizational amendment, which includes these details, will complete its legislative notice by Monday and will be reviewed by the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

The FSS is also gearing up for its supervision and investigations into unfair trade in the virtual asset sector at two new bureaus established at the end of last year.