Tag: digital asset

  • Bitcoin surges to 13-month high as US judge rules in favour of Ripple

    Bitcoin surges to 13-month high as US judge rules in favour of Ripple

    Bitcoin reached its highest price in almost 13 months this year on Friday, fueled by a significant legal triumph for the crypto industry. A US judge ruled that Ripple Labs did not violate federal securities law by offering its XRP token on public exchanges. Bitcoin initially surged to $31,818 before settling around $30,935 on Friday.

    The second-largest token, ether, experienced its most successful session since March on Thursday. Similarly, XRP, which the US judge declared legally tradable on public crypto exchanges, skyrocketed by 73 per cent on Thursday and maintained most of these gains on Friday.

    The favorable legal ruling and market performance have triggered optimism among industry experts. Matthew Dibb, the Chief Investment Officer at crypto asset manager Astronaut Capital, remarked that the regulatory landscape is evolving and recent developments indicate positive changes lie ahead.

    Justin d’Anethan, Head of Business Development in Asia at Keyrock, a digital assets market maker based in Hong Kong, believes that the court’s decision sets a potentially influential precedent, offering much-awaited regulatory clarity to Ripple stakeholders.

    In response to the ruling, major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase and Bitstamp resumed trading XRP on their platforms. Binance.US also announced the re-enablement of XRP trading on its exchange.

    The market reaction was particularly encouraging for Coinbase, which had been sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for alleged securities law violations. Following the Ripple case ruling, Coinbase’s shares surged by almost 25 per cent on Thursday as investors hoped for a favorable outcome in their own legal battle.

    This landmark case represents the first victory for a cryptocurrency company in a lawsuit initiated by the SEC. Although the ruling pertains to this specific case, it has generated optimism among crypto investors, who believe that other cryptocurrencies may also avoid being classified as securities.

    However, the positive sentiment was somewhat tempered by reports from the Wall Street Journal indicating that Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, has undergone substantial layoffs in recent weeks. According to an insider, the ongoing layoff process could result in a workforce reduction of over a third for the exchange.

  • Amitabh pays 2.61 crore PKR as GST after selling his NFT collection for 17 crore PKR

    Amitabh pays 2.61 crore PKR as GST after selling his NFT collection for 17 crore PKR

    The Bollywood superstar, Amitabh Bachchan has finally paid 2.61 crore PKR in GST for the sale of his non-fungible token (NFT) collection, which was auctioned for 17.16 crore PKR in the first week of November 2021.

    Some of the netizens may remember that Bachchan had received a warning from the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGI) to pay the imposed GST.

    Despite Bachchan’s deposit, the DGGI is expected to continue its probe into tax avoidance.

    An NFT venture stated in August 2021 that Bachchan’s NFT collection would be available on its platform. Bachchan had signed an agreement with ‘Rhiti Entertainment’ to convert some of his pictures or illustrations into digital assets.

    Interestingly, this also made Bachchan one of the first Indian actors to support digital art and NFTs.

    Apart from the photos and posters, a famous collection of poems written by Bachchan’s father and recorded in his own voice, ‘Madhushala’ was the most successful auction.

    The NFT auction had garnered 17.16 crore PKR and attracted 18 percent GST. Big B was bound to pay taxes worth 12.61 crore PKR from the sale, which has been now deposited by the actor.

    Read More: Crypto companies at risk of closure in the United Kingdom

    For those who do not know much about NFTs, it is a type of digital asset that represents real-world or sometimes abstract elements. This can be art, photography, meme, music, game characters or any graphic one can think of. This data unit is kept on a blockchain, a digital ledger that makes it non-transferable and unique.