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Bitcoin Proponents Bemoan Joe Biden’s Proposed Capital Gains Hike

20/10/2020 by Idelto Editor

The U.S. presidential election is only 14 days away, and a number of bitcoin proponents have been discussing the capital gains tax implications Joe Biden plans to invoke if he wins the American presidency. According to Biden’s plan, capital gains will be raised from 21% to 39.6% for certain income brackets. Two weeks ago, the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, floated the idea of cutting long-term capital gains cut down to 15%.

In just two weeks, the U.S. may see a new president or it may get another four years of Donald Trump if the incumbent wins the election. This week a number of people have been discussing what taxes will be like in the U.S. if Joe Biden was elected president.

For instance, hip-hop mogul 50 Cent tweeted that he was going to vote for Trump after seeing how Biden plans to tax wealthy individuals in New York. Additionally, a number of bitcoiners have been discussing Biden’s tax increases and the direct form of taxation known as capital gains.

When people discuss the term “capital gains tax,” they are talking about the levy taken by the state when someone makes gains on the sale of any asset after the original purchase. Long-term capital gains apply to levies taken by the state after the asset is retained by the owner for more than 12-months.

Biden’s economic plan is a classic hit from the Dems… pic.twitter.com/FPiKlezqzB

— Bitcoinerisms – Buy Bitcoin (@BitcoinCensus) October 20, 2020

The popular crypto pundit, Mike in Space, discussed 50 Cent’s commentary on Twitter and said: “Come election day, a lot of people are going to realize they prefer not going broke to being woke.”

Another individual on Twitter this week is also disgusted with Biden’s tax proposals and stressed:

Biden wants to raise the capital gains tax significantly. This screws over the majority of seniors who live on fixed income. It also impacts anyone taking profits from bitcoin or any investments for that matter.

According to Biden’s tax plan, the long-term capital gains taxes for individuals who make $1 million per year or above will increase from 21% to 39.6%. Making matters worse, some reports show Biden’s proposal could increase capital gains taxes as high as 43.4% because of an added 3.8% payroll tax. However, even though online fact-checkers and mainstream media outlets try to claim that the income bracket proposal is concrete, the Biden tax plan is not 100% set in stone.

In fact, The Hill contributor Naomi Jagoda’s recent report notes that Biden has “repeatedly said” that the increased taxes and capital gains hike will not affect certain income brackets (under $400k to $1M). However, Jagoda’s report also implies that Biden’s tax proposal has not yet been “tailored to meet that objective.” The fact of the matter is Americans cannot take any politician’s promises seriously, and Biden could change the capital gains requirements on a whim.

On Facebook, Openbazaar and BCHD developer, Chris Pacia, complained about Biden’s capital gains hike proposal. “Really getting tired of Joe Biden claiming he won’t raise taxes on ordinary people,” Pacia wrote. “His capital gain tax increase from 23.5% to 43.4% would directly hit my life savings. It’s complete bullsh*t to claim he isn’t taxing ordinary people.”

Meanwhile, a team of Goldman Sachs analysts led by Arjun Menon wrote a note to investors saying that Biden’s capital gains hike could also spark a massive stock sell-off. Goldman’s investors note detailed that the last time the capital gains taxes were increased in 2013 it fueled a massive $100 billion stock sell-off.

On Twitter, a number of other cryptocurrency investors have expressed dissatisfaction with Biden’s proposed capital gains increase.

“If you’re invested in crypto or stocks and you’re voting for Biden, you need to re-evaluate your life decisions,” one individual wrote. “Biden is going to raise capital gains tax from 23.8% to 43.4%,”

Another bitcoiner wrote how it was a toss-up between Trump and Biden for different reasons. “Trump doesn’t like bitcoin,” the individual said. “Biden will probably raise taxes on capital gains. IDK…”

Many progressives wholeheartedly believe that Biden’s plan will only affect rich people. However, Biden supporters don’t realize that due to the Federal Reserve’s reckless inflation creation, the income bracket between $400k and $1 million could represent a lot more people in the very near future.

For example, the average American income in 1979 was $16,530 and it only took two decades to increase 431.54% thanks to rapid inflation. In 2020, the average American income of $87,864 only needs to jump 355% in order to meet Joe Biden’s $400k tax requirement.

Mainstream media has been attempting to publicize Donald Trump’s tax plan, but the incumbent president has yet to release any official tax proposal details thus far. Although, people predict that Trump aims to cut the current capital gains tax, as the president made a pledge on August 13 to cut the top federal tax for capital gains down to 15%.

What do you think about Joe Biden’s proposed capital gains hike? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

The post Bitcoin Proponents Bemoan Joe Biden’s Proposed Capital Gains Hike appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Bitcoin’s Creator vs. Bezos: Satoshi Nakamoto’s Uphill Climb to Surpass the Amazon Founder’s Net Worth

17/10/2020 by Idelto Editor

Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest man, but someday if bitcoin crosses a certain valuation then Satoshi Nakamoto will be the wealthiest if he/she or they are still alive. Today, Satoshi Nakamoto, is the 157th richest person worldwide, and the crypto asset will have to cross six digits in order to surpass the Amazon founder’s net worth.

In 2020, the founder of Amazon has a whopping 175 billion and he’s currently the richest person on earth today. According to the real-time billionaires’ tracker, a data set that measures the net worth of individuals and families with great wealth, Bernard Arnault and his family hold $122 billion.

These two top billionaires are followed by Bill Gates ($118B), Mark Zuckerberg ($98B), Elon Musk ($93B), and Mukesh Ambani ($83B). Now over the last two decades, the world’s richest people have changed positions frequently and in the future, Bitcoin’s creator could join the mega-elite.

It is estimated that Satoshi Nakamoto holds around 1.1 million BTC ($12.45B) from the period in time where the inventor kickstarted the network and mined coins with the community. Presently, at current BTC exchange rates, Satoshi would be the 157th richest person in the world, if the infamous creator still exists.

This means Satoshi is wealthier than the electronics billionaire from China, Wang Laisheng, with his $12.4 billion. Nakamoto is also richer than the billionaires’ Wang Laichun and Hui Wing Mau according to today’s statistics.

In order for Satoshi Nakamoto to outpace Jeff Bezos, the crypto asset will have to surpass six digits for sure. Calculations show that bitcoin (BTC) will have to rise above $160,000 per coin for Satoshi’s wealth to exceed the current Bezos’ stash.

At $160k per coin, Nakamoto would have a grand total of $176 billion worth of BTC. This does not account for the bitcoin cash (BCH) and bitcoinsv (BSV) Nakamoto owns as well.

At $11,360 per BTC today, the crypto asset will have to gain 1308% in value to reach the $160,000 price range. Moreover, with around 18.5 million BTC in circulation, the market cap would be worth approximately two trillion nine hundred sixty billion if bitcoin (BTC) was $160k per coin.

It’s safe to say that Jeff Bezos will accumulate more money, as he has capitalized a great deal in 2020. However, his top position at being the wealthiest person alive will not last forever and someone else could take the spot. The chances of Bitcoin’s anonymous inventor(s) taking the top spot as the world’s wealthiest is an intriguing possibility.

Even though Nakamoto is around 156 people away from Bezos, there could be a day where the two net worths come extremely close and collide. This of course could only happen if BTC happened to go ballistic in value and follows some of the predicted targets crypto luminaries like to forecast.

What do you think about Satoshi Nakamoto surpassing Jeff Bezos someday? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

The post Bitcoin’s Creator vs. Bezos: Satoshi Nakamoto’s Uphill Climb to Surpass the Amazon Founder’s Net Worth appeared first on Bitcoin News.

The Silk Road Balance Sheet Discrepancy: Bitcoin Worth $4.8 Billion Still Missing

12/10/2020 by Idelto Editor

The original Silk Road marketplace has been shut down for well over seven years now and to this day, 444,000 bitcoin worth $4.8 billion is still missing. Just recently, a report focused on those funds discusses one of the market’s biggest mysteries and how people have seemingly forgotten about this massive stash.

A number of people understand that the Silk Road marketplace was shut down by global law enforcement (LE) in October 2013 and LE subsequently arrested Ross Ulbricht shortly after. Individuals are also familiar with the 173,991 BTC ($1.9B) from the Silk Road coins that were seized and later auctioned by the U.S. Marshalls.

However, the public is not wholly aware of the estimated 444,000 BTC ($4.8B) missing from the Silk Road and a recent study from mysteryarchive.com discusses the lost coins at length.

“What many people don’t know about the Silk Road story, is that the balance sheet does not add up, and everybody just seems to be okay with this fact,” the mysteryarchive.com report notes. The author further adds:

Generally speaking, you don’t close a case with $4.8B just unaccounted for and this remains the Silk Road’s greatest mystery as nobody can answer this simple question.

The findings discuss how the U.S. federal agents managed to seize the 173k BTC and that it’s quite possible the rest of the funds were stored on another computer. 144k BTC out of the seized stash was found on Ulbricht’s laptop, which gave LE full access to the “Mastermind” dashboard and a list of SR payroll expenses from 2011 to 2013.

Mysteryarchive.com stresses that “another computer seems likely, as it is common practice to not put all your wealth in one place.” The report is not the only account of the hundreds of thousands of Silk Road BTC still missing from the darknet marketplace.

In 2015, news.Bitcoin.com shared an account from the alleged Silk Road mentor, ‘Variety Jones,’ who told a tale about an estimated 300,000 to 400k BTC stash. According to Jones, a rogue FBI agent dubbed ‘Diamond’ was harassing him with an attempt to obtain the hoard of Silk Road coins LE never seized.

“My back of the envelope calculations for SR [Silk Road] show that there was easily close to 400,000 BTC that wasn’t accounted for yet,” Jones wrote at the time. “I certainly don’t have it, it’s gotta be somewhere, and Diamond (the rogue FBI agent) is certainly willing to move heaven and earth to get the passphrase for it.”

Jones had said the rogue LE official was trying to extort him and the agent was also making “an average of $1,000,000 a month, committing felonies with wild abandon, just because he can.” Variety Jones, whose real name is Roger Clark, was arrested in Thailand in December 2015.

Oddly enough, Clark wasn’t charged for his association with the Silk Road (SR) or his crimes until the end of January 2020. Moreover, two rogue federal agents working with the SR investigation stole thousands of bitcoins acting as double agents.

The recent report details that the missing stash of hundreds of thousands of SR bitcoins may have been lost during the Mt Gox breach. A number of studies over the years have shown a great deal of bitcoins from the darknet marketplace might have found their way into the now-defunct Mt Gox exchange.

Alongside this, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent Jared Der-Yeghiayan discovered interesting connections between Mt Gox and the SR marketplace. A summary of Der-Yeghiayan’s account was published on Freeross.org in a story called “Silk Road Case: The Real, Untold Story.”

“Der-Yeghiayan had identified multiple accounts belonging to the Silk Road operators that contained bitcoins worth millions of U.S. dollars,” the Untold Story study’s author notes.

The crypto community may never find out where this stash of BTC went, and can only speculate on how much really went missing. The mysteryarchive.com report concludes that it is noteworthy that Mark Karpeles (CEO of Mt Gox) helped LE with the federal investigation into the SR marketplace. Moreover, the author adds that Karpeles was also once a lead suspect in the case and was accused of being the SR leader at one point as well.

What do you think about the mysterious missing SR bitcoins? Let us know what you think about this story in the comments below.

The post The Silk Road Balance Sheet Discrepancy: Bitcoin Worth $4.8 Billion Still Missing appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Stacking Satoshis: Leveraging Defi Applications to Earn More Bitcoin

02/10/2020 by Idelto Editor

As decentralized finance (defi) has become more popular, digital currency proponents are making money off of more than 140 yield-bearing cryptocurrencies. While most of the defi ecosystem revolves around the Ethereum network, a number of people leverage these defi applications in order to earn more bitcoin. The following list is a few defi platforms that allow individuals to stack satoshis by utilizing liquidity pools and lending apps.

A great number of people hold bitcoin (BTC) for a long period of time whether in a noncustodial wallet or with a custodian like an exchange. However, these days a lot of individuals are earning interest on their cryptocurrencies via defi apps rather than letting the assets sit dormant in a wallet or exchange.

As mentioned above decentralized finance (defi) has been very prominent within the Ethereum ecosystem, but there are ways people can stack satoshis by yield-producing applications.

However, in order to specifically use a defi application to gain more BTC, the user will have to utilize a tokenized version of the asset. Or they can trade and use another token that uses the ERC20 token standard. Tokenized bitcoin projects include WBTC, renBTC, hBTC, sBTC, imBTC, tBTC, and pBTC.

BTC investors can earn a yield without using tokenized BTC assets, but the platforms that offer direct interest for BTC are centralized exchanges (cex) and are custodial. For instance, data shows that BTC holders can deposit coins on Coinlist, Cred, Blockfi, Bitfinex, Crypto.com, and Poloniex and earn a 30-day average yield rate of 0.8% to 8.5% depending on the platform chosen.

In mid-August, news.Bitcoin.com published a comprehensive, deep dive into crypto earning, staking, and interest-bearing accounts.

Now if the person wants to leverage a defi application, one that allows for lending and earning yields by providing liquidity, they can transfer the funds they want to use into ethereum (ETH) or an ERC20. If the individual wants to gather yield off of 10 BTC ($105k) they can swap the coins for a touch over 30 ETH (using today’s exchange rates) and again swap for something like WBTC, renBTC, or hBTC.

Now most of the tokenized bitcoin assets today can be used on nearly any defi liquidity or lending provider built on Ethereum.

With most of the tokenized bitcoin assets, users can leverage defi applications like Uniswap, Aave, Compound, Balancer, and more. Both lending providers and liquidity pools will offer different interest rates depending on the deposited amount.

Unlike using a cex platform, to earn interest, the defi applications can be done in a noncustodial fashion via a wallet like Metamask. However, cex platforms are the only services that will pay earnings directly in BTC.

If you happen to transfer funds into Ethereum and your ultimate goal is to end up selling the earnings for BTC, then leveraging these schemes with an ERC20 based stablecoin will produce a better APY.

For instance, defirate.com shows the best lending rates stem from DAI and USDC and they are the most profitable yield-bearing cryptocurrencies on defi platforms. The web portal stakingrewards.com offers insight into over 666 yield-producing providers as well. Data stemming from stakingrewards.com also shows stablecoin assets provide a better yield.

Even cex applications like Crypto.com will offer a much higher APY for stablecoin balances, as opposed to cryptos like BTC, BCH, or ETH.

Ultimately there are ways bitcoiners can earn satoshis by leveraging defi, but they have to either transfer funds into alternative blockchain assets, tokenize their BTC, or leverage a centralized custodian in order to yield directly from BTC deposits.

What do you think about the list of defi applications that let users produce yields? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

The post Stacking Satoshis: Leveraging Defi Applications to Earn More Bitcoin appeared first on Bitcoin News.

Cumulative Ethereum Transaction Fees in 2020 Supersede Bitcoin’s by a Long Shot

30/09/2020 by Idelto Editor

This week the research and analysis team Coin Metrics published a report on how decentralized finance (defi) is “fueling Ethereum’s growth.” Meanwhile, the researchers also highlighted that Ethereum’s cumulative transaction fees in 2020 are now over $350 million and more than double the aggregated total of Bitcoin’s network fees.

Coin Metrics researchers and Nate Maddrey published a new report that discusses Ethereum’s defi evolution and the growth the blockchain has seen this year. However, with the new demand Coin Metrics highlights that ETH fees have “changed dramatically” and the authors note “high gas prices are becoming the new norm.”

A few defi project launches contributed to the dramatic rise in network fees including UNI, SUSHI, YAM, and YFI. The trading of the new tokens has been more prevalent on decentralized exchange (dex) platforms and because swaps are onchain this created a fee market. “This can lead to escalating transaction fees as users compete to be first in line for a trade,” the report emphasizes.

“ETH median transaction fee hit a new all-time high of $8.25 on September 2nd following the launch of SUSHI,” the study’s author adds.

On Twitter, the Coin Metric’s team published a chart that shows Ethereum network fees this year are double the size of BTC’s 2020 fees. “Ethereum Total Transaction Fees during 2020 are now over $350m and more than twice Bitcoin’s,” the team’s Twitter account wrote. “By comparison, this time last year, cumulative Bitcoin Transaction Fees were $135M and Ethereum Transaction Fees were $27M,” the researchers added.

The report says that distributed ledger network fees are a “double-edged sword.” Essentially users are paying higher fees but miners are gathering all the revenue and in turn, the hashrate has increased exponentially. “As a result, Ethereum’s hash rate is climbing towards all-time highs— This is a good sign for Ethereum, as network security is critical for the long-term health and success of the blockchain.”

Although, the researchers underline that higher gas fees can make the ETH chain “prohibitively expensive” for a certain fraction of users. This can tip the scales for Ethereum whales who can swap large sums of tokens while smaller players could face a barrier to entry. “Ethereum’s median transfer value has increased to hundreds of dollars since the rise of defi, signalling that the network is shifting towards larger players,” the report points out.

What do you think about Ethereum fees growing double the size of Bitcoin’s network fees in 2020? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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