Italian Parliament Approves 26% Tax for Cryptocurrency Gains in 2023 Budget Law

January 2, 2023 Bitcoin.com

Central Bank Gold Demand Rose at the Fastest Pace in 55 Years, Analyst Says Silver Could Outperform Gold in 2023

December 30, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Italy to create the crypto art Renaissance: NFT market report

December 26, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Research and Market’s latest NFT market report for Italy predicts a 47.6% growth in the country’s NFT market by the end of 2022.

Italy is one of the cultural hubs of Europe, with centuries of history, art and culture. Now, it is also posed to create the crypto art Renaissance via its nonfungible token (NFT) market, says a new report.

Data from Research and Market’s “Italy NFT Market Intelligence and Future Growth Dynamics Databook” says the country is projected to have a growth of 47.6% in its NFT market by the end of 2022.

This would make the Italian NFT market hover around a $671 million valuation.

Moreover, over the next five years, Italy’s NFT industry is forecasted to have a steady upward compound annual growth rate of 34.6%. The spending value for NFTs is anticipated to hit $3.6 billion by 2028.

According to the report, some of the country’s success with NFTs comes from its vibrant art and culture scene. Major Italian luxury fashion brands such as Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, have been some leaders in the adoption of Web3 technologies in the industry.

They not only represented an innovation for Italy but across the entire fashion industry. Over the last year, Dolce & Gabbana generated $25.6 million worth in revenue from their NFTs, and Gucci $11.5 million.

These brands also led initiatives to bring their communities into the metaverse through digital events and wearables, many of which incorporated NFTs.

Fashion brands aren’t the only forces pushing Italy into the NFT spotlight. The country’s rich cultural history has also seen some Web3-related activities.

An NFT project called the Monuverse, which is preserving historical sites via digital assets, used the Arco della Pace, or the Arc of Peace, in Milan, Italy, as its first subject.

Italian artists even have their own management organization to help Italian NFT artists, called “crypto renaissance,” which harks back to the country’s emergence as an art leader during the Renaissance period.

Meanwhile, the general atmosphere of the crypto industry in Italy is also picking up. Recently, the blockchain developer Algorand will use its technology to help support banks and insurance guarantee platforms in Italy. In November, Gemini received the green light to operate in Italy.

On Dec.1, however, Italy released its budget documents for the upcoming year which revealed a new 26% capital gains tax to be imposed on crypto profits in the upcoming year.

Italy and Albania Bust €15 Million Crypto Investment Scam

December 23, 2022 Bitcoin.com

Still bullish: 40% of survey respondents plan to buy crypto in 2023

December 22, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Price

Despite a challenging year for the crypto industry, nearly 40% of respondents indicated a plan to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in 2023.

Despite the gloom of the ongoing cryptocurrency winter, coupled with failures of crypto giants like FTX, the community appears to remain bullish about crypto, according to a new survey.

Crypto markets saw a massive sell-off in 2022, with the total market cap plummeting nearly 70% since Bitcoin (BTC) reached its all-time highs at $69,000 in November 2021.

But this didn’t prevent investors from buying more cryptocurrency, as 41% of respondents said they purchased crypto in 2022 in an online survey by Blockchain.com.

Released on Dec. 22, the survey has polled more than 40,000 people globally who visited Blockchain.com Explorer website, which is one of the world’s largest crypto websites in terms of traffic. The study is titled “Crypto Confidence: A Survey on Investor Sentiment” and was conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 9, 2022.

According to survey results, a significant share of people is also willing to continue to buy cryptocurrency next year. Despite a challenging year for the crypto industry, nearly 40% of respondents indicated a plan to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in 2023.

Additionally, about 40% of respondents said they will talk about crypto around the holiday table this season, which is considered to be a sign of growing awareness.

Apart from general investor sentiment, the survey also provides some geographic insights, with Brazil, Nigeria and Ghana becoming the most bullish countries.

As such, 50% of respondents from Brazil said they bought crypto in 2022, with 50% also planning to buy digital coins next year. 50% of Nigerians said they purchased crypto this year, while as many as 60% of Ghana respondents said they expect to buy crypto in 2023.

In contrast, Germany and Italy emerged as one of the most skeptical countries in terms of investor sentiment to crypto. Only 31% of Italian respondents said they purchased crypto this year, with 29% planning to purchase next year. Just 34% of respondents from Germany bought cryptocurrency in 2022 and 30% plan to do so in 2023.

Texas enforcers want Sam Bankman-Fried to attend the hearing in February: Law Decoded

December 6, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Brazil

The Texas State Securities Board (SSB) invited the former CEO to attend the hearing on the alleged sale of unregistered securities on Feb. 2.

Welcome to Law Decoded, your weekly digest of all the major developments in the field of regulation.

There was some substantial good news for crypto last week, but the prevailing storyline is still the unfolding of FTX. While the extradition of the failed exchange’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried seemed pretty logical from the beginning of the saga, last week, the 30-year-old got the first official call: The Texas State Securities Board (SSB) invited the former CEO to attend the hearing on the alleged sale of unregistered securities on Feb. 2. SSB’s director of enforcement Joe Rotunda hopes to get a Cease and Desist order from the judge during the hearing.

However, the man himself doesn’t rush to get back to America, even for the Congress invitation. Bankman-Fried has signaled he’s unwilling to testify before the United States Congress until he’s “finished learning and reviewing what happened.”

Meanwhile, the FTX crush continues to cause a ripple effect all over the world. In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong are set to face grilling questions for their failure to protect retail investors. As Singaporean state-backed investor Temasek was one of 69 investors to invest in the FTX crypto exchange’s $420 million funding round in October 2021, opposition MPs have recommended a bipartisan committee to question Temasek on its investment strategies.

In Europe, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, highlighted the FTX failure stating the necessity of the second package of crypto regulations after the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCa) would come into law. Her United States House Financial Services Committee colleagues will also pay closer attention to the FTX case during the special hearing scheduled for Dec. 13. And the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) already held one — answering the “How did it happen?” questions its Chairman Rostin Behnam predictably asked for more power to the Commission.

Brazil passes law to legalize crypto as a payment method

And now for the good news! The Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, a federal legislative body, has passed a regulatory framework that legalizes the use of cryptocurrencies as a payment method within the country. While the document won’t make Bitcoin (BTC) a legal tender as in El Salvador, it still will include digital currencies and air mileage programs in the definition of payment methods that are under the supervision of the country’s central bank.

Apart from designating crypto as a payment method, the law enables the creation of licenses for crypto exchange platforms and for custody and management of crypto by third parties. In addition to this, the law will require exchanges to make a clear distinction between company and user funds, to avoid another incident like the FTX collapse.

Italy to impose 26% capital gains tax on crypto profits

Italy is planning to tighten regulations on digital currencies in 2023 by expanding its tax laws to include cryptocurrency trading. Included in its 2023 budget are plans to impose a 26% levy on profits larger than 2,000 euros ($2,062) made on cryptocurrency trading. Historically, digital currencies have had lower tax rates because they have been considered “foreign currency.” If the proposed bill is signed into law, taxpayers will have the option to declare the value of their digital asset holdings as of Jan. 1 and pay a 14% tax. This is intended to incentivize Italians to declare their digital assets on their tax returns.

South Korean judge dismisses arrest warrants for Do Kwon’s former associates

A judge with the Seoul Southern District Court has reportedly set aside arrest warrants for Terra co-founder Shin Hyun-seong along with three Terra investors and four developers. Judge Hong Jin-Pyo said there was little risk of Shin or the Terra associates destroying evidence related to the case against the crypto firm. Do Kwon, who’s also facing legal action in South Korea for his role in the firm’s collapse, is still unlikely to return to the country, according to the local press.

Italy