Throughout the last week, the cryptocurrency market demonstrated considerable strength after its persistent trend of the prior month. On Friday, a report was published that revealed that 261,000 additional jobs were added to the American economy, adding a further boost to the market, and resulting in surging prices of both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Improving economic indicators promise to bring a much-awaited pressure release in the crypto-markets that have borne the costs of all the disruptions this year had brought.
Crypto-Highlights of the week
The US Department of Justice revealed yesterday a 2021 raid it carried out which saw the recovery of almost $3.4 billion worth of bitcoin. This stands as the second-largest seizure by US government authorities to date. James Zhong pleaded guilty to the fraud, which he committed via the illegal Silk Road marketplace.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has stated its plans to clamp down hard on governments taking a negligent approach to crypto-asset oversight. Thereafter, the international body elaborated on plans to make annual assessments of countries to ensure sufficient regulatory controls exist on digital assets to restrict money laundering and terror financing.
According to sources, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is preparing to clamp down hard on those exploiting tax vulnerabilities in the world of crypto-assets. Bloomberg reveals that the body’s criminal investigation division is likely to initiate legal action on hundreds of cases. The IRS has been increasing its focus on cryptocurrency in prior years, seizing a record high of $7 billion worth of digital assets this year alone.
In keeping up with the trend seen across the high-growth economies of the world, Argentina too is considering the adoption of an ‘Argentine Digital Peso’. The proposal comes from one of the leading bankers in the country, Carlos Maria De Los Santos, who argues that crypto-transactions hold tremendous potential in widening the nation’s tax net, as well as ensuring a net surplus to the Argentine economy.
According to reports, Lebanon has been seeing a surge in crypto-activity following its bankruptcy and complete economic destabilization. As its national currency sheds value, citizens have been mining cryptocurrencies, and using them in stores across the country, as an alternative to fiat currency.