Hey, Your Crypto Newsletter for March 01, 2021

If you are interested in cryptocurrencies, this newsletter is for you. [FeedBinary Newsletter]( You Might Like     [Learn more about RevenueStripe...](  [Many Indian techies get paid in crypto, say it’s faster and easier]( Mumbai — International crypto companies are hiring engineers and back-end developers in India as contractors and paying them in cryptocurrencies to accelerate their adoption and bypass local taxes and laws regarding cross-border payments, crypto industry insiders told ET.  India still lacks a regulatory framework on cryptocurrency, which means they are technically neither legal nor illegal. Many young engineers and freelancers are thus accepting payments in cryptocurrency due to the ease of transferring it across borders, and lower transaction costs compared to bank transfers. ET spoke to a few such employees and found that some choose to receive their entire salaries in cryptocurrency while others receive a portion in crypto and the rest in fiat currency. Some who turned down contracts because they would have been paid in crypto said they were now regretting their decision.  Legal experts said, however, that accepting payment in cryptocurrency falls in a legal grey area and that such transactions could be in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) as they constitute cross-border payments in a currency not recognised by the Reserve Bank of India. The lack of clarity on whether India will treat cryptocurrency as a currency, a product, or both, adds to the confusion around how to tax it, experts said.  “Any payment against goods or services across borders offered by an Indian entity has to be in a currency recognised by the RBI,” said Rashmi Deshpande at law firm Khaitan & Co. She added that since the government has no way of tracking crypto payments coming into people’s private wallets, tax avoidance is expected. [Read More](   [Bitcoin’s long-term value doubted due to ESG, tighter regulation]( The sheer amount of energy needed to mine Bitcoin and the prospect that governments will create more obstacles for the largest cryptocurrency point to the token losing ‘most of its value over time,’ BCA Research said  Bitcoin is nursing losses after its worst weekly plunge in almost a year and on one view its longer term outlook could be even worse because of environmental concerns and tightening regulations.  The sheer amount of energy needed to mine Bitcoin and the prospect that governments will create more obstacles for the largest cryptocurrency point to the token losing “most of its value over time,” BCA Research Inc. said.  The expense and slowness of Bitcoin transactions make it “unsuitable as a medium of exchange,” BCA Research Chief Global Strategist Peter Berezin wrote in the report released Friday. In addition, environmental, social and governance-focused funds are likely to shun companies associated with Bitcoin due to the large energy consumption by miners on computer networks.  Bitcoin is still up more than five times over the past year, a divisive rally pitting believers in a new asset class against naysayers who see a speculative bubble. Among notable recent developments are Tesla Inc.’s $1.5 billion purchase of the token. At the same time, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are among those signaling caution. [Read More](   [Should cryptocurrencies be banned?]( In a recent interview to Bloomberg Television, Bill Gates, the world’s richest college dropout and third richest man, raised doubts about Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. He said: “My general thought would be that if you have less money than Elon, you should probably watch out.”  The comment was in response to Elon Musk, the boss at electric car-maker Tesla, and a big votary of people buying and owning Bitcoin (though, of late, he has said that Bitcoin is overvalued).  Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that has been around since 2009. It was supposedly invented by someone known as Satoshi Nakamoto but whose real identity or identities (given that it could even be a group of people), is/are not known.  Between September 3, 2020, and around noon on February 26, the price of bitcoin in US dollars, has gone up by a whopping 356%, and as I write this, it is quoting at around $46,350 per unit. And, not surprisingly, those investors who rode this wave are a confident lot. [Read More]( You Might Like     [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Connect with FeedBinary on Facebook and Twitter [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Linkedin]( TextYou received this email because you operate or create content for a website/service and based on your website it seemed like this could be important information to you and your users. Mystical-Universe newsletter is managed by [Postbox Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd](.C-4/5, IBD Emporia, Kolar Road, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, INDIA, 462042 Want to change how you receive these emails? [Update your preferences]( or [Unsubscribe](