1.World’s First Regulated Blockchain Real Estate Crowdsale Platform Launched in Switzerland.
2.Bitcoin reaches over $3,900 today before falling back
3.Qoo10 launches blockchain-powered marketplace with cryptocurrency
4.HMRC revises guidance on tax treatment of cryptocurrencies
1.World’s First Regulated Blockchain Real Estate Crowdsale Platform Launched in Switzerland.
Tokenized assets are here to stay. The current race is about who can get regulated products to the market first and then who can successfully gain user adoption. While several projects have purported to tokenize real estate assets, blockimmo is the first to do it within the bounds of existing regulations in two jurisdictions.
The blockimmo platform launched recently with two test properties, but they intend to have actual real estate listed in the beginning of 2019.
The way blockimmo works is a real estate seller lists the property on the platform, along with an issuance of tokens which will represent shares of the property. Investors are then able to invest however much they like and watch the crowdsale progress.
Several projects are working on similar goals, with regulations and government approval being the primary stumbling blocks. One that comes to mind is LA Token. Trust Token aims to do similar things in the future, as well.
2.Bitcoin reaches over $3,900 today before falling back
Bitcoin has continued its recovery today as it moves towards the $4,000 level. For a time today it was trading over the $3,900 level but has fallen back considerably since then.
Present situation
24 hours ago BTC was trading at $3,724. it was as low as $3,646 and rose up over $3,900 to $3,929. At 20:55 Central Standard Time it had fallen back to $3,732 just a little over 8 dollars over what it had opened.Even though BTC has not broken through the $4,000 level as yet it has come close.
3.Qoo10 launches blockchain-powered marketplace with cryptocurrency
Ecommerce firm Qoo10 has unveiled a new blockchain-based ecommerce marketplace and a new cryptocurrency to go with it. Named QuuBe(pronounced “cube”), the platform closely resembles Qoo10’s flagship marketplace and is available on desktop and mobile. Currently on beta, the marketplace will fully launch on January 1, 2019.
According to Qoo10 CEO Ku Young Bae, QuuBe can better serve customers with more competitive prices, thanks to a new revenue model. By removing the 10 percent merchant fee and payment gateway fees that traditional marketplaces charge, merchants can compete with other ecommerce platforms.
Headquartered in Singapore, Qoo10 has 6 million daily active users in countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, China, and Hong Kong. The company has set its sights on Southeast Asia, but its blockchain goals aren’t just about embracing the technology. Ku also hopes the platform will serve unbanked markets such as Indonesia and Myanmar.
The promise of blockchain
Qoo10 aims for US$1 billion in gross merchandising volume by 2020 – a lofty goal, considering blockchain adoption is still in its nascent stages. Many firms are struggling to adopt the technology, while only 0.71 percent of the world’s population are using cryptocurrencies.
4.HMRC revises guidance on tax treatment of cryptocurrencies
HMRC’s updated guidance should help individuals to meet their tax obligations by resolving some of the uncertainties surrounding the tax treatment of cryptoassets. However, the guidance does not ‘explicitly consider the tax treatment of cryptoassets held for the purposes of a business carried on by an individual’.
HMRC first issued guidance on the taxation of cryptocurrencies on 3 March 2014, but it has not been updated since.In its revised guidance, HMRC confirm that it expects the buying and selling of crypto assets by individuals will amount to an investment activity and be subject to CGT but says that it is rare that selling will be done on such a scale that it can be considered trading.
To find out whether CGT is chargeable individuals need to calculate their gain or loss when they dispose of their cryptoassets. Disposal includes:
- selling cryptoassets for money
- exchanging cryptoassets for a different type of cryptoasset
- using cryptoassets to pay for goods or services
- giving away cryptoassets to another person
Jon Stride, co-chair of the ATT’s Technical Steering Group, said: ‘There remain some unresolved issues, including where a digital token such as cryptoasset can be considered to be located for legal and tax purposes. HMRC have indicated that this is an issue that will be addressed in future updates to the guidance.
‘While we welcome the revised guidance, HMRC will need to keep updating it in order to keep pace with this rapidly changing field.’
