IRS sinks its claws into Bitcoin

The IRS has now finally declared its official stance on Bitcoin: It is to be treated as a capital asset and not currency, yet will be saddled with currency regulations as well. The first and perhaps scariest bullet point is that any gain made on the value of Bitcoin now must be treated as a short-term capital gain (which could be taxed up to 35%!). So, for example, the early adopters who turned pennies into millions, upon cashing out, will owe millions in taxes. Lovely!

So, the onerous list of bullet points:

• Bitcoin profits treated as short-term capital gains.
• Mining of Bitcoins is treated as gross income.
• Any payment in excess of $600 value must be reported.
• Any payment of Bitcoins to a contractor must be reported and filed with a Form 1099-MISC.
• Bitcoin payments may be subject to backup withholding.

You can read all the legalese ugliness here.

 

Thanks to LaserBob for the info.

Bitcoin eyes price parity with Gold

As of writing:

Trading at a high of $1242 in the US markets, Bitcoin is only $10 short of meeting the 1-oz gold bullion spot price.

Will this be called “Bitcoin Black Friday?”

Bitcoin goes exponential, tops $1000 in China market

As of writing, 6888 Yuan/BTC. That’s USD$1130.

We’re exploring arbitrage opportunities as other exchanges lag at 834 and 724, respectively. More than 30% return per cycle, if you can catch it before it breaks, and have a way to move your money through China.

Mighty Bitcoin tops $600.

Driven by the China market, Bitcoin topped US$600 this morning. $612 at the time of writing.

ExpatBob is pleased.

Bitcoin Rampage

Bitcoin is on another bull run, after Baidu, China’s equivalent of Google, started accepting payments for services in Bitcoins a few days ago. This is welcome news, as it shows large-industry posturing to accept the cryptocurrency despite the USDOJ’s crusade to stomp it out at all costs.

Mighty Bitcoin tops $100 exchange rate

This morning, Bitcoin topped $100 for the first time. Will it last? Nobody knows, but it’s definitely a sign of its growing popularity. Its latest rise has certainly attracted investors and technology innovators who are making tools for greater accessibility and usability, which only helps add to its popularity and usefulness.

Who’d have thought that in a world where every government is racing to the bottom of the barrel through currency inflation, a small opensource project to create a digital currency would experience explosive hyperdeflation? That’s what happens when you remove government meddling from the picture.

Go, go, mighty Bitcoin!