Spanish authorities intend to curb crypto-related tax evasion

Summary:

• Spain’s Ministry of the Treasury wants to deal with crypto-related tax evasion and money laundering

• Two new cryptocurrency funds have been launched in Israel

• Italian watchdog warns about three crypto companies

After heavy declines seen at the beginning of this week, major cryptocurrencies have settled down of late. However, this does not look as a revival being around the corner. Today we are focusing on three reports from Spain, Israel and Italy respectively.

Spanish Ministry of the Treasury has reported recently that it had identified as much as 15,000 cryptocurrency investors as in a bid to prevent tax evasion and money laundering. The aim is to ensure that investors making capital gains from digital currency transactions will pay a proper tax rate. In a note brought by a Spanish newspaper we may read that these steps are going to “monitor the fiscal incidence of these new technologies, such as blockchain and, especially, cryptocurrencies to curb tax-related fraud”. What’s more, among targets are 16 large banks and 40 companies allowing people to trade virtual currencies and make payments based on them. Let us recall that in October the Spanish government approved a draft of anti-fraud law in order to increase scrutiny on the cryptocurrency industry.

Bitcoin keeps trading within the triangle pattern. It seems that it’s only a matter of time when the price resumes falling. Source: xStation5

Quite interesting story came from Israel where an investment firm has launched two crypto funds, and a third one is to be launched soon. The funds will adopt three investment strategies and they will be dedicated for institutional and accredited investors. The Israeli firm is registered in Cayman Islands. Its CEO said earlier this week, referring to the launched funds, that the first one is algo-based, momentum-driven, long/short on Bitcoin and top five cryptocurrencies. The second is smart beta, fully-invested in the top 10 coins. He added that the firm aims to launch its third fund, a VC fund, that will participate in token offerings, in Q1 2019.

Ripple could see a bounce in the nearest future as the price has managed to stay within the channel. Source: xStation5

The last piece of news comes from Italy where the financial regulator, the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (CONSOB), has warned about three crypto companies engaged in schemes to promote crypto mining and investments. It added that these companies - Richmond Investing, Crypton and Eagle Bit Trade - were neither licensed nor authorized to run business in the country. The steps undertaken by CONSOB seem agree with similar measures implemented by other regulators in Europe.