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1  Economy / Trading Discussion / Re: AML/KYC Explained on: March 24, 2018, 09:33:32 AM
Here a reality check: KYC/AML is not your friend, it will not help you from getting scammed, it will not help you to have more trust in the people you are working with in cryptroland. It's one and only purpose (in this context) is to control the on and off ramp in exchanges that allow you to convert crypto to fiat and back again. To be able to track your financial activities and coerce you into revealing private information about profit and loss in exchanges around the world.

However, there is very little actual policy that has been written into law, anywhere, right now.  Most of the news and PR spin coming from Governments around the world is pure FUD, then backpedaling.  As a result of these quasi-empty, well timed threats coming out of news agencies that are literally being paid to churn out paid propaganda, many exchanges are voluntarily enacting KYC/AML policies to the effect of locking up peoples money, losing clients, and going out of business.  

Exchanges are not banks.  Right now, in the US, exchanges that do fiat to crypto and allow bank wires in and out of accounts are not currently required to send their customers a 1099K form, which is the form that reports to the IRS on profit, loss and income. Why is that?  Because the IRS has still not set a clear policy on crypto.  The last policy the IRS set was in 2014 in it's decision to classify Bitcoin as an asset instead of a currency, which pretty much the definition of a poison pill. And recently a Federal Court determined that it was the courts opinion that Bitcoin was not an asset, but a commodity.

KYC/AML has nothing to do with terrorism, or organized crime anymore, those guys from the Cartels, The Triads, The various Mob Organizations, Putins Oligarchs, they simply go right to the top and pay off or blackmail the government officials and regulators. They really don't even have to try and blackmail anybody anymore, cause most of these people in control of these things are just happy to take the money.  

"The regulators aren't concerned about money laundering, except that they get their cut." - Paul H.


Anyone who is in crypto and is fully supporting KYC/AML should have their head examined. KYC/AML is about control.  Control of most of us here on these forums, the little people, the tax cattle.

Quote
Satoshi Nakamoto's vision outlined in Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System:

"Abstract: A  purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.  Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work."

Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency, as the system works without a central bank or single administrator. The network is peer-to-peer and transactions take place between users directly, without an intermediary. These transactions are verified by network nodes through the use of cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.

This reality is brought to you the people in the inside of the Global Fiat Cabal who happen to be very good stock traders who are making really good money in the various crypto to fiat exchanges around the world. Take some time to get to know know them, they are here among us:

A conversation overheard on a US based crypto trading floor a few weeks back by several retired successful stock brokers who now play the market of BTC to USD:

Quote
Paul H: The regulators aren't concerned about money laundering, except that they get their cut. If they were, all the big banks would be shut down. They have already paid fines for money laundering. And we know they are continuing, because they have been fined again.

So, its not about money laundering, its about making sure the tax cattle cannot escape.  All the little people have to stay and take their hair cut. (Like Crimea) While all the big boys, in the club, get to avoid such.

Fortunately, if the govern-cement does ban cryptos, it will only make them more valuable, and more people will use them. See any of the past prohibitions.

Ted C: Yep. The tax issue is huge. I think having such an open international exchange program is making the tax collector sweat. How can you possibly track the trades and gains on exchanges who are housed everywhere throughout the globe? You pretty much have to rely on the tax payer's honesty, and they are unlikely to do that.
$0.04

Robert G: Especially when honesty can cost you so much. Never speak of bitcoin and the Infernal Revolting Service will never ask you any questions.  Speak of bitcoin and they will have you over a barrel and demanding to know everything and after all that they will fine you for not doing what they said (after) in the first place.

Paul H:   They don't have to use bitcoin for money laundering If such currencies like monero and dash exist ))

Ted C: Yep, it's pretty difficult to launder money with crypto anyways. At least on a grand scale. You can turn it into cash easy enough, but the difficulty of laundering money has never been getting cash, it's getting fiat into a legit bank account without raising eyebrows. Still not easy to do with crypto.

Tony R: It will be interesting to see how cryptos for cannabis will fit into this world, as this blog says, less than 1 percent is used for money laundering. How do all the cannabis-related coins fit into this if they plan on using it for the exchange of cannabis (even legal cannabis)? Would that be considered "illicit activities" in the minds of regulators? Yet, the big banks are the biggest launderers of drug cartel money.


Fred S:It is simply the Big Corps finding an excuse to try to shut down Cryptocurrency

A little word to the wise: Coinbase has been thoroughly compromised. Move your accounts to Gemini, bitFlyer, anyone but Coinbase. We will soon see the garroted, rotting corpses hanging from the lampposts in cities around the US of the people betrayed by Coinbase when they caved in court, and most suspect that the price of the deal was an always open backdoor for the IRS to access information on US taxpayers with little or no resistance, going forward.

2  Economy / Trading Discussion / Re: Best exchange or site to cash out coins to Usd? on: March 13, 2018, 07:23:12 AM


bitFlyer US

https://bitflyer.com/en-us/

Verification is fast, you can talk directly to customer service who are usually in the live chat on the trading floor.

Wire transfer only, no ACH.   

Wiring Money out is only $10. a wire.


The way you set up bank verification is that your wire any amount into your newly established account, and that becomes the bank you wire money out from. So think carefully about which of your banks to chose.   It you have to change it up down the line, that simply needs to be vetted and approved through customer service. 

Each account has a unique extra code so that your wires so that can expedite getting you, money into the account. 

bitFlyer US is in San Fransisco and the bank they use is a Commercial Bank in the San Diego area with nine branches, top shelf, but not one of the majors.

They have three account tiers, each one with a Max daily limits:

    Trade Lite Class:
        $2,000

    Trade Class:
        $50,000

    Trade Pro Class:
        Unlimited


At this point, there is only one pair at bitFlyer US BTC <=> USD

They will be adding different pairs down the line.  So you send your BTC in or out.  The exchange is solid, as bitFlyer Japan has dominated Crypto trading in Japan for quite a while, and the company has opened this new exchange with all the top security protocols.  and trades are free till the end of March.

I do not work for bitFlyer US - I have just had experiences that are 100 times more professional than with Krakken or the traitorous scum of Coinbase. 

3  Bitcoin / Bitcoin Discussion / Re: I have NEVER seen Bitcoin in such a sorry state as this!! on: December 21, 2017, 06:34:53 PM
Not a crash, just funds switched cryptos from BTC to alts
15-35% drops are regular in BTC
This one wasn't because of a single reason like last few, more of a mix of reasons from different countries
Assumption is US tax reform taking attention this week, S. Korea moving majority volume to Ripple, & positive Ripple new  alts trail BTC usually, but they also do the opposite of BTC when it dips
Cause people don't withdraw their money from BTC to fiat, they just switch it into another coin
Really you just have to watch what Bithumb, Bitfinex & GDAX trends are for where the money is flowing
4  Bitcoin / Legal / Re: Have people been forced to pay tax over Bitcoin yet? on: December 17, 2017, 09:34:21 PM
Well, I talked to my accountant last week.  He had just come from a huge gathering of tax professionals to get some insight into the new tax law.  Solid CPAs, accountants and tax attorneys regularly use the conventions and the seminars to stay abreast of the tax code.

I told him that I had purchased BTC in 2014 and have held on ever since.  He said the the tax implications of bitcoin were broadly two-fold:

As it stands right now, if you realize profit from BTC and convert your BTC into fiat (dollars) you are basically under the honor system.

I go 'Whaaaa?" 

He clarified by letting me know that banks in America are required to issue a 1099b, that is part of the banking regulations. The 4 exchanges based in the US and NOT required to file a 1099b to their customers. So, the official reporting requirement is the primary way the IRS tracks income in the country I that income has generated a 1099, which is usually the responsibility of the employer when it is freelance of contract work.  Without the 1099b, the IRS is not alerted through it's system that you made some money outside of a regular employer who would pay you a salary and have taxes taken out before you get your money.

The originating company (the exchange) would be where the 1099 would be generated. The bank they use to do their wire transfers is not responsible either, as well as your receiving bank. Now, part of the know your customer scheme at the bank you do your banking is behavioral, another critical element being used quite a bit is a type of pattern recognition (AI), so, I would get your story straight before wiring money into your account. One option would be to start a small business where you begin to file a schedule C which can be done as a sole proprietor (DBA, but you should have an idea of what the wire is for. 

The receiving bank will not report to the IRS the wires you received as income, for how the hell do they know what is it for.  If you are going to convert BTC to fiat, talk to an accountant who works with professional floor traders or stockbrokers about short term and long term Capital Gains taxes.  There are different tax rates. Short term is if you buy and sell within the same year. Long Term is over a year.  There are rules and regulations in the financial industry that it seems that the IRS will being applying to BTC transactions. Also, there is no carryover, so you get hit with the capital gains tax pretty quick in that world, but there are accepted practices where a broker gets 1000 stocks of IBM, sells half in the first year (short term CG) and hold the other half for a couple of years (long term CG) - but that would not work in the case of BTC - Why? bitcoin is not serialized like that.  So the idea of buying 1000 BTCs and doing a maneuver like I described half now and half later, is impractical,a least at thins point. 

Disclaimer: I am not an accountant or a CPA - this tax information was shared to me to help get a deeper understanding of what I am going to do with my BTC down the road.

~ Bobby Ocean

This is where greed and loss of cognitive skills and denial come into play. There is a tendency for people to waffle on their once good intention when faced with a stack of green. 
5  Bitcoin / Legal / Re: Have people been forced to pay tax over Bitcoin yet? on: December 07, 2017, 01:48:43 PM
Over the last couple of months, due to value of my small holding of BTC I purchased in 2014 and the massive rise of value, I have taken a deep dive into the prevailing opinion of CPA and tax attorneys regarding bitcoin and crypto currency by the IRS. I am going to quote some of the more important things to consider if you live and pay taxes in the US.

These are a few excerpts I have pulled from well researched paper addressing the exact issues the traders, miners and regular citizens looking to invest in the crypto coin space face every time to engage with their coin, tokens and crypto portfolio. These are excerpts pulled from longer articles, and a link to the original article is supplies and it is worth reading the entire essays.

What I discovered in my recent deep research dive is that the various decisions and non-decisions made over the last few years by the IRS on not well defined and confusing as hell.  Basically, the IRS wants it cake and wants to eat t as well.  

"So, an argument could be made that the IRS is treating cryptocurrency as both property and currency.

Reeling from this dichotomy, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants recommended in a June 2016 letter[3] to the IRS that cryptocurrency accounts be reported in the summary information section of Form 8938, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets, which breaks with the IRS’s 2014 guidance that cryptocurrency be treated as property.

If a taxpayer were to hold gold overseas, which is considered property by the IRS and, more specifically, a commodity, there is nothing in the Tax Code, that requires the taxpayer to report the value of the gold to the IRS every year. Further, if a taxpayer owns residential property, rental property, or any other asset deemed property overseas, there also is no requirement for the taxpayer to report the fair market value of that property to the IRS.

In the case of cryptocurrency, we have a dichotomy where the IRS is treating the currency as property for income "

http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/12380583/the-classification-of-bitcoin-and-cryptocurrency-by-the-irs

 
"Like any investment, individuals venturing into the cryptocurrency space must also learn about the tax repercussions of their investment decisions. In this tutorial, we’ll examine the implications of IRS Notice 2014-21, a set of guidelines and rules for investors which was first issued in early 2014.

One of the major implications of IRS Notice 2014-21 is that the U.S. government has decided to treat cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as property instead of as currency. The result is that a wide-ranging group of bitcoin stakeholders—everyone from consumers and merchants to bitcoin miners and service providers—will now fall under the larger umbrella of bitcoin “investors” in some way or another, and this group will now have to deal with complicated and sometimes daunting reporting requirements.

The IRS requires that taxpayers report the fair market value of bitcoin holdings for the date that the currency was received, not for another time. Thus, as long as Max is able to determine his fair market value in a “reasonable manner which is consistently applied,” he maintains leeway when it comes to determining his cost bases. Thus, he could make a determination of fair market value using a daily high price from one exchange, so long as he didn’t also use a daily low value from a different exchange as a reference point for his sales. This would artificially reduce his tax liability.

Bitcoin Tax Guide: Trading Gains And Losses - LIFO, FIFO, Offsetting Lots

The fact that bitcoin traders have the right to calculate their cost bases using one of several different methodologies makes the questions of tax reporting and enforcement even more complicated. Because bitcoin is taxed as personal property, investors have the option to sell their assets on a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) basis, a Last-In-First-Out (LIFO) basis, or they can sell specific tax lots that are most efficient via the “specific share identification” method that is commonly used in stock trading. Which of these options a trader decides to use may have a major impact on the calculations of both long- and short-term capital gains."

Certain digital currency exchange platforms automatically incorporate FIFO or LIFO methods for investor clients, regardless of whether one method or the other (or neither) is the most tax-friendly means of tracking cost basis. Investors might prefer to sell off a set of bitcoins purchased at a different time as a means of writing off ordinary income, then sell a different lot in order to realize a smaller long-term capital gain. The result can be significant tax savings based on a straightforward and legal change in personal accounting.

Practically, though, “specific identification” sub-accounting could be either out of the hands of the individual investor or impossible. It’s unlikely that exchanges and wallets will work to ensure that trades are executed in a way that optimizes tax returns. An investor would have to specify exactly which bitcoins to sell and at which time, keeping track of any new transactions with time-stamps in the process. Combining different wallet addresses into a single account, for example, could completely jeopardize this process. The result is that the entire process of keeping track of bitcoin trades for tax purposes is incredibly complicated, and it’s likely that many individual investors (regardless of whether they have help from tax professionals) will incur unnecessary tax liabilities in the process.

Bitcoin IRS Tax Guide For Individual Filers
https://www.investopedia.com/university/definitive-bitcoin-tax-guide-dont-let-irs-snow-you/

Crypto to Crrypto

How Do Taxes Work With Cryptocurrency? – Paying Taxes on Cryptocurrency in the United States


"...this means that you can’t trade one cryptocurrency for another and defer gains and losses year-to-year that way. For example: you can’t buy a bitcoin in 2017, trade it to litecoin in 2017, sell the litecoin in 2018, and then pay taxes then. You have to pay taxes each time a cryptocurrency is converted into another currency.

This can have some complicated tax implications where you can end up owing on profits in one year, but see those gains wiped out the next year, and then are unable to write off gains against losses because you are dealing with separate investments in separate tax years! In other words, you could, in the worst case, lose all your money and still get a giant tax bill if you trade a lot of cryptocurrencies over the course of a two year period with heavy gains one year and heavy losses the other.

If you are going to trade cryptocurrencies, consider every trade from cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency, or from cryptocurrency to USD, as its own transaction for tax purposes (each transaction from one coin to another is a taxable event where the fair-market value of profits and losses must be calculated in USD).
You can write of capital gains and losses in a year (writing off real estate, against gold, against one cryptocurrency, against another cryptocurrency for example), and things like the 30-day rule (and other such rules) should by all means apply, but you can’t treat different cryptocurrencies as “like-kind properties” and defer gains and losses into another calendar year that way."

http://cryptocurrencyfacts.com/the-basics-of-cryptocurrencies-and-taxes/

Virtual Currency and Section 1031 – A Retraction and New Position

But since the release of Notice 2014-21, the IRS and the federal government as a whole have shown a considerable amount of hostility toward virtual currency.  Last year, the IRS issued a hotly contested John Doe summons directed at Coinbase, a virtual currency exchange. Recently, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has cracked down on virtual currency exchanges that have not registered with the federal government as a Money Services Business.

The recent regulatory enforcement constriction as it relates to virtual currency appears to evidence a shift in the government’s position and suggests the IRS is beginning to view cryptocurrency more like actual currency and less like investment property. Our change in opinion with regard to Section 1031 applicability is a result of this apparent shift. A taxpayer exchanging Euros for U.S. Dollars would not be able to rely on Section 1031 to defer any currency exchange gain and so it appears that the same could be said about exchanging one type of virtual currency for another.

https://klasing-associates.com/virtual-currency-section-1031-retraction-new-position/

Cryptocurrency Traders Risk IRS Trouble With Like-Kind Exchanges
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/08/15/cryptocurrency-traders-risk-irs-trouble-with-like-kind-exchanges/#51d255a026a8

How To Report Bitcoin Cash And Avoid IRS Trouble
https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2017/08/04/how-to-report-bitcoin-cash-and-avoid-irs-trouble/#

Top 3 Legal Ways to Bypass Bitcoin Capital Gains Taxes in the US
https://themerkle.com/top-3-legal-ways-to-bypass-bitcoin-capital-gains-taxes-in-the-us/

Do I need to pay taxes if I sit on (do not use) bitcoins?
https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/47921/do-i-need-to-pay-taxes-if-i-sit-on-do-not-use-bitcoins

How Specifically The EU & US Intend To Tax Your Bitcoin
https://news.bitcoin.com/specifically-eu-us-intend-tax-bitcoin/

IRS Uses Chainalysis to Track Down Bitcoin Tax Cheats
https://cointelegraph.com/news/irs-uses-chainalysis-to-track-down-bitcoin-tax-cheats

IRS To Go After Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash Profits, What to Expect
https://cointelegraph.com/news/irs-to-go-after-bitcoin-and-bitcoin-cash-profits-what-to-expect

Tax compliance
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Tax_compliance#Trading

How do I report digital currency activity on my taxes?
https://support.coinbase.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1496488-taxes-faq

So, I truly apologize for sparking the fear, loathing, denial and delusion that taxes produces in many people. Here in the US it pays to hire accountants that specialize in the various fields of investment, stock traders, and the like.  These traditional professions have developers intricate tax strategies, investment schemes and are forced to adhere to regulatory policy that keeps them from getting into serious legal and tax issues.

The world of the cryptocurrency exchanges has be the Wild West, with basically no regulatory structure (for the most part). The interesting fact that came up in my research is that when the IRS classified bitcoin as a form of property opposed to a currency is put bitcoin into a class where every single transaction is considered a taxable event, subject to long or short capital gains.  According to the IRS, this includes crypto to crypto trades and sales.  It also means that if you were to buy a cup of coffee using bitcoin, that is a taxable event subject to capital gains.

This is by design, and in making the rulings on crypto over the last 5 years clearly demonstrate the hostile posture the IRS has taken against bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Unreported capital gains equals tax evasion, which is serious business that carried fines, penalties, back interest and potentially prison. With the IRS 'John Doe' fishing expedition lawsuit against Coinbase, the IRS has an agenda to identify and prosecute a few suckers in high profile trails as a public example and PR campaign,  Since the IRS is currently under budgetary assault by the US House of Representative, the skinny on the street is that this is battle that the IRS cannot afford to lose.  They need a high profile demonstration of muscular power by making examples out of a few crypto players.

Of course, this is only one agency in the US Govt.  There are a few others that understand the serious threat to global financial system that the sudden interest, popularity, financial commitment and belief that bitcoin has ignited in the people.

This is my overall take away from the volumes is read trying to interpret specifics on the current IRS position and policy regarding the taxing of cryptocurrencies.

  • You don't owe any traditional capital gains if you don't cash out your bitcoin profits into fiat currency.
  • Bitcoin Cash is magic money, however the IRS has not made a policy around that event deciding whether it is a stock split, or pure capital gains.
  • There is no clear IRS policy at this point as to whether Crypto to Crypto trades and transactions fall under the IRS purview.  Some tax experts say yes, other are not sure as the IRS waffles on policy.
  • In the case of hacked exchanges, stolen coins, locked out wallets, the IRS does not care.  You are on the hook for whatever tax you owe on the coin.
  • Charity and Donations: Due to the policy of bitcoin being property and assets of value, opposed to currency, both you as well as the receiving charity are on the hook for taxes.  I kid you not.


If you have made significant money over the last few years mining, buying, trading, and speculating on bitcoin, before you go to cash out in fiat US dollars, find a tax attorney that works with the various aspects of capital gains, wealth management, and setting up an LLC that will give you a structure in which to maximize your capital and minimize your tax exposure. Doing something like this takes planning and lead time and will allow you to legally enjoy your new found wealth.

There is one other option that I discovered. Become a full time resident of Puerto Rico (183 days of the year)

Move to Puerto Rico and Pay Zero Capital Gains Tax
http://premieroffshore.com/move-puerto-rico-pay-zero-capital-gains-tax/  

Anyway, I found a pretty great tool that will give you the ability to track down important exchange transactions and the relative value, gains and losses of your trade history.  It claims to be anonymous  and the data can be destroyed after you has run your own personal financial forensic trade reports.

Your personal Profit / Loss Portfolio Monitor and Tax Tracker for all Digital Coins
https://cointracking.info/

Good luck on this wild ride, if the last few days have not been wild enough ($14.5K), the next few weeks are going to be mind boggling!

~ Bobby Ocean



6  Economy / Trading Discussion / Re: Why you should buy Bitcoin now. on: November 22, 2017, 09:58:16 AM
Bitcoin is headed into the stratosphere. 

When bitcoin is in the eight figures, remember today when the price was $8256.

Big players are coming onboard, and when the BTC futures markets get rolling, the skies the limit. 

~ BO
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