Sept. 12th: France Minister On Libra And Crypto Taxes

This is your daily roundup for Thursday September 12th, 2019. France will not tax crypto-to-crypto trades, France minister Bruno Le Maire wants to block Facebook’s Libra project, Binance is opening trading for it’s BUSD stablecoin, and Zelle co-founder Mike Kennedy is joining Interstellar as it’s new CEO.

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No Crypto-Crypto Tax In France

According to Bloomberg, France will not tax crypto-to-crypto trades, but will tax gains when they are converted back into traditional fiat currency. French finance minister Bruno Le Maire stated “We believe that the moment the gains are converted into traditional money is the right time to assess tax,” France’s Value-Added Tax (VAT), which shares a similar burden to a retail sales tax, will only be assessed when a cryptocurrency asset is used to acquire an asset or a service.

France To Block Libra Project

Bruno Le Maire is also strongly opposed to Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency, and wants to prevent it from launching in the EU. At the opening of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conference on cryptocurrencies, finance minister Le Maire stated “I want to be absolutely clear: In these conditions, we cannot authorise the development of Libra on European soil.”

Le Maire reportedly expressed concerns that Libra may “substitute itself as a national currency” and potentially cause financial disruption. Libra’s head of policy and communications Dante Disparte told The Independent “We welcome this scrutiny and have deliberately designed a long launch runway to have these conversations, educate stakeholders and incorporate their feedback in our design.”

Interstellar Gets New CEO

Interstellar, the company behind the stellar blockchain is getting a new CEO. Current CEO Adam Ludwin is stepping down to work on Pogo, an app-focused company targeting interoperability between mobile wallets. Pogo will be structured as a subsidiary to Interstellar.

Zelle co-founder Mike Kennedy will be the new CEO starting September 15th. Zelle is the mobile payments network owned by several large U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citi and Bank of America. Kennedy, has been an advisor to the Stellar Development Foundation since 2017.

Binance Launches BUSD Stablecoin

Binance is opening trading for its new stable coin BUSD starting September 16th. BUSD was created in partnership with the Paxos Trust Company, which already issues its own dollar-backed and gold-backed stablecoins. The new stablecoin has obtained regulatory approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Binance has already issued stablecoins pegged to bitcoin (BTCB) and the British pound (BGBP). BUSD will be backed by U.S. dollars on a 1:1 ratio

Fiat Anyone?

Hackers are selling fiat cash for fractions of its worth in Bitcoin. According to a report from security firm Armor, darknet hackers are selling fiat for cents on the dollar to avoid the risk of dealing with fiat money. The hackers are willing to transfer stolen funds to the bank account, PayPal, or Western Union of your choice.

The service is very appealing to sellers because they would no longer have to purchase stolen bank credentials or set up mule accounts. Rather, the bulk of the risk on the buyer.