Weekly Recap: Pro Crypto Regulations Ease Tough Week

Proposed Ban on Bitcoin Mining in Norway is Rejected

The Norwegian Parliament rejected a proposal to ban proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining in Norway last Tuesday. The parliament passed a majority vote on the matter. According to local media, the vote was against politician Sofie Marhaug's plan. The politician proposed the Bitcoin ban in March due to electricity consumption in the nation. As a result of the vote, Marhaug expressed dissatisfaction with the majority's choice. She further said that it is more important to prioritize power for the climate than to prioritize energy-intensive crypto.

The development has been received positively by many crypto enthusiasts and miners, especially considering Norway’s impressive reserve of green power. The parliament’s move is also a testament to its pro-crypto stance in recent months. Likewise in February, the Norwegian government said it would try to avoid imposing a crypto ban. However, the authorities have stated unequivocally that they will be considering a variety of measures to reduce electricity consumption in the sector.

Germany Simplifies Tax Guide on Crypto Income

Last Wednesday, Germany’s Federal Ministry of Finance issued directions on the tax treatment of crypto income in the country. The decree represents the first nationwide instruction on the subject of crypto taxation.

What is more, Germany’s new tax regulations also appear favorable to cryptocurrency holders in the country. According to the instruction, staked crypto or loaned crypto tokens are now tax-free if kept for more than a year. Furthermore, Parliamentary State Secretary Katja Hessel indicated that for private individuals, the sale of purchased Bitcoin and Ether is also tax-free after one year. A welcome development, considering a previous unclear rule means the least required time for crypto tax freedom was 10 years.

The new guidelines also covered crypto-related functions such as staking, lending, hard forks, and airdrops.

Additionally, the one-year tax-free law applies to Bitcoin miners as well. Tax payments for Bitcoin miners with newly obtained coins will be waived only after a year of holding. Although, income tax does not apply when redeeming utility tokens. Katja Hessel also stated that the Federal Ministry of Finance would continue to give additional recommendations on cryptocurrency use.

MetaMask Users Become Targets of a Phishing Attack

On Friday, popular cryptocurrency websites such as CoinGecko, DexTools, and EtherScan experienced phishing attacks in the form of malicious pop-ups.

Indeed, users were prompted to connect their MetaMask wallets via malicious pop-ups on reputable sites. Interestingly, the attacks happened amidst the shocking bear market last week, when most interests were on Terra’s fall. CoinGecko was the first to raise alarm followed by data aggregator EtherScan.

EtherScan reported the presence of the pop-ups “via third-party integration”. The attacker redirected users to a believable domain sporting the popular Bored Ape Yacht Club’s logo. Surprisingly, the domain was registered on the same day, according to the WHOIS query protocol. As a result, the analytics platform also advised its users to avoid confirming transactions that appeared on the website.

The following day, EtherScan revealed that a malicious html5 banner ad script caused the incident. It also discovered that a crypto ad platform Coinzilla served the ad, and moved to quickly disable the ad host.

Aggrieved Investor Files Police Complaint Against Terra's Do Kwon

On Saturday, a Reddit post revealed that a user had filed a complaint against Do Kwon with the Singapore Police Force. The user, who owns both UST and LUNA, claimed they reported on behalf of other investors, saying over 1000 Singaporeans lost money in the LUNA-UST crisis. Furthermore, the filed report asks Do Kwon to reimburse investors, especially since he “remains a billionaire”.

In addition, the concerned UST investor questioned why authorities have remained silent in the midst of the stablecoin protocol's ongoing crisis. He went on to say that the issue deserves to be debated in parliament. However, several Reddit users have criticized the claimant, and have labeled

Do Kwon’s arrest a pipe dream. Some others cited that investment in cryptocurrencies is and has always been risky. Not to talk of the crypto industry’s independence from central authorities like the police.

Binance Dismisses Its Involvement in LUNA's Second Fundraising Round

Following the recent crash of Terra’s LUNA, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao on Sunday denied participation in LUNA’s second funding round. The denial came after a researcher, Larry Cermak, claimed that the crypto exchange had previously invested in the blockchain protocol. Cermak said that CZ had made positive remarks about LUNA since the exchange participated in both the 2019 and 2021 rounds. He further alleged that Binance Labs invested $300 million in Terra’s funding round of 2021. However, the CEO corrected him, stating that Binance only invested $3 million in the 2018 funding round. In fact, CZ explained that the relationship between Terra executives and Binance hasn’t always been immaculate. For example, Zhao suggested that Terra developers did not exactly listen to Binance’s advice during the coin’s recent crisis.

Finally, CZ emphasized that his blockchain investment firm did not purchase any UST (Terra's stablecoin) in the second round. Despite these claims, CZ says he is pining for a Terra resurgence in the near future.

44 Countries Will Meet in El Salvador to Discuss Bitcoin

Finally, this Monday, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele announced an imminent meeting of 44 nations in his country on Monday. The 44 countries include 32 central banks and 12 financial bodies, the majority of which are from developing countries. Nigeria, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda are among the countries named.

Scheduled for May 17th, 2022, Bukele says the mini-conference will include the discussion of financial inclusion issues, the digital economy, as well as the implementation and benefits of Bitcoin.

The now-famous Bitcoin Beach, which is based in the Central American nation, did state on Friday that central bankers from some of the named countries were flying in. Soon after, President Nayib posted a world map showing countries that have either adopted Bitcoin or are attending the meeting.