Korea’s Tax Agency to Withhold $70M From Crypto Exchange Bithumb

South Korea’s National Tax Service (NTS) will withhold tax worth 80.3 billion won, or $70 million, from the country’s largest crypto exchange Bithumb. CoinDesk Korea reported on Sunday that Vidente, the largest shareholder of Bithumb Holdings, which runs Bithumb Korea, confirmed the withheld amount in a notice and said the tax will be imposed on its foreign customers. This is the first time that the country’s taxation agency has imposed tax on gains from cryptocurrency transactions, the report said. “Bithumb Korea is planning to take legal action against the tax…

China’s Crackdown on Cryptocurrency Trading: A 2019 Recap

While China has waged war on domestic cryptocurrency trading activities since 2017, this year saw it tighten the screws as hype around crypto’s underlying blockchain technology renewed interest in digital assets. Below is a summary of China’s difficult relationship with crypto and how it has evolved in 2019. China does not like crypto trading As Cointelegraph reported in September 2017, Chinese regulators placed a ban on local cryptocurrency exchanges, forcing them to close. Shortly after the ban, news broke that the government sought to crack down on all domestic cryptocurrency…

Huobi Indonesia Adds Fiat-to-Crypto Gateway in Bid for Global Expansion

Huobi Indonesia will institute a fiat gateway for trading 250 cryptocurrencies in the country. Announced Dec. 27 in a press release, the Indonesian wing of Huobi Group looks to facilitate cryptocurrency trading in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.  According to the firm, Huobi Indonesia boasts 50,000 registered users, of which approximately 10 percent are active in daily trading. Approximately $374,000 was transacted in the most recent available daily data.  With this play, the Jakarta-based firm hopes to gain market dominance in Indonesia, said Xiong Dan, Huobi Indonesia CEO, in the announcement.…

Bitcoin Traders are Exiting Bullish Positions En Masse, Data Shows

The number of traders who had bullish positions on bitcoin is declining. And it could be significant in determining the cryptocurrency’s next big move. Charts on the Bitfinex exchange earlier showed an almost parabolic rise in long positions, showing that investors expected to profit from a rise in the bitcoin price. Between November 23 and December 23, the number of Bitcoin’s long positions surged from 24,839 to 47,720 – or by circa 92 percent. The same period saw its spot rate rising just by 0.39 percent to close at $7,347.40. In…

Mike Novogratz Predicts Bitcoin Enters Year 2020 in 12K Price Zone

Novogratz is a fan of making Twitter predictions. This time, he thinks that Donald Trump will lose the Presidential elections. His competitor, according to Novogratz, will have 10 million votes more. One of the subscribers made a bet that this will not happen, placing 1 ETH and Novogratz accepted the deal. However, when it comes to Tom Hanks, Novogratz thinks that no other actors can dive into the Process as precisely as he can. Regarding “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”, he thinks that Tom Hanks will receive Oscar for…

Bitcoin Rally Pauses But Not Likely Over, Bulls Aim $8K

Bitcoin price rallied recently above $7,300 before it ran into $7,500 against the US Dollar. The price is showing positive signs it seems like the bulls aim another test of $7,500. There is a major bullish trend line forming with support near $7,325 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken). The pair is sighting an upside break above the $7,420 and $7,500 resistance levels. Bitcoin price is gaining bullish momentum against the US Dollar. BTC is likely to accelerate higher once again as long as…

China May Soon Have Its First Blockchain Exchange-Traded Fund

China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the country’s financial watchdog, has recently received an application for listing an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that will track blockchain-related stocks as underlying assets. Dubbed Penghua Shenzhen Stocks Blockchain ETF, the application was filed by Shenzhen-based asset management firm Penghua Fund and was accepted by the CSRC on Dec. 24, according to the regulator’s disclosure. The proposed ETF aims to track and reflect the performance of Shenzhen-listed public stocks that have businesses in the blockchain industry. Based on a report from Shanghai Securities News on Thursday,…

Bitcoin & Crypto Market Showing Bullish Signs: LTC, BNB, BCH, TRX Analysis

The total crypto market cap is slowly rising and it is now above the $185.0B support. Bitcoin price rallied recently, but it failed to climb above the $7,500 resistance. Binance coin (BNB) price is up more than 5% and it broke the $14.20 resistance area. Litecoin (LTC) price is slowly recovering and it is now trading above $42.50. BCH price surged above the $205 and $210 resistance levels. Tron (TRX) price is climbing and it could soon test the $0.0140 resistance area. Bitcoin (BTC) and the crypto market cap are…

Ripple Nears Key Breakout Resistance, BTC & ETH Gain Traction

Ripple price is slowly grinding higher and approaching the $0.2000 resistance against the US dollar. XRP seems to be forming a nice support near the $0.1940 and $0.1925 levels. There is a key rising channel forming with support near $0.1945 on the hourly chart of the XRP/USD pair (data source from Kraken). The price remains well bid and it could make another attempt to break the key $0.2000 resistance. Ripple price is closing in towards key resistance against the US Dollar, while BTC and ETH are showing positive signs. XRP…

Ethereum (ETH) Rallies 5% But Bitcoin Still Trailing

Ethereum is up more than 5% and it broke the $130 and $132 resistance levels against the US Dollar. The price is currently consolidating near the $135 level, with a positive bias. There is a key bullish trend line forming with support near $131 on the hourly chart of ETH/USD (data feed via Kraken). Bitcoin also surged above $7,300, but it was rejected near the $7,500 barrier. Ethereum price is up more than 5% versus the US Dollar and bitcoin. ETH price is showing positive signs and it could continue…