Crazy crypto tax law in Australia contains some very harsh provisions that would put the crypto owners in a huge tax burden. These unfair tax laws also apply to tokens which were obtained via hard forks and why is this the case, we read more in the latest cryptocurrency news below. Companies that also pay their employees in cryptocurrency will have major inconvenience with the taxes which are likely to incur at the end of this year. According to the Australian news outlet platform Micky, one crypto holder had to pay up to 500% tax on his digital assets. Crypto Tax Australia's Adrian Forza stated that the country’s crazy crypto tax law stipulates the value of cryptocurrency used for tax purposes comes from the price which was set for the purchase. If one investor buys a token X at $100 and then the price drops to $10, the tax for the token will be based on the $100 purchase price. The crypto tax in Australia is about 40% so that means you would have to pay a $40 tax on $10 worth of virtual currency. Forza declared:

‘’That’s a really unfair outcome because he’s basically received cryptocurrency and the value has dropped significantly and now, he has to pay tax on money he doesn’t have. This is something they will have to change as it is unfair.’’

During the 2018 bear market, the prices plummeted by more than 80 percent across the board so the virtual currency holders in Australia needed to pay unfair taxes. Around the world, the crypto taxes make it possible for users to hold crypto for a longer period of time not to lose their assets on paying the taxes. Forza also noted that there were some other crazy provisions in Australia’s tax system. For example, the Australia Taxation Office considers Ethereum Classic as the original Ethereum even though nobody else thinks this is the case. Ethereum Classic came after an Ethereum hard fork. The implication of this tax law is that the Ethereum users have to pay capital gains on 100% on their ethereum holdings only because the tax agency considers the purchase price to be zero. As it was reported in the coming altcoin news, there is another crazy tax law regarding the companies which want to pay their employees in crypto. Now, they have to pay up to 47% on every dollar paid. This extra cost makes it very hard for companies to pay their stuff in Bitcoin which could really dampen the bitcoin or crypto adoption.

The long awaited cryptocurrency by Facebook, the Libra Project, was officially announced yesterday. As the Libra whitepaper showed, the cryptocurrency would be launched in the first half of 2020. However, the latest cryptocurrency news show that a US Congresswoman does not like the plans that Zuckerberg has with Libra - and apparently wants to pause the entire project. As reports from BBC featured in the altcoin news showed, the US House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee wants the social media giant to put the plan on hold. We are talking about Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) who is the Committee's Chairperson, arguing that the social media giant should wait for the legislators to examine the asset before making any new announcements. The full report by the US Congresswoman Waters reads the following:

“Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a crypto-currency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.”

Right now, Waters' fears are warranted. In times when Facebook has a torrid history over its privacy and information handling performances, the CEO of the company Zuckerberg and the COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg had to appear before the Congress last year for questioning. The past that Facebook has, mixed with the US Congresswoman's intentions, may definitely halt the very long-awaited project and send shivers down the spine of the crypto community. Right now, it is clear that the Congress wants the social media giant to take things slow. Other lawmakers also said that they need more information regarding the project. The US Congresswoman and Chair Waters and her sentiment shows the following in a letter sent to the Rep. Patrick McHenry, who is another member of her committee:

“It is incumbent upon us as policymakers to understand Project Libra. We need to go beyond the rumors and speculations and provide a forum to assess this project and its potential unprecedented impact on the global financial system.”

We don't know if Facebook responded to this letter. But as the coming altcoin news show, even if they did - lawmakers now want to hear more details about the Libra project.

The US Banking Committee Senate has officially set a hearing in which it will hear testimony on the mega popular Facebook Libra cryptocurrency project which is everywhere in the coming altcoin news. Set for July 16, the hearing will address many questions in regards to the new cryptocurrency. As the economic news site MarketWatch reported on June 19, the social media giant released the white paper for its Libra token yesterday. This stablecoin will operate on a native eponymous blockchain and will apparently be backed by a basket of reserve assets that are “designed to give it intrinsic value” and mitigate some volatility fluctuations. Following the official release of the project, he US banking committee and regulators from it expressed their concern about the project's possible effects towards financial stability. For example, Rep. Maxine Waters, who is a chairwoman of the United States House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee, demanded that Facebook should halt the project's development during this in-depth regulatory investigation.

“Given the company’s troubled past, I am requesting that Facebook agree to a moratorium on any movement forward on developing a cryptocurrency until Congress and regulators have the opportunity to examine these issues and take action.”

On July 16, the US Banking Committee will hold a hearing titled "Examining Facebook's Proposed Digital Currency and Data Privacy Considerations." Jerome Powell, who is the head of the US Federal Reserve, was featured on many best cryptocurrency news sites for his recent announcement in which he said:

“[Facebook] has made quite broad rounds around the world with regulators, supervisors and lots of people to discuss their plans and that certainly includes us.”

As government officials in other countries noted, there is a lot of doubts and concerns about the new Facebook project. One of them was the French Minister of Economy and Finance Bruno Le MAire, who noted that the government intends to "ask for guarantees" from Facebook in regards to its Libra cryptocurrency project. Earlier today, other altcoin news spread showing that the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Financial Markets, Anatoly Aksakov, said that the country won't legalize the use of Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency.

Chinese tech giants say that the blockchain technology is mature but the regulation is among the biggest concerns. We are reading more about the possibilities and regulation in the latest cryptocurrency news below. The CEO of Binance Chanpeng Zhao used the opportunity to expand with the government’s help and let’s see exactly how. Zhao believes that governments should encourage the Chinese tech giants to build crypto tokens and this is one of the key factors that the blockchain should embrace. By dealing with the regulatory uncertainty in the countries around the world, companies worldwide have gone to other countries with more friendly jurisdiction such as Estonia and Malta. Countries around the world have a long way before establishing a complete regulation for the blockchain industry which is scaring the business away. The businesses around the world are demanding to know what the regulations are going to be rather than to work in a grey area that could lead to them losing money. Chinese exchanges, for example, have shut down because of the harsh climate and terrible regulation. In China, it is legal to own cryptocurrency but it is not legal to trade after the regulation that was brought up. Binance, for example, was one of the exchanges that went to Malta. Some countries as noted in the coming altcoin news are much less friendly to other Western ideas. For example, Iran’s establishment and the launch of their own cryptocurrency could boost the usage of blockchain technology for the central banks in the Middle East. Dubai, on the other hand, is quickly becoming a friendly blockchain hub. Most governments such as France have worked very hard to establish a crypto-friendly regulation. Billions are yet to be made with the help of blockchain and smart government leaders want to make that come true as soon as possible. As a response to Zhao’s tweets, many people around the world spoke about the centralized nature of the tokens he was calling the government to create. Zhao created the BNB token and went on to become its own blockchain. This is one of the most successful crypto token launches in the past several years. For the biggest part, the government cheerleading could turn out to be helpful but it might come with more costs than worth. It could be preferable for blockchain enthusiasts if the governments take a hands-to blockchain or create enforceable regulatory policies.