Poor Charlie, Taxes, and JP in Decentraland

Author

Logan Cloak
February 25, 2022

GM, and welcome to RollCall by Rollfi! 

The weekly newsletter that helps you navigate the world of crypto

The entire crypto market sank 9% on Thursday morning as Russia attacked Ukraine. More importantly, soldiers were killed and people are being pushed from their homes. 

Instead of making any more commentary on a situation we know little about, we're going to stay in our lane and bring you the latest stories from the past week in crypto, and the people, projects, and policies building the future of the internet and currency. For a more qualified and in-depth view of the Ukraine and Russia situation, Morning Brew sat down with a geopolitical analyst to understand what is going on.

Let's get into it:

Poor Charlie doesn't TRUST

Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has been a harsh critic of cryptocurrencies. Last week, he called crypto a "venereal disease" and stated that he is proud he did not invest in crypto early on. That makes 1 of us.

His reasoning seems to stem from reports that bitcoin is used by "kidnappers and extortionists". 

There are certainly bad actors, as there are in many new and unregulated industries.

To nobody's amazement, however, we respectfully disagree with Mr. Munger on this one. And if you're reading this newsletter, you probably don't need to be convinced that the potential benefits of crypto far outweigh the bad actions of the few.  

Still, crypto companies are doing their part to deter those bad actors. Earlier this month a coalition of US crypto companies created a platform called TRUST (Travel Rule Universal Solution Technology) in response to increased anti-money laundering standards. The platform will allow participating members to transmit user data in accordance with the travel rule and could seriously curb illicit activity on those exchanges.

This is just another step the crypto industry is taking to prove its legitimacy. Even with these improvements, I still don't think Charlie's going to be changing his mind anytime soon. Ngmi.

Gm, Uncle Sam

Tax season is upon us. And if you're like us, you've had so many crypto transactions in the past year that you're dreading not only the tax bill, but paying an accountant to sort out the mess of wallets you have. Or maybe you're new to the game and are just interested in getting paid in crypto. 

Either way, you'll probably have to educate yourself a bit on where to start for paying Uncle Sam (kinda crazy that we have to figure it out oursleves tbh).

That's why we've compiled a list of resources you can use to educate yourself on the different ways you can be taxed on your crypto:

  • CoinDesk's Tax Week: CoinDesk's annual collection of articles helping you understand, minimize, and avoid unnecessary taxes.

  • Understanding Crypto Taxes by Coinbase: A succinct report on what type of taxes you may be subject to depending on the type of transaction

  • This list of crypto tax softwares that help ease your tax headache by calculating your crypto tax liability

JP Morgan

JP Morgan's crypto arm, Onyx, has had an eventful past two weeks. Onyx is a "blockchain-based platform for wholesale payments transactions, helping to transform the way that money, information and assets are moving around the world". 

First, the bank unveiled the Onyx Lounge within Decentraland, a metaverse-esque 3D virtual world, along with a report outlining metaverse opportunities. You can read more on the unveiling here.

Then, earlier this week, a veteran exec of the firm and founding member of Onyx, left the company to "pursue a new opportunity". The exec, Christine Moy was apparently instrumental in acquiring customers like Coinbase and Gemini for the firm. 

All of this comes just a few weeks after CEO Jamie Dimon denounced the word "cryptocurrency". For a guy who's not bullish on crypto, his firm is certainly investing heavily in the space. 

Other stuff:

Before we part, here's some other interesting articles/tweets/projects we've come across this week in the web3 universe. 

Glossary

Not too much to explain this week.  Instead, check out this tweet explaining 40 common terms in web3, NFTs, and crypto.

At Rollfi, we're building the payroll & HR platform for the modern workforce. Give your employees the power to choose exactly how and where they want to get paid.

We'll keep you updated on our progress as we continue to build. In the meantime, if you haven't already, sign up for early access to our crypto enabled payroll platform at the link below.