Gate.io Weekly Newsletter: Justin Sun: Now is the Best Time to Buy BTC； AMC Theaters to Support DOGE and SHIB as soon as March； Thailand Imposes Capital Gains Tax on Crypto

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TA Highlight: Cryptocurrency markets slumped

The cryptocurrency market took a deep dive this week as investors show mixed sentiments towards Fed’s rate hike discussions.

The BTC spot price has been in decline since January 2nd, and today it has broken the $41,000 level, the lowest price since September 30th, 2020. In a matter of 7 days, bitcoin spot has lost over $6,000 in value.

As the BTC spot price has fallen, other cryptocurrency prices are also diving.

Ether has also seen a sharp drop after the 5th, falling from a high of $3,847.03 to a current low of 3,229.99. Other mainstream coins have also fallen in response. The news of a possible interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve caused a huge panic, which in turn caused a dive in cryptocurrency prices.

Currently, the fear index is sitting at 15 and is in a state of extreme panic. A network-wide blowout of $318 million was seen in the last 24 hours.

Crypto Alerts

Justin Sun: Now is the best time to buy Bitcoin

On January 6, the founder of Tron tweeted, "Now is the best time to buy Bitcoin! Let's BTFD (buy on the low)! I'm going to buy 100 bitcoins."

Shiba Inu and Dogecoin Coming to AMC Theaters in March

AMC CEO Adam Aron has just taken to Twitter to announce that the world’s largest movie theater chain will “most likely” add support for Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, the most popular meme coins, this March.

The two canine cryptocurrencies will be accepted for all sorts of payments made through the company’s website.

Salvadoran President Predicts bitcoin to Reach $100,000 in 2022

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele tweeted his predictions for bitcoin in 2022:

1. It will reach $100,000;
2. More countries will adopt it as legal tender;
3. It will be a major election issue in this year's U.S. elections;
4. bitcoin City will begin construction;
and 5. Volcano bonds will be oversubscribed.

Blockchain News

Nvidia unveils Omniverse free version for millions of creators and artists

The Omniverse is Nvidia’s simulation and collaboration platform delivering the foundation of the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected, like in novels such as Snow Crash and Ready Player One.

Omniverse is moving out of beta into 1.0 availability for customers. On top of that, it will have a free version for millions of individual creators and artists. Nvidia made the announcement at the CES 2022 tech trade show in Las Vegas.

Former First Lady Melania Trump congratulates bitcoin on 13th birthday

Shortly after launching her own nonfungible token (NFT) project last month, former First Lady of the United States Melania Trump gave a shout-out to bitcoin (BTC) on Twitter.

“It is widely reported that bitcoin's market cap exceeds USD$1 Trillion. Today marks the 13th anniversary of the bitcoin Genesis Block. Happy Anniversary, #SatoshiNakamoto #MelaniaNFT” - MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) January 3, 2022

The post has amassed over 30,000 likes and more than 8,000 retweets at the time of writing.

Blockchain Firm BTCS to Offer Dividend in Bitcoin; Shares Surge

Investors can opt to receive the 5 cents-a-share dividend in bitcoin, the company said in a filing Wednesday. Otherwise they will receive the payout in cash.

The company said it’s the first Nasdaq-listed firm where shareholders have the option to receive a dividend with bitcoin. By paying in bitcoin, the company said it hopes to promote the adoption of crypto and blockchain technology.

The company’s shares, which started trading in September, jumped about 40% Wednesday, taking its market capitalization to about $43 million.

Global Headlines

Kazakh government resigns, bitcoin network hash rate to tumble 13.4%

On Wednesday, Kazakhstan, the second-largest country in the world when it comes to bitcoin (BTC) mining hash rate, experienced unprecedented political unrest due to a sharp rise in fuel prices.

As a result, the country's presiding cabinet resigned, but not before the state-owned Kazakhtelecom shut down the nation's internet, causing network activity to plunge to 2% of daily heights.

The move dealt a severe blow to bitcoin mining activity in the country.

As per data compiled by YCharts.com, the bitcoin network's overall hash rate declined 13.4% in the hours after the shutdown from about 205,000 petahash per second (PH/s) to 177,330 PH/s. The country accounts for 18% of the bitcoin network's hash activity.

At the time of publication, the internet remains inaccessible in Kazakhstan. If extended, the consequences could be severe as internet services aside, the Data Center Industry & Blockchain Association of Kazakhstan expects the country to generate $1.5 billion from legal cryptocurrency mining (and another $1.5 billion in illicit) activities over the next five years.

South Korean presidential candidate to use NFTs to raise funds for campaign

Democratic Party (DP) presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung prepares to use nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to raise funds for his campaign.

The party will issue NFTs to those who donate money for the campaign for the upcoming presidential elections. The NFTs will contain images of the candidate and his pledges.

The DP also points out that it is exploring new ways to utilize new technologies, including using NFTs in campaigns and accepting crypto donations.

Crypto trades in Thailand now reportedly subject to 15% capital gains tax

The government of Thailand is progressing in regulating the local cryptocurrency ecosystem by reportedly enacting new tax rules for the industry.

Profits from crypto trading in Thailand are now subject to a 15% capital gains tax, The Bangkok Post news agency reported Thursday.

The finance ministry recommended investors to calculate and report their income from cryptocurrencies in tax declarations in 2022 to avoid legal penalties. The new tax will be collected from all taxpayers who gained profits from crypto, including trading and mining operations.

Gate.io Weekly Blogs:
2021 Cryptocurrency Review
New Business Opportunity In The World Of The Metaverse
What is DAO and why should you choose Gate.io to buy it?
New business in the metaverse – Doing Business in the Metaverse: Opportunity or Threat?
With Jordan Launching his NFT Platform, What Impact will Web 3.0 have in Reconstructing the Fan Economy?

Author: Byron. B & Charles. F & Peter. L (Gate.io Researchers)
* The article only represents the researcher’s views and does not constitute any investment advice.
* Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all other cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.