Blockchain Report — 7/4/2018
By: Christopher Durr
Tags: News, ICO, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin

Summary: IRS Launches International Initiative To Find Cryptocurrency Tax Fraud; Bermuda To Create New Type Of Bank For Blockchain Companies; Coinbase Launches Cryptocurrency Custodial Service

IRS Launches International Initiative To Find Cryptocurrency Tax Fraud

According to The Next Web, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has decided to ally with tax authorities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the UK to fight tax crime and money laundering done through cryptocurrency.

The initiative is called the ‘Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5)’, and it will consist of six agencies from the five countries. The agencies include Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) and Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), the Fiscale Inlichtingen — en Opsporingsdienst (FIOD) from the Netherlands, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) from the UK, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

Don Fort, Chief of IRS-CI, clarified the purpose of enacting J5:

We cannot continue to operate in the same ways we have in the past, siloing our information from the rest of the world while organized criminals and tax cheats manipulate the system and exploit vulnerabilities for their personal gain. The J5 aims to break down those walls, build upon individual best practices, and become an operational group that is forward-thinking and can pressurize the global criminal community in ways we could not achieve on our own.

Bermuda To Create New Type Of Bank For Blockchain Companies

According to Coin Telegraph, the Government of Bermuda announced plans to make amendments to the Banking Act to create a new type of bank for local fintech and blockchain companies.

They have decided to go forward with creating the new type of bank as a result of local banks declining to provide banking services for new blockchain companies because of concern for regulatory issues and potential risks.

Bermudian Premier and Minister of Finance David Burt said:

“The fintech industry’s success globally depends on the ability of the businesses operating in this space to enjoy the necessary banking services. In other jurisdictions, banking has been the greatest challenge and for us in Bermuda, it is equally so and therefore it must be resolved.”

Coinbase Launches Cryptocurrency Custodial Service

According to The Next Web, Coinbase announced in a blog post that its cryptocurrency custody service officially launched for business. Coinbase currently acts as a custodian for customers of Coinbase PRO (formerly known as GDAX). The new custodial service will cater specifically to institutional investors.

Sam McIngvale, Product Lead at Coinbase Custody, stated:

“Coinbase Custody is a combination of Coinbase’s battle-tested cold storage for crypto assets, an institutional-grade broker-dealer and its reporting services, and a comprehensive client coverage program.”

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