Blockchain
5 Tips For Minimizing Your Bitcoin and Crypto Taxes
Here are a few things you can do to minimize your bitcoin and cryptocurrency gains and, in turn, your tax liability.
The post 5 Tips For Minimizing Your Bitcoin and Crypto Taxes appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
W2s and 1099s have been sent out and tax season is officially in full swing here in the United States. For those operating in the world of bitcoin or altcoin investing, this time of year can have added stress as reporting gains and losses for your crypto trades can be a cumbersome task. While the reporting can be difficult at times, there are many things you can do to help minimize your bitcoin and other cryptocurrency gains and, in turn, your tax liability. This article discusses a few of these tips and tricks.
Open a Crypto 401(k) or IRA Retirement Account
Retirement accounts like IRAs and 401(k)s are popular vehicles used in the world of investing. These types of investment accounts come with tax incentives and can help shield profits from the tax man. By using a retirement account like a self-directed IRA to purchase cryptocurrencies, you can defer paying tax (sometimes you can even pay none at all).
This is contrary to using a traditional cryptocurrency exchange where the income generated from selling or trading crypto is taxed during that same year. Cryptocurrency IRAs can be an effective tax reduction tool — especially if you believe in the long-term value of cryptocurrencies.
Keep in mind that there is a deadline to open and contribute to your self-directed cryptocurrency IRA. The period in which you can make a contribution for a given tax year is from January 1 of that year until you file your tax return. Contributions cannot be made after your filing deadline (i.e., April 15 of the following year).
Look into Using a Specific Identification Costing Method
After the new IRS cryptocurrency tax guidance came out in October 2019, it clarified that specific identification costing methods could be used when calculating your gains and losses for your cryptocurrency transactions provided that you had records to specifically identify your crypto.
This sounds a lot more complex than it is. Essentially, pre-2019, most bitcoin and crypto investors were using the common First In, First Out (FIFO) calculation method to calculate their gains and losses from their trades (the cryptocurrencies that you bought first are sold first) because the IRS had not yet specified whether specific ID was allowed. Now that the new guidance makes this clear, specific identification is a great way to reduce your gains.
In using this strategy, you want to specifically identify and “sell” the cryptocurrencies that you bought at the highest price first. For active traders, this slight change can lead to huge tax savings.
Cryptocurrency tax calculators are especially good at applying these tax minimization algorithms like Highest In, First Out (HIFO) and Last In, First Out (LIFO).
However, before you can use a specific identification method, you have to be able to specifically identify a unit of cryptocurrency as the IRS outlines:
To specifically identify a unit of cryptocurrency, you must have records of the following information:
- The date and time each unit was acquired;
- Your basis and the fair market value of each unit at the time it was acquired;
- The date and time each unit was sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of; and
- The fair market value of each unit when sold, exchanged or disposed of, and the amount of money or the value of property received for each unit.
If you have this data for your transactions, you are able to use specific identification methods like LIFO or HIFO which can drastically lower your cryptocurrency capital gains taxes.
Hold for Longer Than One Year
Similarly to the world of investing in stocks, holding onto a cryptocurrency investment for longer than one year pushes you out to the long-term capital gains tax rates. These are typically much lower than the short-term capital gains tax rates which apply when you have sold or traded out of your investment after holding onto it for less than one year.
Additionally, if you are able to identify your cryptocurrencies specifically, you can take advantage of this strategy further. You can specify that the coins you “sell” are the coins that you have held for longer than one year’s time. This will qualify you for the long-term capital gains rate and will help reduce your overall tax liability!
Invest Your Crypto Capital Gains into a Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund
Opportunity Zone Funds became part of the tax code with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The IRS defines an Opportunity Zone as an “economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.” Put simply, the communities on the receiving end of these funds benefit from revitalization while investors gain tax benefits from investing.
When an investor sells an asset that produces capital gains, he or she can roll any amount of the gain into an Opportunity Zone Fund within 180 days of the sale. The investor can then defer capital gains taxes on that amount until December 31, 2026, or until the Opportunity Zone Fund investment is sold or exchanged (whichever comes first).
For bitcoin investors who have large amounts of capital gains, rolling these gains into an opportunity fund investment can be a powerful strategy for reducing your tax bill.
Use Cryptocurrency Tax Software
Finally, one of the best ways to fully maximize your tax savings on your crypto investments is to plug all of your trade history into a cryptocurrency tax software. Bitcoin and crypto tax software platforms have built-in tools to analyze and optimize your gains and losses reporting for tax minimization. Importing your trade history is as easy as connecting your cryptocurrency exchange accounts. Once your historical trades are in, these programs will then generate your tax reports with the click of a button.
This is a guest post by David Kemmerer, co-founder of CryptoTrader.Tax. Views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered tax or accounting advice. Always seek guidance from a tax accounting professional when assessing your individual tax situation.
The post 5 Tips For Minimizing Your Bitcoin and Crypto Taxes appeared first on Bitcoin Magazine.
Blockchain
By The Numbers: The Rate Bitcoin Must Climb To Reach $100K By July

Bitcoin is a numbers game through and through. There are only 21 million BTC. The code and its consensus algorithm are both made up of complex math. The total coins are slashed in half every four years, and so on and so fourth.
Most important of all, here’s the growth rate Bitcoin price must hit steadily to reach $100K per BTC by July 2021 according to one crypto capital manager – as well as the one thing that could get in the way.
Bitcoin Price Growth Rate Should Take Crypto Valuation To $100K By July
Bitcoin’s growth from virtually worthless to more than $60,000 per » Read more
” href=”https://www.newsbtc.com/dictionary/coin/” data-wpel-link=”internal”>coin today is nothing short of incredible. Even beyond ROI that is simply incomparable, the story of how the » Read more
” href=”https://www.newsbtc.com/dictionary/coin/” data-wpel-link=”internal”>coin came to be reads as if it was ripped from a sci-fi film: Mysterious person takes a shot at all money, and takes no credit for the monumental effort.
Related Reading | Crypto Analyst Expects “Escape Velocity” When Bitcoin Breaks $60K. Here’s Why
” href=”https://www.newsbtc.com/dictionary/satoshi/” data-wpel-link=”internal”>Satoshi’s creation is now more than a decade old and has grown far beyond most people’s expectations. Over the last year alone, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap has grown at a daily average rate of 0.65% since April, resulting in a nearly a ten times climb in value.
At the current pace, according to crypto capital manager Timothy Peterson, Bitcoin price would reach $100K by June 30th.
At only a daily growth rate of 0.64% the top crypto should hit $100K by July | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
The One Factor That Could Cause BTC To Fall Short Of Target
Bitcoin price must maintain comparable momentum over the last year to keep climbing at a similar rate and reach more than $100K per » Read more
” href=”https://www.newsbtc.com/dictionary/coin/” data-wpel-link=”internal”>coin. The number is now closer to the current price action than $10K is, and thus potentially more achievable.
Related Reading | Mathematical Mystery: Why Did The Bitcoin Rally Stop At The Golden Ratio?
Price predictions for the next cycle top reach as much as $400K, with estimates more steeped in reality ranging from $125,000 to $325,000 per BTC.
The rally could really be over if the historically accurate signal is right again | Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com
There’s a chance, however, the cycle top is in, according to the Pi Cycle Top Indicator. If the historically accurate tool is right yet again, the leading cryptocurrency’s daily growth rate will begin to decline from here on out until another bull market breaks out.
Bitcoin price wouldn’t make it to $100K by July, and a return to prices much lower would follow. If that’s the case, crypto investors would have to wait a while longer for the number one cryptocurrency by market cap to reach that ultimate target.
Featured image from Deposit Photos, Charts from TradingView.com
Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://www.newsbtc.com/analysis/btc/rate-bitcoin-100k-by-july/
Blockchain
Bitcoin’s time has come: TIME magazine to hold BTC on balance sheet


Institutional fund manager Grayscale has partnered with acclaimed New York-based magazine TIME to produce an educational video series on the subject of crypto assets.
The partnership was announced on April by Grayscale’s CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, with Sonnenshein revealing that TIME and its president, Keith Grossman, will receive payment in Bitcoin.
Further, TIME does not intend to convert the Bitcoin it receives through the deal into fiat, and will hold the crypto asset on its balance sheet. No further details of the partnership have been revealed so far.
Thrilled @Grayscale is partnering w/ @TIME on a new video series coming this summer explaining the #crypto space.
Equally as important, @KeithGrossman & @TIME has agreed to be paid in #Bitcoin – and will hold the $BTC on their balance sheet. A first for our media partnerships!
— Michael Sonnenshein (@Sonnenshein) April 12, 2021
TIME was first published on March 3, 1923, with the magazine and online publication having been active in the crypto space of late. In March, TIME cashed in on the NFT mania by dropping a set of tokenized magazine covers on NFT marketplace SuperRare, with the “TIME Space Exploration – January 19th, 1959” NFT fetching 135 ETH worth almost $250,000 on March 30.
The company also revealed they were seeking a crypto-friendly Chief Financial Officer in the same month after listing the position on Linkedin.
“The media industry is undergoing a rapid evolution. TIME is seeking a Chief Financial Officer who can help guide its transformation,” the listing said.
According to Bitcointreasuries.com, TIME will become the 33rd publicly traded company to hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet. TIME joins the ranks of top U.S. companies Microstrategy — who have invested billions into BTC from August 2020, Square — who added 4,709 BTC to their treasury in October, and Tesla — which purchased $1.5 billion worth of BTC in January. Multinational investment corporation Blackrock also began dabbling in crypto during February, profiting more than $360,000 from a small long using Bitcoin futures.
This deal marks a significant partnership between giants of the mainstream and crypto worlds. Grayscale was founded in 2013 and has $46 billion worth of crypto assets under management, including roughly 3% of Bitcoin’s total circulating supply.
Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-s-time-has-come-time-magazine-to-hold-btc-on-balance-sheet
Blockchain
Moonstake integrates with Sylo to bring their staking protocol to the Sylo Smart Wallet


Moonstake, a staking pool protocol and service provider, has announced a new partnership with Sylo, a decentralized software development firm and the creators of the Sylo Network and Sylo Smart Wallet.
Through this collaboration, Moonstake will connect Sylo with their robust API/SDK solution, thereby enabling staking functionalities in the Sylo Smart Wallet and allowing Sylo users to earn passive income from their idle crypto assets.
Founded in 2010, Sylo is committed to decentralization and has created an ecosystem consisting of digital consumer wallet software, applications, infrastructure, and developer tools in order to usher in a decentralized future worth looking forward to.
A unique wallet app that combines digital asset management with decentralized communication, the Sylo Smart Wallet is a savvy decentralized e-wallet that enables users to purchase, store, track, send, and receive crypto assets, explore the world of Ethereum dApps by means of a Web3 Browser, pay with cryptocurrency in the real world, and provides secure communications by chat or audio/video call.
“We’re pleased to offer our community of global users yet another way to access the benefits of crypto. As always, our user flow has been designed with simplicity in mind, and staking via Moonstake in the Sylo Smart Wallet will make earning from digital assets simple enough for people everywhere.”
– Dorian Johannink, Co-Founder and Business Director of Sylo
Born over a year ago with the aim to create the largest staking network in Asia, since its inception Moonstake has developed highly user-friendly wallets for both Web and Mobile (iOS/Android) that are compatible with over 2000 cryptocurrencies.
After a full-scale operational launch in August 2020, Moonstake’s total staking assets have grown rapidly to reach USD 800 million in staked assets over just six months. Within a year of its founding, Moonstake became ranked in the top 10 of the world’s premier staking service providers and it continues to strongly expand its business.
“The Sylo Smart Wallet is an interesting e-wallet that combines the functionality of a flexible digital asset management tool and a secure instant messaging app. We are happy to help proper crypto projects like Sylo enable staking in their wallet so that users can have more ways to earn with crypto. With a wide selection of PoS coins and attractive yield rates from our high-quality staking pools, we are confident that users will be pleased with their staking experience on Sylo powered by Moonstake.”
– Mitsuru Tezuka, Founder of Moonstake
Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://www.cryptoninjas.net/2021/04/13/moonstake-integrates-with-sylo-to-bring-their-staking-protocol-to-the-sylo-smart-wallet/