South Korea Postpones Crypto Tax System Implementation Until 2025

- Parliament schedules a plenary session to defer digital asset taxation on December 23, KST- 20% tax on coin income delayed by two yearsThe South Korean ruling and opposition parties have agreed to delay the implementation of digital asset taxation until 2025. The coin exchange industry and investors, who were worried about the performance of taxes next year, can breathe a sigh of relief.An official from the National Assembly's Budget Office of Korea said, "As the ruling and opposition parties reached an agreement on the budget bill to delay the implementation of the financial investment income tax and the taxation of digital assets to be delayed for two years."The taxation rule sparked much controversy in South Korea when the government initially unveiled a 20% crypto earnings tax on those with cryptocurrency gains exceeding KRW 2.5 million ($1,946) that would come into effect in January of 2023 amidst the FTX meltdown. It was initially scheduled to come into effect at the beginning of 2023. However, as the one-year postponement bill passed the National Assembly last year, the implementation date was postponed to January next year.The recent delay determined that regulations to protect investors should be put first. Furthermore, taxes in cases where the fundamental law (the Industrial Rights Act) addressing fundamental issues such as investor protection was not passed might pose issues concerning tax payment compliance. The Luna collapse enhanced market volatility, resulting in a new crypto regulation legislation approach.Bang Ki-seon, 1st Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, explained at the tax subcommittee held on the 22nd of last month that "an institutional and legal preparedness is needed in a circumstance where the number of exchanges has reached from 36 entities in October (compared to 6 in November 2021)." However, as some members of the Democratic Justice Party stated, "A delay of another two years does not fit the tax principle."The coin sector then asked for a deferral, claiming that taxes might depress investor enthusiasm in a context where criteria for listing and investor protection have not yet been defined. Concepts such as purchase price calculation are required for taxation."Digital Asset Exchange Joint Consultative Body (DAXA)," a group of cryptocurrency exchanges that includes South Korea's most prominent companies, including Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax, stated on December 22, agreeing upon the 'where there is income, there is tax' idea. However, due to a lack of time and tax research infrastructure, a two-further-years delay is needed.

Delio Opens the 5th round of Staking Offering One of the Lowest Fees in the Market

Dear Delio Users,Delio is pleased to announce that the 5th round of the Delio Staking is now open enabling one of the lowest fees in the crypto market.We have shorten the 5th round up to one week, reducing the waiting time for staking. Spend less on the fees and earn more with the most secure staking platform.- Details -□ Application period: March 24 - March 30 (7days)□ Eligible staking assets: Solana(SOL)，Polkadot(DOT), Tezos(XTZ)，Cardano(ADA), Kusama(KSM)*The staking period and reward rate for each supported asset can be found on their respective pages.□ Go to Delio Staking:https://delio.global/staking

Delio Launches Staking Service for Ethereum 2.0 and Five Other Digital Assets

​□Delio introduces staking service for five crypto assets​□Providing one of the lowest fees in the crypto market and an annual reward rate of up to 16.17%​□Staking for more than 60 digital assets to be launched soon, reaching Korea’s largest staking serviceOn November 24th, South Korea’s leading crypto bank Delio (CEO James Jung) announced a staking service launch for five digital assets such as Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT), Tezos (XTZ), Cardano (ADA), and Kusama (KSM).Staking offers crypto holders a way of putting their digital assets to work and earning passive income. Users can participate in the platform’s operation and earn rewards on cryptocurrency they own by depositing them and exchanging staked coins for interest rewards.However, not all coins can be staked. Among the consensus algorithms, staking is only available to cryptocurrencies that use the Proof of Stake (PoS) and Delegated Proof of Stake models to validate transactions. Proof-of-stake refers to a method of ensuring the stability of the network by validators generating and verifying blocks of the blockchain-based on stake, meaning that the more validators stake, the more rewards they will earn. In other words, a stake is required to participate in a proof-of-stake (PoS) network. Moreover, speakers receive rewards if they deposit coins in the blockchain either directly or through a validator. These include Tezos (XTZ), Cosmos(ATOM), and Ethereum 2.0.Aiming to provide the opportunity to earn more on the crypto, Delio launches a staking service with the lowest fees possible. Most current staking service providers have voiced safety concerns over foreign services, while domestic companies such as Upbit and Coinone impose a fee of up to 10% of the staking operations. On the other hand, Delio charges a staking service fee of between 3% and 6% for each digital asset to maximize client earnings and offer safe services.Furthermore, Delio offers an annual reward of up to 16.17% for each digital asset. It plans to add more than 60 crypto assets, reaching Korea’s largest staking service.According to a Delio representative, “We have introduced a competitive staking service exclusive to crypto enthusiasts providing safe ways to earn on digital asset services. In the future, we aim to provide our customers with the staking service for over 60 cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum 2.0.”Delio is Korea’s largest one-stop cryptocurrency financial service provider that obtains a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) certificate. Delio provides safe crypto-back services such as savings, lending, and Vault. Using the Delio staking service is secure as it is carried out through the Crypto bank service. Moreover, customers can get consultations on service use by running the Delio Lounge in Gangnam district, South Korea.

ETH Shanghai Upgrade Promises Price Rally

Ethereum has crossed the $1,800 mark for the first time since August 2022, and there is a possibility of a bull rally driven by the increased traction of smart contracts and a successful network upgrade, the crypto media outlet BeInCrypto reported on March 21. The recent banking crisis has led some crypto-affiliated depositors to move their funds into DeFi protocols built on Ethereum. Glassnode's on-chain data shows a spike in the supply of ETH locked in DeFi, reducing the units available to be traded on crypto exchanges and decreasing sell pressure, which could power Ethereum into a bull market. The Network Value to Transactions (NVT) ratio provides significant on-chain data that reinforces the hopeful perspective. The forthcoming Shanghai upgrade is scheduled for April 12. Interestingly, recently deployed on the Ethereum mainnet in March 2023, ERC-4337 enables users to recover lost private keys through programming smart contracts to operate wallets, known as account abstraction. Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin stated that the ERC-4337 standard enables a completely decentralized fee market for operating smart contract wallets. Source: BEINCRYPTO

Crypto Bank Delio to Support 5 New Digital Assets, Including Polkadot, Solana, and Tezos

• Delio Bank supports Solana, Polkadot, Tezos, Cardano, and Kusama• Five new digital assets staking services to be launchedSouth Korea’s leading crypto bank Delio is on the verge of listing five new digital assets and launching a staking service.Delio plans to release the staking service for a total of five cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT), Tezos (XTZ), Cardano (ADA), and Kusama (KSM), following the listing of those coins. Solana, Polkadot, and Tezos are currently open for deposits and withdrawals. Cardano and Kusama will go live on Delio Bank on November 4th and 8th (KST), respectively.“Delio reflects its customers’ needs in the global market by offering services for five new digital assets,“ the company’s representative said. “We hope the launch of staking will draw global attention.”Notably, Delio is the first and only crypto bank in South Korea to provide a Money Market Deposit Account-backed service and a Web 3.0 entity in crypto financial and blockchain services with government-level licenses such as MSB, VASP, and ISMS.The services apply various digital asset financial services, including savings, lending, trading, and withdrawals of funds from commercial banks, converting them to digital assets. Moreover, Delio offers a 3% annual compound interest rate for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Ripple (XRP), which are being recognized as a new investment strategy in the era of high-interest rates.

Fidelity and BlackRock are Building the Foundation for the Crypto Price Bull Run

Fidelity and BlackRock, two of the largest financial institutions in the world with a combined $14 trillion in assets under management, are subtly expanding into the world of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptocurrency amid the crypto winter, the media outlet Forbes reported on March 21. Fidelity Investments, according to insights, has recently made its cryptocurrency trading platform available to all 37 million of its users. This means that users can now buy and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum without incurring any commission fees. Bitcoin enthusiasts and market watchers are suggesting that the upcoming halving of Bitcoin, which will see the creation of new Bitcoin reduced by half, could be a factor that drives the next bull run in bitcoin prices. This halving event is expected to occur in late April 2024 and will involve a reduction in the block reward for miners from the current 6.2 Bitcoin to 3.1 Bitcoin. Meanwhile, following the recent controversy within the U.S. banking sector, the Federal Reserve increased the federal funds rate by 25 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, aiming to achieve a long-term inflation rate of 2%. Source: FORBES

01etc and Seoul Design Foundation Open NFT Gallery

The NFT marketplace 01etc, operated by Delio, Korea’s first crypto bank, opens an NFT exhibition in the Seoul Design Plaza (DDP) through collaboration with the Seoul Design Foundation. The NFT Gallery is organized under the themes of ‘Introduction to NFT’ where exhibition visitors discover the basic principles and concepts of NFT, the ‘NFT Exhibition’ section showing NFT artworks by established artists, and ‘NFT Designer Contest’ which is dedicated to the 01etc’s NFT Contest. 01etc has been teaming up with the Seoul Design Foundation to host the "DDP-NFT Collection Vol.1: NFT Designer Contest" since September 1st. The 01etc NFT content is based on the theme of dots, lines, and dimensions representing Dongdaemun Digital Plaza (DDP), a complex cultural area in Seoul created by famous architect Zaha Hadid. Any digital art representation, including paintings, drawings, photographs, and 3D submitted by participants, will go live on the exhibitions' displays.The second round dedicated to the NFT contest, which coincided with the gallery's opening, will continue to collect the NFT artworks by November 3, with the following second round exhibition on November 8. Alongside the various promotions for up-and-coming artists, a special winning artworks-focused exhibition will be conducted after the contest ends. More information about the NFT contest can be found on the 01etc webpage. To enhance the awareness of the NFT industry, 01etc conducted an educational seminar last month. Over 200 artists unfamiliar with NFTs had a chance to participate in the academic session and learn through the detailed explanation of every contest section, from the introduction to the fundamental ideas behind NFT issuance and how to utilize the platform.In congratulatory remarks, James Jung, CEO of Delio, stated that NFTs had built a creator economy where artists are the core of economic activity. "I hope that together with 01etc, many people will reach their financial goals and fulfill their dreams," he added. Kyung Don Lee, CEO of the Seoul Design Foundation, continued, "Amidst the global digital transformation across the countries, I hope that Korea will be actively supporting the global movement, as well as NFTs, which has emerged as a new entry point for modern artists."<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-CA">

NFTs Could Face 28% Capital Gains Tax in the U.S.

The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seeking feedback on the taxation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and has issued a notice on the tax treatment of NFTs as collectibles, the crypto media outlet Cryptopolitan reported on March 21. Currently, collectibles are not subject to the same favorable capital gains tax treatment as other assets under US tax law. The IRS intends to use a "look-through analysis" to determine whether an NFT should be treated as a collectible until further guidance is issued. Individuals selling collectibles like coins or artwork are subject to a maximum capital gains tax rate of 28%, which will also extend to NFTs that certify ownership of a coin, piece of art, or other collectibles. The deadline for comments to be submitted on the proposed IRS guidance is June 19. However, any changes resulting from it will not apply to taxpayers needing to file their 2022 returns before the April 18 deadline. In October, the IRS put forth a preliminary proposal that mandates American taxpayers to declare their ownership of cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) in a recently established section called "Digital Assets" on their tax returns. As a general rule, if the taxpayer retains all digital assets for the full year or moves them between their own wallets, there is no requirement to report these holdings. Source: CRYPTOPOLITAN

Delio Partners with Blockdaemon to Offer Retail Staking Services

In January, Delio was granted Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) approval by the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit.Crypto-focused finance company Delio has partnered with Blockdaemon to launch retail-focused staking services, giving customers a more seamless way to earn rewards on their digital asset holdings.Delio’s staking services expand its existing crypto-bank offerings, which include lending, deposits and deposit accounts, the company announced Thursday. The new service offering is powered by blockchain infrastructure provider Blockdaemon, which provides a suite of institutional staking products.While Delio didn’t specify which crypto assets will be included in the new staking services, Blockdaemon currently supports integration with over 60 blockchains. Delio representative James Jung also clarified that the firm also plans “to offer a variety of crypto asset financial services for users outside of Korea."Founded in 2017, Blockdaemon achieved unicorn status last year after securing $155 million in a Series B funding round. In the startup world, a unicorn is a company that achieves a valuation of $1 billion or more. At the time, Blockdaemon was valued at just over $1.25 billion.Meanwhile, Delio appears to be expanding its crypto-finance offerings after receiving a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license from the Korean Financial Intelligence Unit. Delio claims to be the first crypto company in South Korea to obtain a VASP for lending and deposit services. Despite market turmoil and controversy surrounding the collapse of the Terra ecosystem, Korea remains a large and important player in the global crypto arena. As such, President Yoon Suk-yeol, who took office this past May, has adopted a favorable approach toward digital asset regulation in the country. As reported by Cointelegraph, Korea’s financial watchdog is looking to expedite the review of 13 crypto-focused bills tabled to the country’s National Assembly.<span lang="EN-CA" style="font-family:&quot;Times New Roman&quot;,serif;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language:EN-CA">

Microsoft Testing Build-In Ethereum Crypto Wallet

Microsoft is reportedly developing an Ethereum-based Web3 wallet for its Edge browser, the crypto media outlet Blockworks reported on March 20. The wallet is currently in limited testing, with Microsoft asking users to test the wallet and provide feedback. The wallet is non-custodial, meaning users are in control of their funds and the tech giant will not have access to their passwords or recovery keys. Furthermore, users can manage multiple Ethereum accounts and choose between the built-in Edge wallet or an extension. Microsoft has partnered with Consensys to provide a swap feature supporting ETH, DAI, UNI, USDC, and USDT. The move could lead the way for similar initiatives from Google and Apple. Browser-integrated crypto wallets have an advantage, allowing for direct and immediate interaction with websites, including in-browser crypto payments and logins without passwords or digital signatures. Source: BLOCKWORKS