Bitcoin at Rs 15.61 lakh

Major cryptocurrencies traded flat early on July 4. The global crypto market-cap rose marginally by 0.60 percent to $871.80 billion over the last day. On the other hand, the total crypto market volume declined by 2.72 percent to $40.12 billion over the last 24 hours. The total volume in DeFi stood at $4.10 billion, 10.23 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The volume of all stable coins was at $36.64 billion, which accounted for 91.33 percent of the total crypto market 24-hour volume. The price of Bitcoin hovered around Rs 15.61 lakh. The market dominance of world's largest cryptocurrency declined marginally by 0.19 percent to 42.06 percent early today. Read full here

Meta to shut down digital wallet Novi amid crypto crash

Facebook parent Meta has announced it will shut down its digital wallet for cryptocurrency, Novi, on September 1, 2022, barely a year after it started the project. The product didn't even make it to a full launch, closing its doors at pilot stage. Meta said the Novi app and its integration with WhatsApp will no longer be available and users will not be able to sign in to their accounts after the expiry date. The move coincides with the mayhem in the cryptocurrency  space, with prices crashing to new lows. It also said that from July 21, users will not be able to add currency to the wallet and "strongly advised" users to withdraw their money. Read details here

EU agrees rules to tame 'Wild West' crypto market

Cryptocurrency companies will need a licence and customer safeguards to issue and sell digital tokens in the European Union under groundbreaking new rules agreed by the bloc to tame a volatile "Wild West" market. Representatives from the European Parliament and EU states thrashed out a deal on its Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) law. "Today we put order in the Wild West of crypto assets and set clear rules for a harmonised market," said Stefan Berger, a centre-right lawmaker who led negotiations on behalf of the parliament. The landmark regulation confirms the EU's role as a standard-setter for digital issues, EU states said. Take a look

Finance Ministry clarifies on what NFTs qualify as virtual digital assets

The CBDT has clarified that only those NFT trades that do not include a parallel sale of an underlying physical asset will attract the tax rates specified for virtual digital assets (VDAs). It also clarified that gift cards, vouchers, mileage points, reward points, and loyalty cards are not VDAs and will not be taxed. Many experts and sector watchers are looking at this as the first time that the government has indirectly set forth the definition of NFTs. Read more here