Cryptocurrency Prices Today March 11: Bitcoin falls below $40,000, Ethereum declines

The global cryptocurrency market capitalisation declined 4.55 percent over the last 24 hours to $1.72 trillion while trading volumes fell 8.38 percent to $88.88 billion during the period. The total volume in the decentralised finance (DeFi) space stood at $15.16 billion, around 17.06 percent of the 24-hour cryptocurrency trading volume. The total volume in stablecoins stood at $74.71 billion, making up 84.06 percent of the 24-hour cryptocurrency trading volume. Read more here.

Ethereum 2.0 Staking Contract Now Holds 10 Million ETH

There’s now more than $25 billion betting on Ethereum’s most-anticipated upgrade. These deposits, which are parcelled into batches of 32 ETH at a time, are now validators on the Ethereum Beacon Chain, the first step in the transition to the upgrade called Consensus Layer (formerly known as Ethereum 2.0). The most notable change following the upgrade will be Ethereum’s switch from a proof of work (PoW) consensus algorithm, like Bitcoin’s current mechanism, to a proof of stake (PoS) mechanism. And that 10 million Ethereum now locked up in the deposit contract will play a key role in this next iteration. Read more here.

'Bill From 'Bitcoin Senator' Lummis Would Alter Capital Gains Landscape for Crypto

A new bill from Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) seeks to overhaul how cryptocurrency can be taxed within the US. Lummis' state policy director, Tyler Lindholm, recently said that the Responsible Financial Innovation Act, which is still being drafted, will provide clarity to the industry and users. One of its biggest aims is to provide guidance about capital gains related to crypto mining, staking, and spending. "What we're really looking at there is just integrating digital assets into the system of taxation," he said. The bill, in addition to providing a tax exclusion of up to $600 so crypto users wouldn't be hit with a tax bill for buying the proverbial coffee, will also clarify how capital gains don't apply to "productive" activities such as mining or staking. Read here.

Payments Giant Stripe Launches Support for Crypto, NFTs

Financial services company Stripe is once again embracing the world of crypto. The global payments giant launched its crypto services, offering businesses the ability to use Stripe as a payment method for crypto and NFT transactions. Stripe is offering payout services for Web3 companies as well as know-your-customer (KYC) and fraud prevention. The company’s co-founder John Collison tweeted out the news sharing the range of different ways Stripe plans to support Web3 companies with its crypto APIs—the interfaces that companies use to connect to Stripe's platform. Currently, Stripe’s crypto services are only available to businesses in the US, UK, and European Union. Its NFT services for marketplaces are supported in these regions as well as Japan. Read more here.