Daily Digest - 3 November 2022

Headlines

▌CZ: Binance Is Considering Buying Banks

Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) said that Binance is considering acquiring banks to bridge the gap between the traditional finance and cryptocurrency worlds. CZ did not disclose specific acquisition targets, saying he was open to a minority investment or a full acquisition. CZ also pointed out that investing in banking is a sound strategy for Binance, as when partnering with banks, Binance usually attracts many new users, which will also boost the bank’s valuation. CZ has said in the past that Binance has more than $1 billion to spend on acquisitions, and most recently he backed Musk's $500 million acquisition of Twitter. So far this year, Binance’s acquisition strategy has focused on areas such as DeFi and NFTs.

Policies

▌India Considers Taxing Crypto Income of Businesses Headquartered Elsewhere

The Indian tax authority has proposed new changes to the filing of income tax returns, which could have a significant impact on those holding virtual digital assets (VDAs) or cryptocurrencies, and possibly even DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) investments have a significant impact. India's Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has proposed a new Common Tax Return (ITR) that largely integrates existing income tax returns, which also seeks information on Indians residing abroad ─ information on any business connections they may have in India and whether the entity has a significant economic presence (SEP) in India, especially the businesses from which they derive their income. Rajat Mittal, a tax consultant advising cryptocurrency businesses in the Supreme Court of India, said this could have implications for any cryptocurrency exchange that is not registered in India but still has Indian traders.

Cryptocurrency

▌Instagram Will Launch NFT Minting and Selling Features

Meta announced that Instagram is developing an NFT minting and sales function, which will allow users to create and launch their own NFTs and sell them through Instagram. The feature is expected to be available first to artists such as photographer DrifterShot and visual artist Ilse Valfré. Additionally, Instagram will pull NFT data from OpenSea so that users can view NFT series names and descriptions on Instagram. As previously reported, in September Meta announced that US-based users on Facebook and Instagram would be able to connect wallets and share digital collectibles, including the ability for users to cross-post their digital collectibles on Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, the feature is available to users in the 100 countries that offer digital collectibles on Instagram.

▌During the Fed’s Announcement of Rate Hike and Powell’s Press Conference, BTC and ETH Rose First and Then Fell

At today’s Fed announcement of a 75 basis point rate hike followed by Powell's press conference, Powell said it was too early to consider a pause in rate hikes, and data since the last meeting suggested that the final rate level would be high than previously expected. During this time period, BTC and ETH first rose and then fell. When the Federal Reserve announced a 75 basis point interest rate hike, in line with market expectations, BTC rose as high as $20,790, and ETH rose as high as $1,621. As of this writing, BTC is now at $20,137, down 1.51% in 24 hours, and ETH is now at $1,509, down 4.11% in 24 hours. The market fluctuates greatly; please do a good job of risk control.

▌OpenSea Launches NFT Theft Prevention System

OpenSea launched an NFT theft prevention system, with functions including "malicious URL detection and removal" and "theft detection and disabling", designed to protect user assets and ecosystem security.