<strong>Portugal Crypto Tax, Bittrex Fined $53M By U.S., Google Partners With Coinbase</strong>

Portugal Crypto Tax

Portugal’s Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina, submitted a budget draft calling for a new tax on cryptocurrency gains. The draft was submitted earlier this week and proposes a 28% capital gains tax on crypto assets held less than 12 months. 

“Portugal is in a different situation because, in fact, several countries already have systems. Several countries are building their models regarding this matter, and we are going to build ours,” Medina told the country’s parliament in May 2022. “I do not want to commit myself to a date at the moment, but we will adapt our legislation and our taxation.”

Portugal has been a crypto tax-free zone in Europe since 2018. However, the current economic downturn has changed the country's outlook. The budget proposal for next year addresses a mounting deficit and declining GDP growth.

Portugal Moves Closer to Taxing Individuals on Short-term Crypto Gains

If the budget passes as is, Portugal will no longer be one of the last countries in Europe to give crypto gains the tax-free treatment

Bittrex Fined $53M By U.S. Government

Bittrex, one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, is facing fines from U.S. law enforcement for violating multiple sanctions. The US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced settlements with Bittrex, Inc. for more than $24 million and $29 million, respectively.

“When virtual currency firms fail to implement effective sanctions compliance controls, including screening customers located in sanctioned jurisdictions, they can become a vehicle for illicit actors that threaten U.S. national security,” said OFAC Director Andrea Gacki. 

U.S. regulators believe that global cryptocurrency exchanges should understand who and where their customers are. OFAC will continue to hold cryptocurrency exchanges accountable for failing to comply with KYC controls.

Google Partners With Coinbase

Google, the search engine tech giant, will partner with Coinbase, a US cryptocurrency exchange. Through the partnership, Google will begin enabling a subset of customers to pay for cloud services with digital currencies. In return, Coinbase will migrate some of its apps from Amazon Web Services to Google's cloud.

 “We did look at other companies for the cryptocurrency side of it,” said Amit Zavery, vice president and general manager and head of the platform at Google Cloud, in an interview with CNBC.