Why Visa purchased an Ethereum NFT for $200,000
Even after a significant price correction recently, Ethereum’s 30-day gains still stand at an impressive 44%.
- Over the last month alone, non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has processed transactions worth more than $1 billion.
- Payment processor Visa recently revealed that it had purchased a CryptoPunk NFT for a sum of $145K approximately.
- According to the Philippines government, any gains acquired through the playing of ETH-based trading card game Axie Infinity are subject to local income tax laws.
After seemingly establishing strong support around the $3,300 range, Ethereum, the second latest cryptocurrency by total market capitalization, has continued to retract, losing nearly 5% value over the last 24 hours. At press time, ETH is trading at $3,261.
Prior to the aforementioned dip, ETH showcased a strong 32% rally leading up to August 23. That said, it appears as though traders are still quite confident in the altcoin’s current price levels, especially as the NFT market continues to grow. To really put into perspective the growth of this space, over the last 30 days alone, Ethereum-based NFT marketplace Opensea recorded transactions worth more than $1 billion.
Lastly, payments giant Visa recently surprised crypto enthusiasts across the globe by announcing its decision to acquire a $150,000 CryptoPunk. On the subject, Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield was quoted as saying: “With our CryptoPunk purchase, we’re jumping in feet first. This is just the beginning of our work in this space.”
Axie Infinity profits are liable for taxation in the Philippines
There’s no denying that the Ethereum-powered game Axie Infinity has gained a lot of traction across the globe recently. However, in the Philippines, things have reached a new level, thanks in large part to the immense profits that local players have been able to generate for themselves by playing the above-said title.
The country’s tax authorities have issued a circular noting that any profits accrued by indulging in play-to-earn games (such as Axie Infinity) will be subject to regular income tax. Philippine’s Finance Undersecretary Antonette Tionko added: “Cryptocurrency is an asset, so it’s already taxable in the Philippines […] whoever earns currency from it, it’s income you should report it.”
That said, she conceded that lawmakers are still unsure whether to classify Axie’s in-game NFTs or native tokens — i.e. Smooth Love Potion (SLP) and Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) — as securities or currencies.
What lies ahead?
With most technical indicators suggesting that ETH is primed for a further breakout in the near term, Nigel Green, the CEO, and founder of deVere Group, one of the world’s foremost financial advisories, was recently quoted as saying that he sees Ethereum’s value eclipsing that of Bitcoin’s in the next few years.
To support his claims, he pointed out that through the entirety of 2021, ETH has severely outperformed BTC (300% versus 55% gains), a trend he believes will only continue in the future. However, only time will tell whether we will get to witness such a ‘flippening’ event or not.
Interested in cryptocurrency? Learn more about the basics with our beginner’s guide to Bitcoin, dive deeper by learning about Ethereum and see what blockchain can do with our simple guide to DeFi.
Disclosure: The author owns a range of cryptocurrencies at the time of writing
