Crypto investment firm Pantera Capital has set its sights on raising a new fund of $1 billion to inject fresh capital into the crypto industry. According to Cosmo Jiang, the portfolio manager at Pantera Capital, over $200 million of the fund is earmarked for investments in artificial intelligence (AI) projects. In a recent interview with DL News, Jiang expressed his belief that in the future, every crypto company will incorporate AI into its operations, making it a ubiquitous technology. He compared investing in an AI firm to investing in a company with a website, stating that it will become a standard practice for businesses. As a result, Pantera Capital is actively seeking projects that leverage AI to enhance blockchain businesses or vice versa.
The Taxation Challenge
Japan’s current tax laws pose challenges for individual crypto traders. Unlike many other countries that impose a flat-rate capital gains tax on annual earnings, Japanese law requires traders to categorize their coin-related profits as “other income” on tax declarations. Consequently, high-earning individuals may face up to a 55% tax rate on their crypto earnings, significantly higher than the global average of around 20%.
JBA’s Proposed Reforms
The Japan Blockchain Association (JBA), representing most of the nation’s significant crypto exchanges and blockchain-related companies, is taking the lead in advocating for tax reforms that benefit individual traders. Here are the key proposals:
- Separate Self-Reporting Taxation: The JBA will petition Tokyo to change the taxation method for individual cryptocurrency transactions, moving away from the current “other income” classification. Instead, they propose a flat 20% tax rate for crypto earnings.
- Eliminating Income Tax on Crypto-to-Crypto Trades: In many countries, only crypto-to-fiat trades are taxable events. The JBA wants to eliminate income tax on profits made from crypto-to-crypto trades.
- Carry-Forward Losses: The JBA seeks to allow individual crypto traders to carry forward their losses on tax declarations.
- Reforming Leverage Ratios: Additionally, the JBA wants the government to revise its restrictive leverage ratios cap for crypto trading.
The JBA’s efforts have already led to positive changes in crypto tax rules for corporations. Last year, Tokyo agreed to scrap taxes on unrealized “paper” crypto gains for businesses holding tokens. As the JBA celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, it remains committed to fostering sustainable development in the industry through the adoption of web3 technologies.
Three Major AI Blockchain Firms Merge
SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol are planning a merger of their crypto tokens to establish a decentralized AI platform and foster collaboration among the three companies. The companies are exploring the creation of an ASI token, which would possess a fully diluted value of approximately $7.5 billion. While the merger plans are subject to approval from the respective communities, an official announcement could be expected as early as Wednesday. Under the proposed arrangement, SingularityNET, Fetch.ai, and Ocean Protocol would maintain their separate operations while working together under the guidance of a newly formed entity called the Superintelligence Collective.