Governments worldwide are struggling to keep up with how to regulate new decentralized online currencies as blockchain platforms become more prominent across financial networks. (David Tweed, Bloomberg). But even though an increasing number of investors utilize cryptocurrencies, many are still confused about how to treat virtual currency for tax purposes. (Kelly Phillips, Forbes). Recently, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), the government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the collection of taxes, opened a contract to procure software to help identify when cryptocurrency is used to avoid paying taxes. (David Canellis, TNW).

According to Paul Schulte, former global head of financial strategy for China Construction bank, China’s Central Bank will launch a state-backed cryptocurrency and issue it to seven institutions in the coming months. (Michael del Castillo, Forbes). Mu Changchun, deputy director of the Paying Division of the People’s Bank of China and the new head of China’s cryptocurrency research lab, described this as a “two-tiered” system wherein the central bank would create the cryptocurrency and a small group of trusted commercial businesses would “pay the central bank 100% in full” to be allowed to distribute it. (Id.) The cryptocurrency will initially be dispersed to the 1.3 billion people and entities doing business with renminbi, China’s fiat currency, but the Central Bank hopes the currency will eventually be made available to spenders in the United States and elsewhere through relationships with correspondent banks in the west. (Id.)

The Responsible Sourcing Network’s 2018 report on commercial efforts to disclose reliable data when purchasing conflict minerals illustrated a concerning trend.(Andrea Vittorio, Bloomberg). The current trend indicates that many companies who deal in conflict minerals are receiving lower grades for their efforts and abilities to provide transparency on the origins of those minerals. Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to enforce reporting requirements for companies that manufacture products with conflict minerals. Conflict minerals are those that originate from mines controlled by armed groups in areas like the Democratic Republic of Congo and its neighboring countries.