How Denmark killed crypto; and how it could happen elsewhere - *(I of course mean that they killed it in Denmark, not worldwide)*

Back in 2017, there was a public announcement from the Danish tax authorities: Bitcoin is like trading with marbles. It isn't secured in any way. Banks probably don't ... See More want you to trade it, but it's totally tax-free.

Skip forward to 2018, and there's a new announcement: crypto is no longer seen as marbles but as a real investment. It still lacks security, but it will now be taxed. It's going to be taxed backwards for the past 5 years, despite their previous claims. Any transaction is considered like selling a stock, so exchanging a token for another is a taxable event.

Now here's the kicker: Instead of being taxed like stocks, at around 26% of profits, you have to report it as income. Meaning that if you pay, let's say, 42% in taxes, you are subject to an increase in your tax rate for your normal salary.

Let's say I have a yearly salary of 700,000 kr, which is around 105,000 USD.

I want to cash out around 30,000 USD this year.

Now let's assume I pay the normal 42% tax rate on my salary. In that case, I would have to pay an additional 15% on every dollar I earn from my work because I would move up to a higher tax bracket. So, my total tax on those 30,000 USD would be 57%.

And if I choose to take on some overtime work, that will also be taxed at 57% instead of 42%.

Imagine if I also did a few token exchanges. I would be facing thousands of dollars owed in taxes.

People who traded a lot of tokens before the taxes went into effect now owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.

They have effectively killed crypto here, and no one trades it, except in a very few rare scenarios.

**How is this relevant for me, you might ask?**

People who say that crypto can't be stopped really have no idea of how easily governments could do it. Anything similar imposed in the US or broadly across Europe would instantly put us back 10 years in time.

If we need to focus on anything, it's not adoption at breakneck speed, it's making sure that legislators don't see crypto as their plaything to drain dry and regulate as they please.

Sam Bankman-Fried Jailed Ahead of Trial

Grimes, who once banked $5.8 million in 20 minutes by selling crypto art, says she's made more from NFTs than from her entire music career

MicroStrategy Buys Another 420 BTC For $14.4 Million

Twitter (X) Allegedly Seeks to Launch an Exchange Inside the App

Coinbase beats expectations, reports adjusted revenue of $708M

SEC asked Coinbase to halt trading in everything except bitcoin, CEO says