Here comes Friday, October 20. As the week comes to an end we can focus on the highlights of the crypto industry over the past few days.
EU agrees upon new crypto tax data sharing rules
Crypto-oriented entities within the EU are now required to report customer assets so that this data can be shared with the tax authorities. The stipulation will enter into force 20 days after the relevant publication in the EU’s Official Journal, CoinDesk says.
Prior to that, the New European Union rules on individuals’ crypto holdings data sharing were approved by the bloc’s finance ministers.
The initiative sprang up last year in an attempt to hinder the use of foreign services and has been unanimously supported by EU member states. It is being implemented within the framework of the eighth Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC8), which is currently being drafted.
Back in May, the media distributed a draft of the regulation in question. What the document showed was the authorities’ eagerness to cover a wide spectrum of digital assets with fiscal oversight, including stablecoins, NFTs, DeFi tokens, and staking.
It is anticipated that the special commission will compile a VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) registry by December 2025. The new policies are set to take effect on January 1, 2026.
The regulations would complement the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the anti-money laundering rules under the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR).
“The directive will improve Member States’ ability to detect and combat tax fraud, avoidance and evasion, by requiring all EU-based crypto-asset service providers, regardless of their size, that they report transactions from customers residing in the EU,” the European Commission added.
It is worth noting that in June, the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) published a system for reporting crypto-assets and amendments to the unified standard for the sharing of tax data.
Coinbase unlocks access to futures outside the U.S.
Coinbase Advanced customers based in jurisdictions outside the US have been empowered to trade perpetual BTC, ETH, LTC and XRP futures paired with USDC.
Initially, the contracts offer leverage up to 5x (as for XRP, the leverage is up to 3x). The representatives of the trading platform promised to add more of the assets available in the coming months.
For the first few days traders will be charged a lower fee: 0% for makers and 0.03% for takers.
We’ve been working with our Coinbase Advanced customers to understand how we can better serve them, and they confirmed that access to advanced trading products on a trusted platform is a top need,” the officials said in an announcement.
According to the U.S. firm, derivatives market accounts for nearly 1/3 of crypto trading volume worldwide.
Coinbase Advanced is intended for pro traders. The platform features an extensive set of tools, including detailed order types, TradingView charts and APIs to help automate your trading process.
Coinbase assured that their perpetual futures market is, in fact, highly capitalized thanks to an insurance fund and a liquidity support program in USDC.
The respective accounts are maintained by Coinbase International Exchange within the jurisdiction of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA). In April, the exchange gained approval from the regulator to do business there.
The company did not specify the specific countries where the new products would be introduced, but the UK was not included in the list. You can check whether you have access to Coinbase futures in your area via the website using the email linked to your exchange account.
As you may remember, in August, Coinbase unveiled its expansion in Canada through a partnership with local financial services provider Peoples Trust Company.
The Fed casts doubt on whether the digital dollar should be rolled out
Unless there is a solid argument in favor of the digital dollar, financial issues are likely to be solved by alternatives, Governor Michelle W. Bowman stated.
The official pointed out that expanding access to financial services and eliminating friction within the payment system can be characteristic of more than just CBDC.
“CBDC could solve any of these problems more effectively or efficiently than alternatives, or with fewer downside risks for consumers and for the economy,” she explained.
Back in July, the Federal Reserve announced the launch of its very own payment system dubbed FedNow Service.
“FedNow, and a similar private sector service, is designed to help make everyday payments faster and more convenient, allowing consumers to instantly receive funds with same-day access, and enabling small businesses to more efficiently manage cash flows without processing delays. Future innovations may further build upon these services” Bowman added.
Uniswap to charge 0.15% fee on certain crypto swaps
The well-known DEX will start imposing a 0.15% fee for swaps in its web interface and wallets on a “limited set of token pairs”.
The following assets will be affected by the decision: ETH, USDC, WETH, USDT, DAI, WBTC, agEUR, GUSD, LUSD, EUROC, XSGD.
Trading fees will not apply for transactions in stablecoins, nor will wraps between WETH and ETH be subject to it.
“This is separate from the Uniswap Protocol fee switch, which is voted on by Uniswap governance,” explained Hayden Adams, the platform founder.
As estimated by Block Research, given the current trading volumes on the exchange, the new fee will generate about $1m daily. According to Flipside, the daily swap volume in the pairs with the listed tokens would total about $580 million, resulting in fees worth roughly $870,000.
“Users have countless choices of ways to use it, through aggregators, other UIs, or by interacting directly with the smart contracts,” Adams wrote. “Our interface remains the best – a huge amount of love (and money) goes into making that the case.”
He claimed the proceeds will enable the team to keep researching, improving and expanding the platform.
Just a little reminder: Uniswap developers previously attributed the launch of the v4 version of the protocol to the future Dencun hardfork in the Ethereum blockchain.