Today in cryptocurrencies: Which developments stood out?
Malaysian authorities have begun cracking down on crypto investors trying to avoid taxes. Ripple's legal representatives argued for a smaller fine, citing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) recent lawsuit against Terraform Labs. But a day later, the regulator refuted this claim in a letter to Judge Torres.
The Malaysian federal agency, the Internal Revenue Board (IRB), has implemented a special operation called “Ops Token” to reduce tax revenue leakage from crypto trading.
According to local reports, 38 personnel from the Royal Malaysian Police and Cyber Security Malaysia (CSM) raided 10 different locations in the Klang Valley. IRB said:
“Thanks to the operation, cryptocurrency trading data stored on mobile devices and computers was found and we successfully determined the value of the digital assets traded, resulting in a very significant leak of tax revenue.”
IRB CEO Datuk Abu Tariq Jamaluddin warned crypto traders to properly declare their crypto taxes at nearby IRB offices as soon as possible before the IRB takes compliance action.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission criticized Ripple Labs' latest argument for a lower penalty, arguing that it would not be enough.
Last week, #Ripple referenced the SEC's settlement with Terraform Labs when it requested a penalty of "not more than $10 million" from New York District Court Judge Analisa Torres on June 13; this is much lower than the regulator's proposed fine of $876.3 million
But the SEC argued in a June 14 letter to Judge Torres that the two cases should not be an “apples-to-apples comparison” and that the proposed lower sentence “would not meet the purposes of civil sentencing statutes.” SEC said.
The total penalties proposed by the SEC for Ripple are approximately $2 billion, of which $198.2 million is pre-judgment interest, $876.3 million is a civil penalty, and $876.3 million is compensation.
