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US Crypto Tax Crackdown: US Files First Criminal Case

The post US Crypto Tax Crackdown: US Files First Criminal Case appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News The United States has filed its first-ever criminal tax evasion case focused entirely on cryptocurrency, signaling tougher rules ahead for crypto investors. Recently, U.S. has sentenced Frank Richard Ahlgren III, a Texas resident, to two years in prison for evading over $1 million in taxes from Bitcoin transactions. This is the country’s first criminal tax evasion case focused entirely on cryptocurrency. Ahlgren, an early Bitcoin investor, hid $3.7 million in profits between 2017 and 2019 by inflating purchase prices and using tools to mask transactions. Despite selling $4 million worth of Bitcoin, he filed false tax returns and failed to report his gains. In addition to prison, Ahlgren must pay $1,095,031 in restitution. Authorities pointed out that cryptocurrency tax evasion will face severe penalties, as IRS tools now track blockchain transactions effectively. Bitcoin World

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Ink fast-tracks Layer 2 mainnet launch, driving DeFi development boom

Ink , a Layer 2 (L2) built on the Optimism Superchain, is now live on mainnet, embarking on its mission to bridge the gap between users and the builders engineering the future of DeFi by creating a seamless, connected ecosystem. Initially planned for Q1 2025, Ink has launched ahead of schedule after a successful period of testnet development, aiming to satisfy demand from the growing community of builders who have quickly coalesced around the project. Ink is also progressing toward Stage 1 decentralization with permissionless fault proofs to enhance accountability in January, 2025. This will enable anyone to contest potentially invalid transactions and makes Ink more accountable to its community of users. Users can now use SuperchainERC20 to easily move tokens to Ink from across the Superchain ecosystem to access and deploy assets with launch partners across a host of application types, including bridging, liquid staking, DEX trading, lending and more. We unveiled Ink in October, with plans to establish it as one of the most compelling ecosystems in DeFi. Within weeks of that announcement, Ink’s developer discord surpassed 100,000 members, testnet activity quickly rose into the millions of transactions, from hundreds of thousands of connected wallets, and more than a dozen infrastructure partners have integrated with Ink. Ink echoes our unmatched commitment to making crypto accessible to everyone, aiming to eliminate the points of friction that have historically made moving between centralized and decentralized worlds challenging. This includes enabling users to effortlessly engage with top-tier DeFi applications, protocols and communities in a single, integrated ecosystem. Ink is focused on building on the standout success of Ethereum and L2s as we advance our shared objective to make DeFi more accessible than ever before and accelerate the migration of assets and activity onchain. Get started with Ink! What Builders can do right now: Access resources at the Builder hub : Discover key documentation, onchain-focused SDK with ready-to-use templates, themes and magical animated components, and much more. Apply to participate in our inaugural Hacker House event: Taking place in the days prior to ETH Denver, this will be your first chance to sit down and build side-by-side with the Ink team. Join our Discord to collaborate with a growing builder community. Follow us on X @inkonchain for the latest updates What Users can do right now: Connect your crypto wallet to Ink : Begin your journey by connecting directly to the Ink network (Need a wallet? Download Kraken Wallet here ) Bridge funds : The gas token on Ink is ETH – bridge funds over to engage with all the great applications. Explore Ink : Check out all the latest applications live on Ink. Join our Discord to collaborate with a growing DeFi community. Join our T elegram for the latest updates. Follow us on X @inkonchain for strong meme game. Explore Ink The post Ink fast-tracks Layer 2 mainnet launch, driving DeFi development boom appeared first on Kraken Blog . Bitcoin World