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What to Know About Cryptocurrency and Investment Scams

By Contributor
Wealth Management

Suspicion Warranted

By the Federal Trade Commission

 

People use cryptocurrency for many reasons — quick payments, to avoid transaction fees that traditional banks charge, or because it offers some anonymity. Others hold cryptocurrency as an investment, hoping the value goes up.

However, scammers are always finding new ways to steal your money using cryptocurrency. To steer clear of a crypto con, here are some things to know.

Only scammers demand payment in cryptocurrency. No legitimate business is going to demand you send cryptocurrency in advance — not to buy something, and not to protect your money. That’s always a scam.

Only scammers will guarantee profits or big returns. Don’t trust people who promise you can quickly and easily make money in the crypto markets.

Never mix online dating and investment advice. If you meet someone on a dating site or app, and they want to show you how to invest in crypto, or ask you to send them crypto, that’s a scam.

Scammers are using some tried and true scam tactics — only now, they’re demanding payment in cryptocurrency. Investment scams are one of the top ways scammers trick you into buying cryptocurrency and sending it on to scammers. But scammers are also impersonating businesses, government agencies, and love interests, among other tactics.

 

Investment Scams

Investment scams often promise you can make lots of money with zero risk, and often start on social media or online dating apps or sites. These scams can, of course, start with an unexpected text, email, or call, too. And, with investment scams, crypto is central in two ways: it can be both the investment and the payment.

Here are some common investment scams and how to spot them.

• A so-called ‘investment manager’ contacts you out of the blue. They promise to grow your money — but only if you buy cryptocurrency and transfer it into their online account. The investment website they steer you to looks real, but it’s really fake, and so are their promises. If you log in to your ‘investment account,’ you won’t be able to withdraw your money at all, or only if you pay high fees.

• A scammer pretends to be a celebrity who can multiply any cryptocurrency you send them. But celebrities aren’t contacting you through social media. It’s a scammer. And if you click on an unexpected link they send or send cryptocurrency to a so-called celebrity’s QR code, that money will go straight to a scammer, and it will be gone.

• An online ‘love interest’ wants you to send money or cryptocurrency to help you invest. That’s a scam. As soon as someone you meet on a dating site or app asks you for money, or offers you investment advice, that’s almost certainly a scammer. The advice and offers to help you invest in cryptocurrency are nothing but scams. If you send them crypto, or money of any kind, it’ll be gone, and you typically won’t get it back.

Scammers guarantee that you’ll make money or promise big payouts with guaranteed returns. Nobody can make those guarantees, much less in a short time. And there’s nothing low-risk about cryptocurrency investments. So, if a company or person promises you’ll make a profit, that’s a scam, even if there’s a celebrity endorsement or testimonials from happy investors. Those are easily faked.

Scammers promise free money. They’ll promise free cash or cryptocurrency, but free money promises are always fake. Scammers also make big claims without details or explanations. No matter what the investment, find out how it works and ask questions about where your money is going. Honest investment managers or advisors want to share that information and will back it up with details.

Before you invest in crypto, search online for the name of the company or person and the cryptocurrency name, plus words like ‘review,’ ‘scam,’ and ‘complaint.’ See what others are saying.

 

Business, Government, and Job Impersonators

In a business, government, or job impersonator scam, the scammer pretends to be someone you trust to convince you to send them money by buying and sending cryptocurrency.

Scammers impersonate well-known companies. They might say they’re from Amazon, Microsoft, FedEx, your bank, or many others. They’ll text, call, email, or send messages on social media — or maybe put a pop-up alert on your computer. They might say there’s fraud on your account, or your money is at risk — and to fix it, you need to buy crypto and send it to them. But that’s a scam. If you click the link in any message, answer the call, or call back the number on the pop-up, you’ll be connected to a scammer.

Scammers impersonate new or established businesses offering fraudulent crypto coins or tokens. They’ll say the company is entering the crypto world by issuing their own coin or token. They might create social-media ads, news articles, or a slick website to back it all up and trick people into buying. But these crypto coins and tokens are a scam that ends up stealing money from the people who buy them. Research online to find out whether a company has issued a coin or token. It will be widely reported in established media if it is true.

Scammers impersonate government agencies, law enforcement, or utility companies. They might say there’s a legal problem, that you owe money, or your accounts or benefits are frozen as part of an investigation. They’ll tell you to solve the problem or protect your money by buying cryptocurrency. They might say to send it to a wallet address they give you — for ‘safe keeping.’

Some scammers even stay on the phone with you as they direct you to a cryptocurrency ATM and give step-by-step instruction on how to insert money and convert it to cryptocurrency. They’ll direct you to send the crypto by scanning a QR code they give you, which directs the payment right into their digital wallet — and then it’s gone.

Scammers list fake jobs on job sites. They might even send unsolicited job offers related to crypto like jobs helping recruit investors, selling or mining cryptocurrency, or helping convert cash to crypto. But these so-called ‘jobs’ start only if you pay a fee in cryptocurrency, which is always a scam, every time.

As your first task in your ‘job,’ these scammers send you a check to deposit into your bank account. (That check will turn out to be fake.) They’ll tell you to withdraw some of that money, buy cryptocurrency for a made-up ‘client,’ and send it to a crypto account they give you. But if you do, the money will be gone, and you’ll be on the hook to repay that money to your bank.

To avoid business, government, and job impersonators, know that:

• No legitimate business or government will ever email, text, or message you on social media to ask for money, and they will never demand that you buy or pay with cryptocurrency.

• Never click on a link from an unexpected text, email, or social-media message, even if it seems to come from a company you know.

• Don’t pay anyone who contacts you unexpectedly, demanding payment with cryptocurrency.

• Never pay a fee to get a job. If someone asks you to pay up front for a job or says to buy cryptocurrency as part of your job, it’s a scam.

It’s Important to Understand the Rules of this Intriguing Road

By Contributor
Accounting and Tax Planning

Cryptocurrency Taxation

By Jonathan Cohen-Gorczyca, CPA, MSA and Tyler Pickunka

 

Jonathan Cohen-Gorczyca

Jonathan Cohen-Gorczyca

Tyler Pickunka

Tyler Pickunka

Cryptocurrency has become ever more popular over the past few years, so much so that there are athletes being paid in it, sports arenas are changing names to cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms, and even commercials are being aired during the big football game; it has transcended into everyday culture.

Now, cryptocurrency is more accessible than ever, and with so many new phone and computer applications, anyone can buy and sell the digital currency at any time. As it has become more popular, government and regulatory agencies have taken notice and are dedicating more time and funds to changing laws, issuing notices for non-reporting and tax avoidance, and closing the gap in treating it like any other tradable security.

What follows are some basic, but frequently asked, questions to assist you with your cryptocurrency, tax filings, and common treatment for taxation.

 

How do I obtain cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency can be purchased on numerous online platforms whether on your computer or phone. Some of these platforms are strictly cryptocurrency only, while others also allow the trading of publicly traded securities. Certain traditional investment companies have created funds to allow you to purchase, hold, and sell shares of cryptocurrency with your regular investments. This can remove some of the perceived risk of buying and selling on the online platforms.

 

How is cryptocurrency taxed?

Cryptocurrency is taxable when a taxpayer sells virtual currency for U.S. dollars, exchanges one type of virtual currency for another, receives virtual currency for services, and mines virtual currency. While trading, exchanging, receiving, or giving virtual currency for services are considered capital gains or losses for tax purposes, mining virtual currency is considered ordinary income.

Mining virtual currency is the actual process where new cryptocurrency is created and enters into markets.

 

Can I gift cryptocurrency?

Yes, but cryptocurrency is not exempt from gift-tax filing requirements if you want to transfer holdings to someone else. The fair market value at the time of the gift, and not the basis, is the value used for gift tax purposes. Your existing basis of the Cryptocurrency transfers to the giftee; this treatment is like stocks. The holding period is transferred as well when determining short- or long-term capital gains if the giftee is to sell or transfer the gift.

 

When do you check the box on the tax return?

In recent years, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has added a question to page 1 of the Form 1040 regarding cryptocurrency to better regulate the taxation of cryptocurrency and hold taxpayers accountable for reporting their taxable transactions. The box on the tax return should be checked for all taxpayers who received, sold, exchanged, or disposed of any financial interest in any virtual currency. If you buy and are holding onto virtual currency and have not done any of the above, you do not need to check this box. If you select “No” and are involved in the active buying and selling of cryptocurrency, this could be considered perjury on an official government form.

 

Do you have recommendations that make tax reporting easier?

Dissimilar to publicly traded securities, most cryptocurrency platforms do not issue a Consolidated 1099 statement tracking gains or losses. A taxpayer will most likely receive a 1099 MISC or 1099-K. These two tax forms do not provide enough information to make determinations such as if the cryptocurrency was held short-term or long-term, but rather just an aggregate of all activity. One option is to find an online platform that provides this report at year-end.

Another option is to use a third-party software where you can consolidate your trading activities and can generate a report at year-end to hand to your accountant. If you are just provided with multiple ledgers, it is very difficult (almost impossible) to decipher your activity throughout the year.

Understanding the tax implications for cryptocurrency is a must if you have or plan to have it. Contact your accountant for additional information about cryptocurrency and what that may mean for your specific tax situation.

 

Jonathan Cohen-Gorczyca, CPA, tax manager, has been with Melanson for 10 years andspecializes in individual and business tax returns, compilations, and review engagements; Tyler Pickunka is a recent graduate from Westfield State University who has been a part of the Melanson tax team since 2020.

Changing How the World Does Business

By Contributor
Features

NFTs and Cryptocurrency

By Bart Galvin

 

Digital assets such as Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are transforming global capital markets and the art world, with market capitalization reaching $2 trillion and digital artworks packaged through NFTs regularly selling for millions of dollars. As these assets gain prominence in the marketplace, it is increasingly important to understand why these assets appeal to investors, how they represent value, and how they function under the hood.

 

NFTs and Digital Art

NFTs have exploded in popularity in the past year, with notable examples like CryptoPunks, which are collectible, algorithmically generated pixel artworks, as well as the works of Mike Winkelmann (known professionally as Beeple), who recently sold a piece of NFT art at a Christie’s auction for $69 million.

Bart Galvin

An NFT is a unique digital token representing an interest in something else, which could be a piece of art, a share of stock, a stream of royalties, or even, in the case of Unisocks, entitlement to a physical pair of socks. NFTs are ‘non-fungible’ because, unlike cryptocurrencies, they aren’t interchangeable — your NFT corresponds to the specific entitlement or right to the underlying thing.

The eye-popping price tags of many digital-art NFTs poses the question: what exactly are you buying when you purchase an NFT? In its most basic form, an NFT is simply verifiable proof that you are the purchaser of whatever the NFT represents. But the devil is in the details. The rights granted by an NFT are entirely up its creator, so some NFTs have strict terms and conditions that prohibit exhibitions or commercial use of the art, while others might grant you the copyright in the work.

 

Cryptocurrency and the Rise of Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been the most prominent cryptocurrency since its introduction in 2008, but many other cryptocurrencies exist, such as Ethereum, an important part of many ‘smart contracts,’ and Tether, which is pegged to the value of the U.S. dollar. Bitcoin accounts for about half of global cryptocurrency market capitalization.

At the end of March, the price of one Bitcoin was approximately $60,000. Unlike a cryptocurrency like Tether, the value of Bitcoin can fluctuate wildly. Indeed, it has increased tenfold in the past year, dwarfing its previous peak of $17,000 in December 2017. The value of Bitcoin is determined almost entirely by what purchasers believe it is worth, and investors speculate on that value, driving price fluctuations. These price fluctuations can have a snowball effect, whereby widespread speculation in Bitcoin that drives the price upward can lead investors to believe Bitcoin will be adopted more widely, leading to further speculation that its value will increase.

 

Why Do People Care?

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs represent a fundamentally new way of transacting. The reason is in the revolutionary qualities of their underlying technology: the ‘blockchain.’ A blockchain can be thought of as a tamper-resistant digital store of data, constructed using computer cryptography and distributed among participants over the internet. Here’s what makes the blockchain special, and why people are jumping on board.

First, the blockchain allows parties to transact without intermediaries. No banks or clearinghouses are needed to execute or verify transactions since the underlying technology ensures that transfers are reliable, practically irreversible, and publicly verifiable.

“In the world of blockchain technology, Bitcoin and digital-art NFTs are the tip of the iceberg. There are already countless blockchain-based technologies, and new ones are invented every day.”

Second, blockchain transactions are not limited by jurisdictional or national boundaries. The transaction’s terms are dictated by computer code, not local law. Perhaps more importantly, the code is self-enforcing, which limits opportunistic behavior. Parties do not need to appeal to the judicial system to enforce an agreement because it happens automatically.

Third, blockchains are not subject to a central point of control or a central point of failure. Blockchains work by interconnecting users running the same software over a peer-to-peer network on the internet. No one party controls the blockchain. All new transactions are shared over the network, and they become final only when a majority of users determines that the transaction is valid. If a user doesn’t own the digital asset they’re trying to transfer, or tries to transfer it twice, the transaction will be rejected.

Fourth, blockchain transactions are publicly visible and verifiable. A blockchain serves as a ledger of transactions and all the transactions that came before them, allowing anyone to view and verify the trail of activity occurring over the network.

Fifth, blockchains allow parties to transact pseudonymously (not quite anonymously), without needing to trust or even know each other. All you need to know is your counterparty’s digital address or ‘wallet.’ And because transactions are practically irreversible and verified by the consensus of the network, the opportunities for fraud are heavily curtailed.

 

The Future of Blockchain Technologies

In the world of blockchain technology, Bitcoin and digital-art NFTs are the tip of the iceberg. There are already countless blockchain-based technologies, and new ones are invented every day. The blockchain is highly flexible and has tremendous untapped potential for consumer transactions, private contracts, corporate structuring, securities and derivatives, and even public administration. If your business is not using the blockchain yet, it’s only a matter of time.

 

Bart Galvin is an attorney at Bulkley Richardson, where he is a member of the Blockchain and Cryptocurrency practice group; (413) 272-6200.

Blockchain Can Provide Efficiencies in Healthcare and Other Sectors

By Contributor
Banking and Financial Services

More Than Just Bitcoin

By Matthew Ogrodowicz, MSA

 

‘Blockchain’ is a term used to broadly describe the cryptographic technology that underpins several applications, the most widely known of which is Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies.

Matthew Ogrodowicz

Even though it is the largest current application, a survey conducted on behalf of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in 2018 found that 48% of American adults were not familiar with Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin, three cryptocurrencies among those with the largest market capitalizations. The largest of these, Bitcoin, currently sits at a market capitalization of approximately $355 billion. If half of all adults are unfamiliar with this largest application, it is safe to assume that even fewer know about other ways the technology could be used — including for some of the region’s major industries.

Three of these largest industries in Western Mass. are healthcare, manufacturing, and higher education. In each of these industries, the secure and verifiable information network created by blockchain can provide efficiencies. This network, essentially a public ledger, consists of a series of transactions (blocks), which is distributed and replicated across a network of computers referred to as nodes. These nodes each maintain a copy of the ledger, which can only be added to by the solving of a cryptographic puzzle that is verified by other nodes in the network.

The information on the ledger is maintained by another aspect of cryptography, which is that the same data encrypted in the same way produces the same result, so if data earlier in the chain is manipulated, it will be rejected by the other nodes even though the data itself is encrypted. Thus, an immutable chain of verifiable, secure information is created, capable of supporting applications in the aforementioned fields.

Each of these industries can benefit from the blockchain’s ability to host ‘smart contracts.’ A smart contract is a digital protocol intended to facilitate, verify, or enforce the performance of a transaction. The simplest analogue is that of a vending machine — once payment is made, an item is delivered. Smart contracts would exist on the blockchain and would be triggered by a predefined condition or action agreed upon by the parties beforehand. This allows the parties to transact directly without the need for intermediaries, providing time and cost savings as well as automation and accuracy.

Combined with the security and immutability noted earlier, smart contracts should prove to be a valuable tool, though there is still work to be done in codifying and establishing legal frameworks around smart contracts. Other applications of blockchain technology are more specifically applicable to individual fields.

In the field of healthcare, blockchain’s ability to process, validate, and sanction access to data could lead to a centralized repository of electronic health records and allow patients to permit and/or revoke read-and-write privileges to certain doctors or facilities as they deem necessary. This would allow patients more control over who has access to their personal health records while providing for quick transfers and reductions in administrative delay.

In the field of manufacturing, blockchain can provide more supply-chain efficiency and transparency by codifying and tracking the routes and intermediate steps, including carriers and time of arrival and departure, without allowing for unauthorized modification of this information. In a similar fashion, blockchain can provide manufacturers assurance that the goods they have received are exactly those they have ordered and that they are without defect by allowing for tracking of individual parts or other raw materials.

Finally, in the field of higher education, blockchain could be used to improve record keeping of degrees and certifications in a manner similar to that of electronic medical records. Beyond that, intellectual property such as research, scholarly publications, media works, and presentations could be protected by the blockchain by allowing for ease of sharing them while preserving the ability to control how they are used.

And, of course, blockchain development will be a skill high in demand that will benefit from the creation of interdisciplinary programs at colleges and universities that help students understand the development of blockchain networks as well the areas of business, technology, law, and commerce that are impacted by it.

For these reasons and many more, businesses should feel an urgency to increase their knowledge of blockchain’s impact on their industries while exploring the potential dividends that could be reaped by a foray into an emerging technology.

 

Matthew Ogrodowicz, MSA is a senior associate at the Holyoke-based accounting firm Meyers Brothers Kalicka, P.C.