Bitcoin Daily: South Korea’s 20 Pct Crypto Tax To Start In 2023; Bitcoin Shoots Above $40K

South Korea will begin taxing crypto benefits 20 percent, from both buying and selling, beginning in 2023, according to a report from Asia Today.

According to the report, investors making more than 2.5 million won (about $2,200) from digital assets will be hit with the 20 percent tax.

In terms of digital assets owned before the rule was put into place, the report stated it will depend on the higher amount between either the market price or the actual acquisition price at the end of the year.

The report stated the tax announcements were made Wednesday (Jan. 6) and will be promulgated and implemented in February.

In other news, bitcoin has passed $40,000 in value, hours after reaching both $38,000 and $39,000 — and some users are now antsy about the possibility of a crash, CoinDesk reported.

This follows a momentous 2020 in which the value of bitcoin rose over 300 percent, including a near-50 percent gain just in December.

Bitcoin's price is now over double the all-time high of $19,783 reached during the bull market run in 2017.

The recent highs hit by bitcoin are fueling a narrative that it's a kind of "digital gold," which has brought institutional investors into the fold, CoinDesk reported. Also, because of the recent unrest in Washington D.C., as with any global uncertainty, fiat currencies could be devalued and give bitcoin more of an edge.

Meanwhile, Routefire has been acquired by Coinbase, and its team will move to the popular crypto exchange, a company blog post stated, with Routefire being discontinued.

Routefire debuted in 2018 and began work on enhancing trade infrastructure for crypto, particularly as there were fewer offerings for such services at that time, according to the post.

Under Coinbase, the company's employees will continue to work on best-in-class execution services for digital assets, especially as the market for crypto continues to improve.

"We remain deeply committed to this ecosystem and are excited to help develop Coinbase’s market-leading suite of institutional products, which provides the true end-to-end solution that we believe best meets our customers' needs," the post stated.