The 3^rd halving of Bitcoin in all of history will occur in 2020. At the time of this writing, Bitcoin sits above $7,500 but under the $8,000 threshold. Likely in 2020, the increased scarcity of Bitcoin will cause the price per coin to inflate. Therefore, it is better to obtain some bitcoin now rather than later.

Bitcoin bulls are prepping for the third halving hoping it will act as a catalyst to drive BTC price higher. Bitcoin has struggled to breach the $8,000 mark all of 2019. However, BTC bulls believe that within a year, the value will increase for this cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin analysts are predicting the halving event to push Bitcoin’s price back to its all-time highs. The best advice they have given is to hoard bitcoin. Bitcoin and cryptocurrency fund manager Brian Kelly said, “We’re not going to sell it. You generally have a rally a year into [a bitcoin halvening], and a year out of it. And so we’re just at the beginning of that stage […] a supply cut is generally bullish.”

Bitcoin halvenings are fixed and occur every 210,000-system confirmed or mined, blocks. Since Bitcoin’s creation in 2009, there have been two halvenings occur. After the first halvening in 2012, the price per Bitcoin reached $1,000, a record-breaking price for the coin at the time.

In 2016, Bitcoin experienced its second halvening where the price per BTC peaked at $19,000 in December of 2017. Crypto watchers are hoping the third event will run-up BTC’s price. Since Bitcoin’s second halving tech companies, financial institutions, and investors have gathered around Bitcoin and are willing to make their services usable for crypto while implementing some decentralized technology to their brands.

Bitcoin started the cryptocurrency movement and is the strongest of all altcoins available. Whenever Bitcoin’s price is affected other altcoins like Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and Dash move parallel to it.

One billionaire investor, Tim Draper, believes Bitcoin will reach a quarter million per coin by 2022-2023. He’s not alone, several analysts have forecasted positive growth for Bitcoin after the coin experienced a drop to $6,100 and bounced back to $8,000.

Others who have been burned by Bitcoin’s dip are not so sure. A few decided to abandon Bitcoin after the bubble burst completely. The slow fizz around $8,000 doesn’t keep those that lost thousands during the dip happy but the third halvening may.

Is it worth hoarding BTC over or trying to gamble to make some more before a potential BTC price inflation? We’re not sure, while we believe getting a hold of as much BTC while prices fluctuate on the low side is worthwhile, we would instead recommend holding current Bitcoin or earning more through legal bitcoin casinos.

Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is a UK government branch responsible for activities relating to taxes and revenue. On December 19^th, 2018, HMRC released a new policy paper in regard to cryptocurrency transactions, holdings, and taxing of crypto-assets.

Cryptocurrency has long had its regulatory fights with numerous countries around the globe including the U.S.’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and it seems this new HMRC policy will begin to provide strict guidelines for individuals using crypto in the UK to follow.

In the UK, cryptocurrency investors have glided past taxation for years by classifying their Bitcoin transactions, trading, and investments as gambling. However, HMRC’s new policy states these crypto transactions are chargeable assets and subject to capital gains tax.

HMRC’s policy states “In the vast majority of cases, individuals hold crypto-assets as a personal investment, usually for capital appreciation in its value or to make particular purchases. They will be liable to pay capital gains tax when they dispose of their crypto-assets”.

Cryptocurrency investments were once (and agreeably still are) of such a highly speculative nature that the HMRC did not consider them taxable. However, with the Bitcoin price peak in 2017 and cryptos looking like they were headed mainstream, HMRC decided to clarify the issue. Through the issuance of this new policy, HMRC will effectively capture millions in tax revenue.

Despite the soaring price of Bitcoin to nearly $20,000 per coin in 2017, 2018 has seen a harsh decline in Bitcoin’s price per coin. Many have accredited this decline to the Bitcoin Bubble Burst as Bitcoin currently sits under $4,000 per coin. This price volatility has rubbed some investors the wrong way while encouraging regulators to implement strict guidelines regarding cryptos like BTC.

HRMC has also stated that their new policy is not a finished document with a more official policy to be established concerning cryptocurrency held by individuals. Which is confirmed with their statement, “The tax treatment of crypto-assets continues to develop due to the evolving nature of the underlying technology and the areas in which crypto-assets are used. As such, HMRC will look at the facts of each case and apply the relevant tax provisions according to what has actually taken place (rather than by reference to terminology). Our views may evolve further as the sector develops”.

Despite the new taxation policy, the UK has inadvertently recognized cryptocurrency like Bitcoin as a form of legitimate money, or at least a “digital storage of value” through this policy. However, the 4,400-word (and counting) document is not the first European cryptocurrency guideline created, as Switzerland’s FINMA did so nearly a year ago.

Nonetheless, HMRC taxation policy is step one to cleaning up the industry and implementing safe practices for UK crypto users.