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The bearer nature of digital assets presents challenges to institutions getting into crypto. The need for greater security will likely impact the whole industry.

After getting in hot water with U.S. regulators last year, the exchange has rolled out mandatory verification for all users.

PayPal’s venture arm is among a group of new investors of TaxBit, a tax compliance automation startup.

Other investors, per a Thursday morning statement, include Coinbase Ventures and Winklevoss Capital. Winklevoss Capital previously partook in the $5 million seed round for TaxBit.

The move represents the latest expansion of PayPal’s footprint in the crypto space, following its headline-setting partnership with Paxos last year that saw the payments giant begin to integrate crypto into its service offerings. PayPal was reportedly said to be considering acquisitions in the industry, though a rumored purchase of crypto custodian BitGo ultimately fell through. 

“We want to thank our customers, partners, and investors for helping us move the cryptocurrency space forward, ” said Austin Woodward, TaxBit’s founder and CEO. “This investment will help us achieve our aim of being the most innovative and trustworthy provider of cryptocurrency tax technology.”

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Bitfarms announced the placement Sunday.

It took just a few months for cryptocurrencies’ market cap to double to $1 trillion. That compares with eight years for U.S. junk loans.

With the sudden rise, XRP has replaced litecoin as the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.

Finland’s customs authority, Tulli, is looking to sell 1,981 bitcoins, local public broadcaster Yle reported the news on Thursday.

The majority of the seized bitcoins (1,666) were confiscated in 2016 via the arrest of Finnish drug dealer Douppikauppa. The bitcoins were worth about $860,000 at the time of confiscation, and now they are valued at more than $75 million.

Tulli is looking to sell the bitcoins directly or via a broker, CFO Pekka Pylkkanen told Yle. The collected amount will be sent to Finland’s Ministry of Finance.

Back in 2018, Tulli was looking to sell the bitcoins through auction but didn’t go ahead with that plan because it was concerned that the cryptocurrency would end up back in criminal hands.

Now that bitcoin’s price has skyrocketed, Tulli wants to liquidate the seized assets “as soon as possible, in the coming months.” Pylkkanen said: “I don’t see a reason to sort this out more. Nothing will change by waiting longer.”

Bitcoin is currently trading at around $38,250, according to TradingView.

© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Oasis Labs, creator of Oasis Protocol, appears to be looking to build an institution-friendly version of Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem.

PayPal Ventures, Coinbase Ventures and Winklevoss Capital invested an undisclosed amount in the firm.

The cryptocurrency tax was originally planned to be implemented in late 2021.