[News Brief] Aug 4, morning | Government Excludes Additional Deferral of Virtual Asset Taxation from the 2026 Tax Reform Plan

The government excluded a provision for an additional deferral of virtual asset taxation from the 2026 tax reform plan. If the National Assembly passes the revision, taxation on virtual asset trading gains will begin in 2027. Edaily reported on the 4th that the Ministry of Economy and Finance finalized the tax reform plan with this content.

A 22% tax rate will apply to the portion of annual virtual asset trading gains exceeding 2.5 million won, with the first tax filing to take place in May 2028. Virtual asset taxation had previously been postponed three times. While the opposition party has proposed a bill to abolish the tax, there are also voices opposing taxation due to market weakness.

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has launched two on-chain money market funds. The products target the real-world asset (RWA) and stablecoin reserve asset markets.

Zombit reported that BlackRock announced the launch of the two products in a statement on Monday. The funds are short-term financial market products using blockchain technology and offer a new option for managing stablecoin reserve assets. The launch reflects BlackRock’s move to broaden its range of on-chain financial products and expand its RWA business.

Claims have emerged that U.S. Senate leadership is pushing for a vote on the crypto regulatory bill, the CLARITY Act, before entering the August recess.

The Bitcoin Historian account on X said on the 4th that Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Punchbowl, “We’ll stay in session until we finish.” The post claimed that the remark referred to a vote on the CLARITY Act. If a vote takes place, the bill’s passage through the Senate process would advance by one step.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Circle Internet Group (CRCL) from “Equal Weight” to “Underweight” and cut its price target from $106 to $38.

CoinDesk reported on the 4th that Morgan Stanley made the revision on expectations of slower USDC growth and weaker long-term profitability. Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette lowered his USDC supply forecasts for 2027 and 2028 by about 33% and 44%, respectively. Morgan Stanley said that as USDC growth slows, reserve income could come under pressure and Circle’s revenue mix could shift toward lower-margin transaction revenue. It also cited intensifying competition in the stablecoin market from tokenized money market funds, tokenized deposits, and Open USD as reasons for the downgrade.

Losses from three attacks related to Coldcard have exceeded $100 million in stolen Bitcoin (BTC).

Galaxy Research said it has confirmed three attacks and that about 90% of the stolen Bitcoin has not yet moved. Galaxy Research also said it is investigating signs of a suspected fourth attack. If confirmed, total losses could rise to $130 million.

U.S. spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs recorded total net inflows of $170 million on the 3rd.

Odaily reported that BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) saw net inflows of $111 million, the largest among all products.

Strategy sold an additional 1,638 Bitcoin (BTC) for $104.7 million. The proceeds were used to fund preferred stock dividends and share buybacks.

According to a filing the company submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the 3rd, the sales were made between the 27th of last month and the 2nd of this month at an average price of $63,957. During the same period, Strategy also sold common stock, increasing its dollar reserves to $4 billion. Its Bitcoin holdings fell to 842,138 BTC.

Mastercard has completed its acquisition of stablecoin service provider BVNK.

Foresight News reported that Mastercard finalized the acquisition of BVNK.

Japanese convenience store giant Lawson will conduct Japan’s first pilot test of stablecoin payments using existing POS terminals at two Tokyo stores on August 6 and 17.

PANews, citing an official announcement, reported on the 4th that Lawson will test payments using the yen stablecoin JPYC and the dollar stablecoins USDC and USDT. Payment processing will be handled by Canal Payment Service’s multi-code payment gateway PAYTREE, so no additional terminal installation will be required. On August 6, JPYC payments using HashPort Wallet will be tested at Lawson Takanawa Gateway City. On August 17, payments in USDC, USDT, and JPYC using MetaMask will be tested at Lawson Gate City Osaki Atrium.

A transfer of 39.8 million USDT from an unidentified wallet to crypto exchange Binance has been detected.

According to CoinGlass data on the 4th, the transfer was detected at 3:12 p.m. Korea time. Based on the day’s exchange rate, the transfer was worth about 56.9 billion won.