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In video games, skin gambling is the use of virtual goods, which are most commonly cosmetic elements such as "skins" which have no direct influence on gameplay, as virtual currency to bet on the outcome of professional matches or on other games of chance. It primarily has occurred within the player community for the game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive by Valve Corporation, but practice of it exists in other game communities. Valve also runs the Steam marketplace which can be interfaced by third-parties to enable trading, buying, and selling of skins from players' Steam inventories for real-world or digital currency, though Valve itself condemns the gambling practices and such activity violates Steam's Terms of Service.
Valve added random skin rewards as part of an update to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2013, believing that players would use these to trade with other players and bolster both the player community and its Steam marketplace. A number of websites were created to bypass monetary restrictions Valve set on the Steam marketplace to aid in high-value trading and allowing users to receive cash value for skins. Some of these sites subsequently added the ability to gamble on the results of professional matches or in games of chance with these skins, which in 2016 was estimated to handle around $5 billion of the virtual goods. These sites, along with Valve and various video game streamers, have come under scrutiny due to ethical and legal questions relating to gambling on sporting matches, underage gambling, undisclosed promotion, and outcome rigging. Evidence of such unethical practices was discovered in June 2016, and led to two formal lawsuits filed against these sites and Valve in the following month. Valve subsequently has taken steps to stop such sites from using Steam's interface for enabling gambling, leading to about half of these sites to close down, while driving more of the skin gambling into an underground economy.
he topic is about capital gains/income which you are ignoring.
The original Bitcoin software by Satoshi Nakamoto was released under the MIT license. Most client software, derived or "from scratch", also use open source licensing.
Bitcoin is the first successful implementation of a distributed crypto-currency, described in part in 1998 by Wei Dai on the cypherpunks mailing list. Building upon the notion that money is any object, or any sort of record, accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context, Bitcoin is designed around the idea of using cryptography to control the creation and transfer of money, rather than relying on central authorities.
Bitcoins have all the desirable properties of a money-like good. They are portable, durable, divisible, recognizable, fungible, scarce and difficult to counterfeit.
originally posted by: theantediluvian
Arguable. According to the IRS estimates, there's about half a trillion a year in tax evasion.
originally posted by: purplemer
This topic is about the attempted control of decentralised currency by old failing centralized systems. Something you are ignoring.
originally posted by: Tempter
So where does it end?
If I traded paperclips with a friend and somehow pulled off getting more, do I need to consider that a profit and do you think the IRS deserves a cut of that?
We seem to be making the claim that currency doesn't matter, but rather anything you make a profit off of.
It still seem that until the thing being traded or used is transferred to a currency that the government controls is when it is taxed.
So if no one actually converts BT into a $, how is it any different than trading paperclips?
Bartering
Bartering is an exchange of property or services. You must include in your income, at the time received, the fair market value of property or services you receive in bartering. For additional information, Refer to Tax Topic 420 - Bartering Income and Barter Exchanges. The Internal Revenue Service always gets its pound of flesh.
originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: Riffrafter
Why shouldn't people pay taxes on their crypto-currency gains? I have to pay them on my other financial instruments and investments.
The fact that bitcoin is property and not a currency makes losses that much more difficult to write off, on the other hand. For the IRS, net capital (or property) losses are capped at $3,000 per year for married and single filers on personal tax returns.
www.investopedia.com...
Your feelings are irrelevant. Capital gains taxes are mandatory for all American citizens.
originally posted by: StoutBroux
So, should it be that the net capital GAIN be capped at $3,000 per year as well? You know, only to be fair?
originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
Your feelings are irrelevant. Capital gains taxes are mandatory for all American citizens.
originally posted by: intrptr
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus
Under the radar insults aren't working, this time. You whined about how you have to pay taxes and bit coin doesn't. May I recommend another investment, like bitcoin?
originally posted by: purplemer
a reply to: AugustusMasonicus
he topic is about capital gains/income which you are ignoring.
This topic is about the attempted control of decentralised currency by old failing centralized systems. Something you are ignoring.