“In the less than 24 hours since megastar Will Smith permanently damaged his public image by slapping Chris Rock, a man half his size, the cryptosphere has launched at least two projects purporting to somehow put the event on the blockchain. Despite no obvious logical connection between crypto and The Slap Heard Round the World, the newly minted digital assets even appear to have generated some sales.” (CoinDesk columnist David Z. Morris) … “At a ‘Metaverse Cocktail Hour for Fashionistxs,’ hosted by Cash Labs, it was abundantly clear who had MANA and who didn’t. My avatar was dressed plainly, with a default hairstyle and a default black turtleneck. Users with fancier gear – massive sets of wings, bear costumes, swarms of digital butterflies – stole the spotlight.” (CoinDesk columnist Will Gottsegen) … “Among the digital asset rules the administration is looking to update are amending the mark-to-market rules to include digital assets; requiring reporting by certain taxpayers of foreign digital asset accounts; providing for information reporting by financial institutions and crypto brokers; and treating loans of securities as tax-free to include other asset classes and “address income inclusion. The administration estimates that modernizing these rules will bring in almost $11 billion in revenue between 2023-2032, with more than $4.8 billion coming from the first year of applying mark-to-market rules to digital assets.” (CoinDesk) … “After falling during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, the rates at which so-called prime-age workers –those aged 25 to 54 – are working or seeking work has rallied back to pre-pandemic levels. Yet, with the economy growing faster than in decades, demand for labor has outpaced the availability of workers – at least at the wages and benefits employers are offering.” (The New York Times)
