5 nations challenge crypto experts and investigators to target tax crimes
The Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5), a global anti-tax fraud group, hosted investigators, cryptocurrency experts and data scientists in “The Cyber Challenge” event to track down individuals and organizations committing tax fraud.
The J5 members comprise the criminal intelligence communities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States, which collaborate in the fight against international and transnational tax crime and money laundering.
The group includes the Australian Taxation Office, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs from the U.K. and IRS-CI from the United States. Participants included experts from J5 countries, which were tasked with optimizing the usage of data acquired from a variety of open and investigative sources available to each country.
Since its inception in 2018, the J5 has hosted five such events. In 2022, the fourth event focused on nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized exchanges (DEX). Sharing details about the latest 2023 event, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service report stated:
“This is the first Challenge where Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) from each J5 country participated. Private sector was represented by blockchain analysis companies Chainalysis, BlockTrace, and AnChain making this the most collaborative Challenge to date.”
In the process, the J5 generated significant leads for further investigation, which, in the past, helped uncover multimillion-dollar crypto Ponzi schemes, such as the BitClub Network. John Ford, deputy commissioner of the Australian Taxation Office, stated:
“This collaboration between public and private specialists not only generates operational outcomes, but shares expert training, techniques and procedures, which is integral for the participants to remain proactive and effective in a rapidly evolving operating environment.”
Ryan Ryder from Chainalysis pointed out that crypto’s inherent transparency, coupled with international public and private sector experts, “can collaborate to identify and shut down illicit activity,” a task that remains impossible in traditional finance.
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The Cointelegraph Innovation Circle recently featured seven crypto experts in an article to help Web3 companies prep for tax season. First and foremost, Web3 companies must constantly monitor the tax implications of their activities and diligently work to ensure they’re meeting their obligations.
In addition, the members of the Cointelegraph Innovation Circle recommended seven best practices to ensure adherence to tax formalities. Choosing a tax-friendly country while ensuring on-time payment is a top priority, in addition to avoiding shortcuts and finding an experienced crypto tax accountant.
Other key factors include accurate documentation of all activities, seeking expert legal counsel, automating transaction tracking and using specialized software.
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Bitcoin’s expanding institutional adoption may provide the “structural” inflows necessary to surpass gold’s market capitalization and push its price beyond $1 million by 2029, according to Bitwise’s head of European research, André Dragosch.
“Our in-house prediction is $1 million by 2029. So that Bitcoin will match gold’s market cap and total addressable market by 2029,” he told Cointelegraph during the Chain Reaction daily X spaces show on April 30.
Corporations are coming for your bitcoin (feat. André Dragosch, Head of Research at Bitwise) #CHAINREACTION https://t.co/5F3cRWBHzq
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) April 30, 2025
Gold is currently the world’s largest asset, valued at over $21.7 trillion. In comparison, Bitcoin’s market capitalization sits at $1.9 trillion, making it the seventh-largest asset globally, according to CompaniesMarketCap data.
Related: Bitcoin treasury firms driving $200T hyperbitcoinization — Adam Back
For the 2025 market cycle, Bitcoin may surpass $200,000 in the “base case” and $500,000 with more governmental adoption, Dragosch said.
“But once you see sovereign bias like the US government stepping in, all this will change to $500,000.”
“So the base case is $200,000, conditional on the US government not stepping in. If they step in, it will move closer toward $500,000,” said Dragosch, referring to the US government’s plan to potentially make direct Bitcoin acquisitions through “budget-neutral” strategies.
The US is looking at “many creative ways” to fund its Bitcoin investments, including from tariff revenue and by reevaluating the US Treasury’s gold certificates, creating a paper surplus to fund the BTC reserve without selling gold, Bo Hines of the Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets said in an interview on April 14.
Related: Crypto sentiment recovers, but weekend liquidity risks remain
“Structural” ETF inflows, institutional adoption prolong Bitcoin cycle
The US-based spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have surpassed all expectations during their first year of trading, exceeding record trading volumes as BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF became the fastest-growing ETF in history.
The first year is usually the “slowest” for ETFs, Dragosch said, highlighting the launch of the gold ETF:
“That alone implies that in the second and third year, we will see growing inflows. In terms of the four four-year cycle, implies that, this cycle will be prolonged by these structural inflows.”
The Bitcoin cycle may also be prolonged when US wirehouses start gaining exposure to Bitcoin and ETFs.
“In the US, the major distribution channels go via Wirehouses, which are essentially the big banks like Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley. […] Not even half of these wirehouses have opened up their distribution channels to US Bitcoin ETFs,” the analyst said.
Adoption from US wirehouses may bring a “huge amount of capital,” since these control over $10 trillion worth of customer assets, Dragosch added.
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Major European cryptocurrency investment firm 21Shares has filed for a spot Sui exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, marking another step in its expansion to the US market.
21Shares on April 30 submitted the Form S-1 registration for a spot Sui (SUI) ETF to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Called the 21Shares Sui ETF, the proposed ETF will issue common shares of beneficial interest by seeking to track the performance of SUI held by 21Shares’ US subsidiary.
The US filing comes a year after 21Shares started trading the 21Shares Sui Staking exchange-traded product in Europe in July 2024, with its first listings on Euronext Paris and Euronext Amsterdam.
No ticker or planned exchange yet
The 128-page filing does not specify on which US exchange the new SUI ETF is expected to debut trading. The ETF also doesn’t have a ticker symbol yet.
“There is no certainty that there will be liquidity available on the exchange or that the market price will be in line with the NAV [net asset value] or the principal market NAV at any given time,” it states.
The filing highlighted that the ETF aims to provide exposure to SUI by holding the tokens directly, without utilizing leverage, derivatives or engaging in speculative trading.
Canary Capital was the first to file for Sui ETF
21Shares is not the first company to file for a Sui ETF in the US. Canary Capital, a US-based crypto investment firm, filed a Form S-1 registration for a spot Sui ETF on March 17.
Subsequently, Cboe BZX Exchange asked US regulators for clearance to list Canary’s Sui ETF in early April.
Sui-based ETPs have already been trading in Europe, with some of such products including 21Shares Sui staking ETP and VanEck Sui ETP.
Related: More than 70 US crypto ETFs await SEC decision this year — Bloomberg
According to the latest CoinShares update, Sui-based ETPs had $400 million in assets under management as of April 25.
Year-to-date, Sui ETPs have seen $72 million of inflows, with a fresh $20.7 million coming in just last week.
The latest ETF filing by 21Shares is yet another product joining a massive list of crypto ETFs awaiting the SEC’s decision.
According to Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, there were at least 72 new crypto ETF filings on the SEC’s table as of May 1.
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Banking giant Morgan Stanley reportedly plans to list cryptocurrencies on its E*Trade investment brokerage and trading platform.
According to a May 1 Bloomberg report, the firm intends to list crypto assets on E*Trade in 2026. The plan is still in early development, and the bank is said to be exploring partnerships with established crypto firms to power the service. Internal discussions about cryptocurrency support reportedly began in late 2024.
This would not be Morgan Stanley’s first exposure to digital assets. The bank’s wealthiest clients have had access to crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and futures for some time, with the firm’s advisers allowed to pitch Bitcoin ETFs since August 2024.
Related: Morgan Stanley to explore crypto offerings for clients — CEO
Regulatory tailwinds push crypto forward
The news follows previous reports that Morgan Stanley was considering adding cryptocurrency trading to its E*Trade online brokerage platform in early January. The reports at the time cited the expectations of a friendlier crypto regulatory environment.
The move comes amid an increasingly favorable regulatory environment in the United States following the election of President Donald Trump, who campaigned on a pro-crypto platform and is personally involved in several blockchain ventures.
Related: Morgan Stanley discloses $188M in BlackRock Bitcoin ETF holdings
The first 30 days of the Trump administration brought significant changes to the local crypto industry. More recently, US crypto proponents have shown optimism following the swearing-in of pro-crypto Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins.
The SEC had significantly changed its stance even before Atkins took office. In late February, the agency had already paused multiple cryptocurrency enforcement cases with imminent deadlines.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
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