The Metaverse – PPLI and EWP – Episode 3

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Transform Your Assets Inside an EWP Metaverse

PPLI Is Your Partner in Creating Financial Strength and Stability

It makes sense to partner with a concept that is recognized as a cornerstone of financial stability—the six principles of Expanded Worldwide Planning, or EWP for short. The six principles are recognized as such by Wikipedia in its article on International Tax Planning. You too can employ these principles to grow and strengthen your own financial assets. How can you accomplish this? By using an asset structure that has at its very roots the six principles of EWP.

The metaverse is a concept that has been thrust into our lives. Is it something new and or just a fad that will die out in a few years? At EWP Financial we are creating our own metaverse that has at its foundation the rock-solid Six Principles of EWP. In this video, through compelling images and concise dialogue, we explain how these Six Principles can create for you a financial future that beneficially transforms your own assets for tax efficiency, privacy, and asset protection.

We continue to bring you relevant articles on the Metaverse. This week we bring you articles from the worlds of sports and gaming; two areas that have been exploring new ways to use the metaverse. These two articles are courtesy of Cointelegraph.

Berlin-based football app enters the metaverse following $300M fundraiser

By Arnold Kirimi

The financing round was led by Liberty City Ventures, with participation from blockchain platforms and venture capital firms, including Animoca Brands and Dapper Labs.

OneFootball, a German football media application, has raised $300 million in a Series D round to grow the company’s presence on Web3 and develop new features on its platform.

According to a Thursday announcement, OneFootball and nonfungible token (NFT)-centric Animoca Brands created a joint venture called OneFootball Labs. The new platform will “enable clubs, leagues, federations and players to provide digital assets and fan-centric experiences based on blockchain technology.” Furthermore, fans will be able to obtain and store virtual collectibles using their email address and credit card.

The financing round was led by Liberty City Ventures, with participation from blockchain platforms and venture capital firms, including Animoca Brands, Dapper Labs, DAH Beteiligungs GmbH, Quiet Capital, RIT Capital Partners, Senator Investment Group, and Alsara Investment Group.

Animoca Brands will provide its expertise and network in blockchain, NFTs, gaming and the metaverse to help OneFootball develop new products and services that will increase digital fandom while generating new income streams for the football industry. In a statement, Lucas von Cranach, founder and CEO of OneFootball, said:

“We believe the future of football away from the stands and off the pitch will be decentralized and built on Web3, giving back the ownership of data and digital assets to the fans.”

Murtaza Akbar, the managing partner at Liberty City Ventures, highlighted OneFootball’s 100 million monthly active users as an opportunity to take advantage of blockchain technology for a massive community of football fans.

Earlier this year, Cointelegraph noted that increasing interactivity and ownership of virtual items are some of the metaverse’s most outstanding features. “OneFootball might be jumping on both opportunities to provide more fans greater access to the “beautiful game.”

Manchester City, the English Premier League champions, announced their entrance into the Metaverse by signing a three-year agreement with Sony to provide virtual reality to professionals for image analysis and skeletal-tracking technology from Hawk-Eye. Neighbours Manchester United have also entered the Web3 ecosystem after a partnership with Tezos, announced on Feb. 10.

The first metaverse designed for non-crypto gamers releases theatrical trailer ahead of launch

By Sarah Jansen

The metaverse is evolving rapidly, increasing the barriers to entry for those without previous crypto knowledge.

The appeal of blockchain-based gaming is clear: participate in activities you might have already been doing and make some money at the same time in a realm constructed by tokenized and tradable items. While attractive in theory, the reality is that these models cater to those with a familiarity with nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and surrounding technologies. Consider that most of these games present a steep learning curve with some knowledge, costs and other setup required before a player can participate in the ecosystem.

Emerging as a low barrier to entry, Bezoge, the first crypto game for non-crypto people, presents Legends of Bezogia with its unique in-game tokenomics and currency. The play-to-earn (P2E) MMORPG game lets players pillage enemy SHIBs and DOGEs to rid the world of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD). Following the P2E model, players are invited to select a Bezogi and start their journey into earning blocks and rewards, whilst Bezogi NFT owners can rent or summon additional Bezogi if they already own two.

Where this game differentiates itself from other releases is its design as a mainstream offering that can be played by anyone. To enable this functionality, the game features a fully decentralized NFT rental platform where players can rent NFTs to use in gameplay without collateral or gas fees. Therefore, non-crypto gamers can now participate in Legends of Bezogia as they would in any other free-to-play game, eliminating previously mentioned high barriers to entry.

Bringing this project to life is a team of more than 30 in-house staff who share that the objective of this release is to become “the first crypto game for non-crypto people.”

In alignment with this mission, the team has released a Theatrical Trailer introducing the breeds found in Legends of Bezogia as an introduction to their Alpha signup.

Bigger and better play to earn

Bezogi exists as an NFT, in-game character on the Polygon Blockchain (MATIC) that will also be interoperable across multiple chains in the future. These characters are of one definitive colorway, a trait that is more than just aesthetic and instead holds significant meaning in the Legends of Bezogia due to differing bloodlines. On the surface, these creatures are cute; however, upon taking a deeper dive, every bloodline demonstrates a role as a fearsome warrior.

To illustrate the distinction between each, players are invited into the red corner with a breed of warriors known as the Red Zerkzogi. These warriors are covered in blood yet remain well-groomed and obedient. This group often has an arsenal of impressive weapons at their call, making them known killers. The red warriors are joined by the Yellow Speedzogi, recognized as being the fastest life-form in Bezogia, obsessed with gathering blocks and scavenging loot.

Continuing the introductions, players will meet the Blue Shieldzogi, a protector of Bezogia, the White Holyzogi, a keeper of the sacred Recovery Seed and the Green Freezogi, a frozen Bezogi that enjoys the thrill of a kill but is hooked on noxious gases. The final three spots are made up of the Orange Fudzogi, a group of meddling tricksters, a Black Darkzogi that burns blocks to summon new Bezogi, and the Golden Mintzogi, who run the lands of Bezogia and now command great respect and power.

With each Bezogi exhibiting a different set of skills, players are encouraged to carefully consider the space where each operates in the greater ecosystem. After deciding, interested parties can find Bezogi and Petzogi for purchase on the OpenSea platform.

30,000 holders and growing

The team shares that their efforts in P2E gameplay have resulted in 30,000 meme coin holders, alongside a Metaweek Gold, RBK Promotions Boxing Gala and the Dubai Soccer Award Gold Sponsorships. Furthermore, Bezoge has also begun pursuing influencer partnerships with those who have millions of followers. This effort will be followed by a series of guild partnerships that are still in progress.

With several other developments underway, the team continues to hold weekly AMA updates, providing additional detail about the latest developments. The intent is to attract gamers from all walks of life to a constantly changing digital construct the world recognizes as the metaverse.

Disclaimer. Cointelegraph does not endorse any content or product on this page. While we aim at providing you with all important information that we could obtain, readers should do their own research before taking any actions related to the company and carry full responsibility for their decisions, nor can this article be considered as investment advice.

In our next video, we will reveal the financial tool that makes an EWP asset structure possible. Thank you for watching and hope you will join us for episode four in our Metaverse Series.

by Michael Malloy, CLU TEP RFC.
CEO, Founder @EWP Financial

CRYPTO – PPLI and EWP – Episode 4 – The EWP Stories Video Series

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Cryptocurrency, Private Placement Life Insurance and Expanded Worldwide Planning

The Expanded Worldwide Planning Stories Video Series

Episode 4

Introduction

Welcome. Many investors in the crypto space have lost faith in some of our long-established institutions. These investors are looking for relevance in newer and more decentralized modes like the blockchain concept. At EWP Financial we embrace the six principles of Expanded Worldwide Planning, or EWP for short. These six principles are introduced in the opening paragraph of Wikipedia’s article on International Tax Planning.

This video will explain the six principles of EWP and how they help to safeguard your crypto assets and maximize them for tax efficiency, asset protection and privacy. A properly designed EWP Asset Structure can give you what no other asset structure can offer. These six principles are the key to the relevance you are searching for in your quest for financial security.

We include excerpts from an excellent article from Cointelegraph by Robert W. Wood that discusses some of the tax aspects of cryptocurrency.

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The major tax myths about cryptocurrency debunked

By Robert W. Wood
More crypto tax enforcement is coming, and many taxpayers are complying going forward, and amending prior returns if they have something to clean up.

Crypto and taxes may not be a match made in heaven, but taxes seem inevitable, and the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has made it clear it is going after people who don’t report. With IRS summonses to Coinbase, Kraken, Circle and Poloniex, plus other enforcement efforts, the IRS is on the hunt. The IRS sent 10,000 letters in different versions asking for compliance, but all were nudges to encourage taxpayers to be compliant.

The IRS hunt for crypto has often been compared to the IRS hunt for foreign accounts more than a decade ago. Unfortunately, it is not clear if there will ever be a crypto amnesty program emulating the offshore voluntary disclosure programs the IRS formulated for offshore accounts.

The IRS made its first big announcement about crypto in Notice 2014-21, classifying it as property. That has big tax consequences, accentuated by wild price swings. Selling crypto can trigger gain or loss and be taxable. But even buying something with crypto can trigger taxes. Paying employees or contractors does too. Even paying taxes in crypto can trigger more taxes.

We are already seeing crypto audits by the IRS, and by some states (notably California’s Franchise Tax Board), and more are sure to follow. At least now, there are tracking and tax return preparation alternatives that can make the process easier than it was in the early days. Everyone is trying to minimize taxable crypto gains and to defer taxes where legally possible.

Still, it is easy to get confused about the tax treatment and take tax positions that may be hard to defend if you are caught. With that in mind, here are some things I’ve heard, that I’ll call crypto tax myths.
Myth 1
You can’t owe any tax on cryptocurrency transactions unless you receive an IRS Form 1099. If you did not receive a Form 1099, you can check the box on your tax return that says that you did not have any transactions with cryptocurrency.

Actually: Tax may still be owed, even if the payor or broker does not file a Form 1099. A Form 1099 does not create tax where no tax was previously due, and plenty of taxable income is not reported on Forms 1099. A Form 1099 might be wrong in which case, explain it on your tax return. But if you are audited and your best defense is that you chose not to report your transactions because you did not receive a Form 1099, that is weak.

Myth 2
If you hold your crypto through a private wallet instead of an exchange, you don’t need to report the crypto on your tax returns.

Actually: Private wallet or exchange, the tax rules are the same. The impulse to hide ownership by moving wealth to anonymous holding structures is not new. When Swiss banks began disclosing their U.S. accountholders to the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice, many U.S. taxpayers tried just about everything, but nearly everyone paid in the end, usually with big penalties. The cryptocurrency question on the IRS Form 1040 is not limited to cryptocurrency held through exchanges. If you say “no,” even though you hold crypto through a private wallet, you are potentially making false statements on a tax return signed under penalties of perjury. You might be betting that you will never get caught, but thousands of U.S. taxpayers who have Swiss bank accounts who can attest how poorly that bet can played out.

Myth 3
If you hold your crypto through a trust, LLC or other entity, then you do not owe tax on the crypto transactions and do not have to report. Besides (the myth continues), income generated through LLCs is tax-free.

Actually: Owning crypto through an entity may keep the income off your tax return. But unless the entity qualifies (and is registered) as a tax-exempt entity, the entity itself will likely have tax reporting obligations and may owe taxes. For tax purposes, LLCs are taxed as corporations or partnerships, depending on their facts and tax elections. Single-member LLCs are disregarded, so the LLC income ends up on the sole owner’s return. If your entity is a foreign entity, there are complex U.S. tax rules that can make you directly liable for certain income produced within the foreign entity.

Myth 4
If I structure the sale of my crypto as a loan (or some other non-sale transaction), I don’t have to report the proceeds.

Actually: Consider if you are loaning or selling the crypto. The IRS and courts have robust doctrines to disregard sham transactions. Are you getting the same crypto back that you are loaning? Are you charging interest on the loan, and paying tax on the interest as you receive it? Some loans may not hold water. And if you sell crypto and receive a promissory note, that may complicate your taxes further with installment sale calculations.

Myth 5
A crypto exchange is a type of trust since you can’t unilaterally change the policies of the exchange. So you do not own the crypto in your account for tax purposes and do not have to report transactions through an exchange.

Actually: The IRS has not said any of this. IRS guidance suggests that the IRS views taxpayers as owning the cryptocurrency held through their exchange accounts. It seems highly unlikely that the IRS would view crypto held through an exchange account as owned by the exchange itself (as trustee), rather than owned by the account holder. Taxpayers often own their assets through accounts held by institutions, such as bank accounts, investment accounts, 401(k)s, IRAs, etc.

In most cases, the tax law treats taxpayers as owning the money and assets held through these accounts. Some special accounts like 401(k)s and IRAs have special tax rules. And having an account treated as a trust is not necessarily a good tax result. Beneficiaries of trusts, and particularly foreign trusts, have onerous reporting obligations. Thus, before you consider crypto exchanges as trusts, be careful what you wish for. Calling something a trust does not mean income generated within the trust is exempt from income tax.

Myth 6
Congress’s amendment to Section 1031 of the tax code that limits like-kind exchanges to real property doesn’t make crypto-to-crypto exchanges taxable.

Actually: Section 1001 of the tax code provides that a taxable gain results from the “sale or other disposition of property.” The sale of any type of property for cash or other property can create a taxable gain. The IRS says crypto is property, so trading crypto for other crypto is a sale of crypto for the value of the new crypto.

Before the Section 1031 amendment took effect in 2018, a crypto-for-crypto swap might have been ok as a like-kind exchange under Section 1031. But the IRS is pushing back on this position in tax audits and has issued guidance that denies tax-free treatment for certain cryptocurrency swaps. That is not precedential and does not cover the waterfront, but it tells you what the IRS is thinking. In any case, now that Section 1031 has limited like-kind exchange treatment to real property, crypto-to-crypto swaps are taxable unless they qualify for another exception.

Takeaways
Every taxpayer is entitled to plan their affairs and transactions to try to minimize taxes. But they should be wary of quick fixes and theories that sound too good to be true. The IRS appears to believe that many crypto taxpayers are not complying with the tax law, and being careful in the future and doing some clean-up for the past is worth considering. Be careful out there.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal advice.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Robert W. Wood is a tax lawyer representing clients worldwide from the office of Wood LLP in San Francisco, where he is a managing partner. He is the author of numerous tax books and frequently writes about taxes for Forbes, Tax Notes and other publications.

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Conclusion

EWP Asset Structures are tailored-made for holding crypto and NFT assets. At EWP Financial we welcome you to enter our world of satisfied clients, and find out what our simple and straightforward asset structure can do for you.

Take a look to our first NFT COLLECTION.

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Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this video are for general informational purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual on any financial structure, investment, or insurance product.