Meme 幣熱潮中的稅務合規問題：Oyster 和 Bitqyck 案件回顧

隨著meme幣的流行，許多加密產業的人都從中獲得了豐厚的回報。然而，正如先前的 ICO 逃稅案例所示

Bitcoin will take center stage in the global financial arena in 2024, sparking a meme coin carnival. According to statistics, roughly 75% of meme coins were created this year. The trading volume of meme coins had surged by over 950% as of early December this year, and their total market capitalization had surpassed USD 140 billion. The meme coin craze has not only brought a new wave of enthusiasm to the crypto market but has also drawn an increasing number of ordinary investors to the realm of crypto assets.

2024年，比特幣將成為全球金融舞台的中心，引發一場迷因幣狂歡。根據統計，大約 75% 的 meme 幣是今年創建的。截至今年12月初，meme幣交易量激增950%以上，總市值超過1,400億美元。迷因幣熱潮不僅為加密市場帶來了新一波的熱潮，也吸引了越來越多的普通投資者進入加密資產領域。

The meme coin craze不禁brings to mind the ICO craze of around 2017. With the introduction of the ERC-20 standard in 2017, the cost of issuing tokens was significantly reduced, leading to the emergence of projects yielding returns of hundreds to thousands of times, and billions of dollars poured into the ICO craze; this year, a group of launch platforms like Pump.fun have made issuing tokens simpler and fairer, setting off a meme coin storm that continues to this day in the circle. Although there are numerous technological and logical distinctions between ICOs and the issuing of meme coins, the tax compliance risks faced by investors and project parties may be comparable. In the last round of ICO mania, there was no shortage of investors and project parties facing ICO-related tax troubles. Today, as the meme coin craze continues, tax compliance issues will once again become a core issue that crypto asset investors and meme coin issuers need to pay attention to. In this issue, FinTax will review the Oyster case and the Bitqyck case, taking these two ICO-related tax evasion cases as examples to provide crypto investors with a sober reflection on tax compliance during the meme coin craze.

迷因幣熱不禁讓人想起2017年左右的ICO熱潮。入ICO 熱潮；今年，Pump.fun等一批上線平台讓發行代幣變得更簡單、更公平，在圈內掀起了一場持續至今的meme幣風暴。儘管 ICO 和 meme 幣的發行之間存在許多技術和邏輯上的區別，但投資者和專案方面的稅務合規風險可能是相似的。在上一輪ICO熱潮中，不乏面臨ICO相關稅務困擾的投資者和專案方。如今，隨著迷因幣熱潮的持續，稅務合規問題將再次成為加密資產投資者和迷因幣發行方需要關注的核心問題。本期FinTax將回顧Oyster案和Bitqyck案，以這兩起ICO相關逃稅案為例，為加密貨幣投資者在meme幣熱潮期間提供關於稅務合規的清醒反思。

1. Two typical cases of ICO tax evasion

一、ICO逃稅的兩個典型案例

1.1 Oyster case: Founder sentenced to four years in prison for failure to declare income from coin sales

1.1 牡蠣案：創辦人因未申報售幣收入被判入獄四年

The Oyster Protocol platform was launched by Bruno Block (real name Amir Bruno Elmaani) in September 2017 to provide decentralized data storage services. In October 2017, Oyster Protocol began its ICO, and the token issued was called Pearl (PRL). Oyster Protocol claims that the issuance of PRL is to create a win-win ecosystem, so that both websites and users can benefit from data storage, and realize value exchange and incentive mechanisms through PRL. At the same time, founder Bruno Block also publicly promised that after the ICO, the supply of PRL will not increase, and the smart contract that creates PRL will be "locked".

Oyster Protocol 平台由 Bruno Block（真名 Amir Bruno Elmaani）於 2017 年 9 月推出，提供去中心化資料儲存服務。 2017年10月，Oyster Protocol開始ICO，發行的代幣名為Pearl（PRL）。 Oyster Protocol 聲稱，PRL 的發行是為了打造一個雙贏的生態系統，讓網站和使用者都能從資料儲存中受益，並透過 PRL 實現價值交換和激勵機制。同時，創辦人Bruno Block也公開承諾，ICO後，PRL的供應量不會增加，創建PRL的智慧合約將會「鎖定」。

Through ICO, Oyster Protocol raised about $3 million in the early stage, and with this money, it launched the mainnet and officially launched data storage services, turning Oyster Protocol from an idea into a usable product. But the good times did not last long. In October 2018, founder Bruno Block took advantage of a loophole in the smart contract, privately minted a large number of new PRLs, and sold them on the market, causing the price of PRL to plummet, but Bruno Block personally made huge profits.

透過 ICO，Oyster Protocol 前期籌集了約 300 萬美元，並用這筆資金推出了主網並正式推出資料儲存服務，將 Oyster Protocol 從一個想法變成了一個可用的產品。但美好的時光並沒有持續太久。 2018年10月，創辦人Bruno Block利用智慧合約漏洞，私下鑄造了大量新的PRL，並在市場上出售，導致PRL價格暴跌，但Bruno Block個人卻獲得了巨額利潤。

The plunge in PRL prices has attracted the attention of regulators. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other relevant departments have launched investigations. The SEC eventually filed a civil lawsuit against Bruno Block for defrauding investors, and the prosecution filed a criminal lawsuit against Bruno Block for tax evasion. On the issue of taxation, prosecutors believe that Bruno Block not only damaged the trust of investors but also violated the obligation to pay taxes on millions of dollars in cryptocurrency profits. Bruno Block only filed a tax return in 2017 between 2017 and 2018, stating that he only earned about $15,000 from the "patent design" business. In 2018, he did not file a tax return or report any income to the IRS, but spent at least $12 million on real estate, yachts, etc.

PRL價格暴跌引起了監管層的關注。美國證券交易委員會（SEC）、美國國稅局（IRS）、聯邦調查局（FBI）等相關部門已展開調查。 SEC最終以欺詐投資者罪對布魯諾·布洛克提起民事訴訟，檢方則以逃稅罪對布魯諾·布洛克提起刑事訴訟。在稅務問題上，檢察官認為Bruno Block不僅損害了投資者的信任，還違反了數百萬美元加密貨幣利潤的稅務義務。布魯諾·布洛克(Bruno Block)僅在2017年提交了2017年至2018年間的納稅申報表，稱自己僅從“專利設計”業務中賺取了約1.5萬美元。 2018年，他沒有向國稅局提交納稅申報表或報告任何收入，但在房地產、遊艇等方面花費了至少1200萬美元。

Eventually, Oyster founder Bruno Block confessed to his tax evasion in court and signed a plea agreement in April 2023, sentenced to four years in prison for tax evasion and required to pay approximately $5.5 million in compensation to the tax department to make up for the tax losses.

最終，Oyster創辦人Bruno Block在法庭上承認了自己逃稅的行為，並於2023年4月簽署了認罪協議，因逃稅被判處四年監禁，並需要向稅務部門支付約550萬美元的賠償金以彌補稅款損失。

1.2 Bitqyck case: ICO transfer income was not taxed, and the two initiators served a total of eight years in prison

1.2 Bitqyck案：ICO轉帳收入不課稅，兩名發起人共服刑八年

Bitqyck is a cryptocurrency company founded by Bruce Bise and Samuel Mendez. The company first launched Bitqy coin, claiming to provide an alternative way to get rich for "those who missed Bitcoin", and conducted an ICO in 2016. At the same time, Bitqyck promised investors that each Bitqy coin came with 1/10 of a share of Bitqyck common stock. But in fact, the company's shares have always been held by founders Bise and Mendez, and the company

Bitqyck 是一家加密貨幣公司，由 Bruce Bise 和 Samuel Mendez 創立。該公司首次推出Bitqy幣，聲稱為「錯過比特幣的人」提供另一種致富方式，並於2016年進行了ICO。比特幣。但事實上，公司股份一直由創辦人Bise和Mendez持有，公司