Ask Coindirect CPO Stephen Young Anything About Cryptocurrencies

[Stephen Young]

I would like to see Crypo currency regulated and limited as there are way too many and the market is saturated, do you think that is a viable proposition and is it possible?

Limiting the number of cryptocurrencies is impossible.

All the source code for these projects are open source and anybody can download the code and modify it in any way they choose. This is a good thing though, the internet wouldn't exist in the form it is today if the foundational technologies it is based on where not open source and decentralised. For the first time anybody in the world can innovate the way we communicate value and trade without permission or censorship. The tsunami of innovation in this space is just starting.

 

[Stephen Young]

What is the safest way to buy or sell cryptocurrency please?

Right now, the best and safest way to buy cryptocurrency is through Coindirect.com.

 

[Stephen Young]

I have not mined nor have I ever considered purchasing any crypto as either as method to pay or as an investment, how would you convince some one to do so in 100 words or less.

Blockchains solve a real problem in computer science, this solution has the potential to create a global, censorship resistant, open access open innovation financial system.

Investing a small portion of your total net worth in crypto acts as a hedge against a future collapse of our current system and buys you early entry into the new system.

The downside is only as much as you invest (only invest what you are willing to lose) and the upside could be massive.

The best place to get started is with us at Coindirect.com.

 

[Stephen Young]

Bill Gates mentioned recently that cryptocurrency is in general risky, especially because of the anonymity related to crypto.Finding money that was used in illegal activities, like money laundering for example or tax evasion, it is a huge issue, crypto has made it far easier to buy and sell drugs, it also made ransomware attacks easier and far more frequent.While you could physically do these things with cold hard cash.

How does one regulate crypto with keeping anonymity intact and cut out illegal activities in part or entirely. ?

Do you think there should be more regulation in the cryptocurrency market, especially in South Africa? Will increased regulation bring more trust to cryptocurrencies?

Yes Regulations are indispensable to the proper functioning of economies and societies.

They underpin markets, protect the rights and safety of citizens and ensure the delivery of goods and services. Regulations creates certainty in the market which allows for adoption.

BUT, it has to be the right kind of regulation. Crypto assets do not fit in the structure of the old financial world. They need to be evaluated and regulated for their unique abilities which make them an asset. Crypto-assets need to be regulated as they are - a new paradigm shift in the financial industry, and not within the confines of existing legislation.

 

[Stephen Young]

IMO good local exchanges will attempt to address the mystery of Tax implications and practical advice on how to tackle it. Do you have any advice for South Africans IRO managing tax from trading profits?

On 6 April 2018, the South African Revenue Service (SARS) announced that it will continue to apply normal income tax rules to cryptocurrencies and will expect affected taxpayers to declare cryptocurrency gains or losses as part of their taxable income. http://www.sars.gov.za/Media/MediaReleases/Pages/6-April-2018---SARS-stance-on-the-tax-treatment-of-cryptocurrencies-.aspx

What does that mean?

Revenue received, gains made or losses incurred in respect of cryptocurrency transactions, may either be regarded as revenue in nature and included in the taxpayer’s income tax, alternatively as capital in nature and subject to CGT in terms of the Eighth Schedule to the Act. In order to determine which tax laws apply, i.e income tax, Capital Gains Tax etc, depends on what your (as the taxpayer's) intention was at the time when acquiring the cryptocurrency. Similar to how gains made in the stock market may be deemed income tax or CGT depending on your trade frequency.

 

[Stephen Young]

Hi, Mr. Young.

I am a BCom student looking now to get into blockchain and maybe pick up some programming skills.

To the best of your understanding, what programming languages and frameworks would you recommend I'd start learning in order to be a blockchain developer?

I have no programming experience. I'd maybe also like to work with Ethereum in the future.

Thanks.

There are two answers to this.

The first answer is, if you want to be a low level blockchain engineer working on systems like bitcoin-core it would be best to start with a language like C.

If you are only looking to integrate with blockchains and use them for some other project, I'd recommend using JavaScript as there are vibrant communities and well supported frameworks and libraries out there. To work with Ethereum specifically I would check out web3 (https://github.com/ethereum/web3.js/) and the truffle framework (https://github.com/trufflesuite/truffle).

 

[Stephen Young]

How will crypto assets be handled in the estate of a deceased?

Cryptocurrency is defined as an “asset of intangible nature” and would therefore be an asset which naturally forms part of a person’s estate normal rules of succession would apply. You would just need to ensure you have arranged for private keys and hardware wallets etc. to be transferred.

 

[Stephen Young]

With traditional currencies and items of value (shares, bonds etc) there is an inherent value to the item. Where is the inherent value in Cryptcurrencies? ... and without an obvious inherent value can cryptocurrencies ever be a stable and trusted "currency"?

While shares and bonds do have intrinsic value. Currencies have not had intrinsic value since we abandoned the gold standard. The intrinsic value of a R100 note is the cost of the ink and the paper used to print it. The rest of the value come from our belief that other people will accept that R100 note in return for goods or services. If you doubt this just have a look at the recent situation in Zimbabwe, Venezuela and Turkey. In many ways currencies like Bitcoin are more trustworthy since a corrupt or inept government can't decide to just make more out of thin air as has happened time and time again with fiat currencies.

 

[Stephen Young]

With Luno an already well established and trusted exchange in SA, the threat of regulation and taxation by SARS and the recent slump in cryptocurrency prices, is Coindirect keeping afloat in the SA market and do you see good growth in the future?

We welcome constructive regulation as it will build trust in the industry. We’ve built a growing base of active users and are excited about some new products we’re launching based on their feedback. In addition we are launching new territories on a regular basis and seeing organic growth in existing territories.

 

[rpm]

This concludes the discussion.

Thank you Stephen for the great answers. We appreciate your time and insight.