This Week in Crypto | Crypto Taxes, Solana, Stolen NFT & More

Q.In terms of businesses, NFTs, and influencer marketing do you think it opens up a whole new realm of possibility in terms of royalty split for creators with smart contracts?

A. Yes, royalties are a really useful tool for business creators, and leveraging NFT technology allows multiple parties to include their royalties in a smart contract. So, anytime a secondary sale transaction or any other transaction occurs in the future, they will continue to profit from this collaboration.

So, yes, NFT technology provides these opportunities, and while we all talk about it in the crypto field, the majority of people outside of crypto have no idea. So it is highly advantageous in our business connections, artwork, music, industry, and many other uses. Personally, I'd like to hear royalties discussed outside of the crypto realm, for those who don't understand why there's such a buzz around NFT technology and what it is.

Q. From a stolen Bored Ape NFT what steps can be taken to retrieve or how do you see this working in the future?

A.So this is a hard question with numerous aspects. How eager are we to comply with regulations? Do we want additional regulations and processes in place to protect us, or do we want to learn how to defend ourselves and avoid scams like this? I personally believe in the second approach explaining, teaching people, and self-learning.

So, how can we take control of our assets? When you have custody of your NFT, it is very difficult for someone else to take it, but we all use laptops and smartphones, so we are continuously exposed to potential breaches and cyber security threats. We are vulnerable, but we must learn to defend ourselves.

So, if someone believes that regulations need to be improved, we'll have systems in place to protect individuals and say that blockchain transactions are valid evidence of ownership, but they aren't for the time being. They are recorded on the ledger, but most courts will not accept them as evidence to get your asset back. So I expect Seth Green to fail right away, and there may not be enough proof or comprehension from the current system.

Q. What are your thoughts regarding eBay jumping into the NFT space and their projected pricing plan?

A.It's definitely a positive thing first and foremost, it demonstrates the demand for the technology itself. Of course, when we hear huge corporations jumping on the new technological bandwagon, is it simply a marketing tactic pursuing a cooler market? A good example is eBay right now. One of the most common uses of NFTs for companies like eBay is marketing, which is followed by technology exploration. When it comes to businesses that use NFT technology, I believe our sector is becoming smarter.

I previously used my company Flashback as an example. One that uses it for loyalty programs, memberships, and tickets, so we can check the legitimacy of every single ticket and keep organizers and potential guests from being defrauded. As a result, we safeguard both consumers and merchants while providing greater royalty prospects. As a result, it allows users to add royalties and if another secondary transaction occurs, they can still benefit from the collaboration, and it helps them to establish communities.

I met Krissy Mashinsky at the security token summit last week, and she is working on the USA Strong initiative. She saw the changes required in the supply chain business, and she began employing blockchain technology and NFTs to validate merchants and their products. So now you can check to see if the product is manufactured in the United States and view the entire history of the product, and I think this quality control function is a great use case for NFTs.

Q. Do you see Solana as a cryptocurrency people should watch out for? Can you talk about the proof-of-history mechanism?

A.First of all I do not like Solana and do not wish to be linked with it.  I dislike Solana for one major reason - centralization  Solana is extremely centralized. One example is when Solana went offline for 24 hours in September 2021, despite the fact that a decentralized blockchain cannot go entirely offline for 24 hours. That's when the bulk of people who were so enthusiastic about Solana turned and wanted nothing to do with it. I hope they will make an attempt to restart and nurture their ecosystem in a different way.

At the same time you can't take away from their very fast transaction speed and low commission, which is vital for builders and not seen throughout the blockchain, for example, Ethereum is currently practically impossible to develop any sustainable project in the real-world application.

Q. Turkey is crafting legislation that would establish greater control over the crypto market, potentially imposing a tax on some crypto transactions, what are your thoughts on taxes and what impact it will have on crypto users?

A.I find it ridiculous when governments ask you to use,  a minimum deposit to use your national currency now. Turkey had massive inflation and had one of the largest adoption rates of cryptocurrency globally. If you look at the data you will see a correlation between economies where a national currency is experiencing major shocks where people are going through hyperinflation or at least increased inflation, or people are willing to use alternative assets and currencies. Cryptocurrencies are here to save these individuals because it's easier to purchase, transact, and easier to jump on board and get separated from the banking sector.

So whenever there are challenges and barriers for individuals and businesses to transact they are forced to find a better way. Now the Turkish government sees the high volume of funds in crypto while the national currency needs support hence the imposed minimum reserves. It’s clear governments across the world need to find a sustainable way to build economies that are beneficial to both businesses and people.

Q. How should someone new to the space go about researching different aspects of cryptocurrency?

A.First of all I always recommend doing your own research first or listening to different YouTube channels and influencers, who are covering interesting facts and tech details about certain projects. People are obviously biased so whatever the content remember it’s one person's opinion and you must delve deeper to either agree or disagree.

I'm coming from a financial background, so I can analyze different crypto prices, work with tech analysis, and build up different trends to use indicators. But for a more straightforward strategy beginners can look at the projects, their community, websites, or white paper, gathering as much data as they can to compare different opinions and form their own one based on the data you have in front of you.

This is the beauty of cryptocurrency it's transparent.

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