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RE: Cryptocurrency: A View from NZ
I'm not so worried about the income side for me. Is rather that NZ businesses are being affected and can't compete on the same terms as, for example, US companies. Plus innovation is being hampered in NZ. Why would you start up a company in NZ that deals with cryptocurrencies when you are constantly worried about when your bank account will be closed down!
I see your point, you could arrange for funds to be traded out side the country some how.
Yes, you can send funds outside NZ, but it is a hassle and more expensive. Also, if you are a company, that is sufficiently big so that your bank won't close your bank account down, and you want to accept Bitcoin from online purchasers it is uneconomic to accept Bitcoin as payment. It is uneconomic because it would require you accepting Bitcoin, getting it converted in an overseas exchange to that country's fiat currency and then wiring that money back to NZ and changing it into NZ dollars. Also means that NZ businesses that sell online are missing out on business from people who don't have a credit or debit card, and there are a lot of those out there, particularly in China. (I've been told that only 12% of Chinese have credit cards - on reason why the payment mechanism in WeChat is so popular in China.)
I happen to have a particular interest in aquiring Solomon Island Dollars as well as New Zealand Dollars. Perhaps there is a way to reduce trading fees by involving multilateral trading between Canada and New Zealand.
I know tourism is popular in both our countries, there is potential to build a liquid online exchange that would be based in canada but offer payout options to international memers. To be honest, Japan has the best regulations for international trade in my opinion. www.kraken.com has had my business for years and its Japanese Accountants who manage that exchange, in the coming years I wouldnt be surprised if they added the Austrailian Dollar, thatcwould provide options for a multilateral trade between you and Australia.
Do you have any interest in working on a solution to this issue from an international stand point with me?
Probably the best person to speak to in NZ is Stephen Macaskill. Stephen is currently in the process of setting up an exchange in New Zealand, see eg: http://www.interest.co.nz/business/87670/founder-worlds-second-largest-digital-currency-urges-regulators-get-banks-stop. Alternatively there are the people behind the Cryptopia https://cointelegraph.com/press-releases/cryptopia-launches-new-zealand-dollar-tethered-cryptocurrency who launched the NZ dollar tethered cryptocurrency last month who might be interested.
(While I am very interested in cryptocurrency and the blockchain, it is more from an academic lens - not the day to day business side. I'm a legal academic and I'm currently doing a project on the legal regulation of cryptocurrency in New Zealand and Australia - funded by the NZ Law Foundation - that's when I'm not doing presentations etc on blockchain. In NZ in particular there is a real lack of knowledge about cryptocurrencies and the blockchain, even amongst people you would think would have some knowledge including the majority of people in government departments.)