Thank you to everyone who has nominated themselves or their colleagues for election to the BlockchainNZ Executive Council. Establishing an Executive Council will be a significant milestone in BlockchainNZ’s history, and we are very appreciative of your time and effort throughout this election process.
We are pleased to confirm that we have an exceptionally high calibre of candidates and look forward to a tight competition, with electronic voting beginning later on this week and announcement of results at the Annual Meeting on 30 July 2020 at midday (we suggest penciling in this date!). Candidate profiles and voting instructions will be coming out soon, so watch this space.
A lot has been happening in the last few months in the blockchain scene, with some great innovations from Kiwi companies, as well as significant steps towards international blockchain adoption. We set out below summaries of some of the interesting developments, with hyperlinks for you to visit if you are interested in finding out more details.
We are nearly half-way through 2020, which has been an incredibly difficult and challenging year for many. We hope you are staying safe and well wherever you might be. Wishing you and your families all the very best!
Coke on the blockchain
New Zealand’s own digital asset payment platform, Centrapay, signed a commercial deal with Coca-Cola Amatil in Australia and New Zealand to enable real time payments on their vending machines with Digital Assets. Last week the platform went live, allowing thirsty antipodeans to have the option to use their Sylo Smart Wallet to use cryptocurrency to pay for items across CCA’s vending network. Sylo runs on the Centrality CENNZnet infrastructure which just launched their mainnet on 24 June 2020.
Check out this video with a live transaction using the Sylo Smart Wallet (another cool Kiwi company operating in the digital asset and blockchain space).
Tax filing sorted?
With tax return deadlines fast approaching, a Kiwi company has developed a solution for tackling the challenges of cryptocurrency tax. Taxoshi applies the Inland Revenue’s guidance on cryptocurrency and can help you understand your tax position ahead of the 7 July filing deadline. It’s simple to use and supports the top exchanges used by Kiwis.
Blockchain-based payments gain momentum
This month a consortium of heavy hitters in the blockchain space launched a universal paymentID to simplify sending money between anyone, anywhere in the world. It’s a similar concept to Facebook’s Calibra (now rebranded Novi) but open source, free, and enables payments to be made in any currency.
High court ruling on Cryptopia
The High Court of New Zealand decision of Ruscoe v Cryptopia Limited considered the very much unchartered waters of the legal standing of cryptocurrencies. The judgment confirmed that cryptocurrencies meet the standard criteria to be considered “property”.
Gendall J held that cryptocurrencies are a type of an intangible property because of their features, such as public key which records the unit of currency, private key which is attached to the corresponding public key, and generation of a fresh private key upon a transfer of the relevant coin. Further, as a result of the finding that cryptocurrencies (being digital assets) are property, Gendall J held that cryptocurrencies are capable of forming the subject matter of a trust (eg equivalent to family homes forming the subject matter of family trusts), which means cryptocurrencies can be held on trust by persons (ie known as trustees) for the benefit of the relevant trust’s beneficiaries. For further details, click here.
BlockchainNZ Webinar and Channel
Our last webinar Money Fungibility and its Implications for Cryptocurrencies can be accessed here and you can see more on our YouTube channel here.
If you have any news or updates that our members will be interested in please get in touch.
Nga mihi nui,
The team at BlockchainNZ
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