Kevin Nyango
There is no doubt that crypto-currencies have been the major issue of contention among financial experts in recent years. Many have had their doubts about the currency and had written it off as having any potential of recording successor growth in years to come.
But just when we thought we had seen it all, A South African based tech firm has made its first equity deal using Bitcoin. The Cape Town-based tech firm went ahead with the deal despite the heated debate going on about the legitimacy as well as the long-term value of crypto-currencies.
The digital consultancy and product development company, Nona Creative, recently bought out a very important shareholder using Bitcoin. The transaction is believed to be the first ever Bitcoin-equity transaction the country has ever experienced.
Mike Scott, the CEO of Nona Creative, said in a statement that “We strongly believe in Bitcoin and want to express how easy it is to do business transactions with the crypto-currency.”
Bitcoin had an all-time high record. The cryptocurrency went higher in March to over $11,000, bringing it to over 1,000% this year alone.
Being an unregulated currency, Nona Creative had to consult with SchoemanLaw, a law firm before dealing with the currency. The reason for consulting the law firm was for compliance and legalities of the crypto-transaction.
Nicolene Schoeman-Louw, managing director for the law firm, said: “It isn’t a question of whether Bitcoin should be regulated or not, it is a matter of who will be involved with handling the regulation.”
Until the framework for regulating the process is put into motion, Schoeman-Louw mentioned that companies involved in conducting such business transactions using crypto-currency should first seek professional advice on every aspect of the transaction like taxable implications, responsibilities, and obligations.
Nona Creative also went on to consult the Tax Partner at RAFT, Afzal Khan – which is an association of African National Auditors, Accountants as well as other specialists. The idea was to get insight into the tax consideration and implication involved in the transaction with the crypto-currency.
Most people believe that the cryptocurrency trend is just a bubble. According to Scott, Nona Creative chose to specifically focus on the blockchain technology which the cryptocurrency has and its uniqueness in a real business application.
“We clearly understand crypto is still at an early stage and might be a problem that requires a solution. We still believe that this is where things are taking and we need to lead in this place, “he said.
