It is a really impressive team that has been put together but reading the whitepaper there is literally one paragraph dedicated to KYC which is basically "you don't need to do KYC". This throws up so many questions to a prospective investor so could you please answer these for me:
1. As a New York state resident how can i use coinvest without a) Coinvest holding a "Bitlicense" from the state and b) doing all that without KYC?
2. Why are you having to go through strident US verification processes for a service that won't even need KYC for customers?
KYC, especially for decentralised funds are imperative to get right and Coinvest's approach to this is imperative to the success of this investment. Maybe i'm missing something so could the coinvest representative please expand on this?
Thanks
Hi Easternbloc!
1. Unfortunately, given the strict requirements around New York law, (like many other exchanges) we would not be able to offer NY residents the ability to use our platform until we obtain our BitLicense.
2. We've consulted with our legal counsel at Olshan Frome Wolosky in NYC and are following the same legal guidance, requirements, and actions that other companies such as Overstock, Filecoin, Blockstack, and Props here in the US have completed as well. All have also required US investors to be accredited and provide the appropriate documentation for verification.
We're sorry for any inconvenience that this requirement by the SEC has imposed for US investors. Without compliance, everyone involved is exposed to high risk (such as has been experienced by many other projects in the space today).
Quite frankly, we don't support the SEC's requirements on this as it doesn't provide equal opportunity and helps the rich get richer. This is one of the reasons why our mission is to create decentralized tools to help remove third-parties and bring power back to the people.
Please note that the accreditation requirement is solely for US investors as deemed by the US SEC. These restrictions do not apply to non-US investors.
As for KYC, in 2018 we will introduce our trading market and investment trading platform to trade hundreds of cryptocurrencies using COIN. You will have to acquire COIN through our crowdsale or an exchange such as Bittrex to do so. Even before we officially become an exchange, users will be able to obtain value and make profit through investment trades using COIN. KYC is not required in this scenario.
In 2019 (or earlier), we become a licensed exchange (by obtaining our money transmitter license) and you will be able to buy COIN direct from our website using Fiat currency. In that way, we become a one stop shop for buying, investing and spending cryptocurrencies using only one COIN. This convenience for our users is the primary reason for becoming an exchange. In order to buy COIN directly from us, KYC would be required as we are accepting fiat.
