Legal cannabis industry’s crypto tax breakthrough

New York, 10th December 2018 – The legal US cannabis retail industry took another step towards mainstream business compliance today – as cannabis retailers became empowered to track all transactional data related to taxes, gains and losses.

Cryptocurrencies have proved a popular form of payment at cannabis shops in the 33 US states where sales are now legal – but crypto tax laws remain vague, and it has proved difficult for retailers to produce accurate and compliant accounts.

But the process has become far more simple and straightforward, thanks to the integration of NODE40’s pioneering cryptocurrency accounting and tax platform into Alt Thirty Six – the blockchain payments platform designed for the cannabis industry.

The partnership enables retailers to stay tax compliant and within the law, while the IRS will be helped to receive the taxes it is due from an exponentially expanding industry.

Announcing the partnership today, Perry Woodin, Chief Executive Officer of NODE40, says: “With the many cryptocurrency transactions Alt Thirty Six facilitates, our solution will make it simple for them to maintain accurate reporting and sound compliance. With this partnership, NODE40’s Balance platform is expanding its reach to serve enterprise clients, in addition to individual cryptocurrency holders.”

Alt Thirty Six uses Dash digital currency as an alternative to cash, making payments faster, more secure and less expensive to both the merchant and the consumer.

NODE40’s Balance platform will help customers receive and process transactional data related to Dash payments, track sales tax and income valuations, verify blockchain transactions and report cryptocurrency gains and losses, and deliver summary-level information from processed data.

Alt Thirty Six CEO and Co-Founder Ken Ramirez says: “NODE40 values top-notch technology, and it’s clear that their leadership team understands our mission to take the growing cannabis industry completely cashless.” 

“We believe that digital payments are the future of global commerce, and we are confident that the combination of blockchain technology and Dash digital currency will revolutionise the payments industry.”

Balance is a Software-as-a-Service (Saas) platform that offers both enterprise and individual cryptocurrency users the ability to generate  fiat denominated ledgers by analysing the blockchain to identify capital gains and losses. 

Users can upload data from various hardware or software wallets, as well as exchanges like Coinbase, GDAX, Gemini and Bittrex. When a user authorises read access to their transaction history, Balance provides both a high level and detailed summary, including date, time, transaction type, short-term or long-term gains, and price differential. 

Once the gains and losses are calculated, the service automatically details the information on a worksheet that can be shared with a CPA to file at tax time. For on-blockchain transactions, Balance uses specific identification, the only methodology in-line with IRS guidance and AICPA recommendations.