Daniel Alexiuc

Living Room of Satoshi CEO Daniel Alexiuc: “I’m excited to see what happens in Australia from now on”

Brisbane-based Daniel Alexiuc is CEO of Living Room of Satoshi, a bitcoin bill payments company awarded “Best new startup in Australia” in 2015. Like many Australian businesses that rely on cryptocurrency, it was badly damaged when the government implemented a “double taxation” rule, ordering sales tax when bitcoin and other cryptocurrency was acquired, and again when goods or services were purchased. The Australian government has since seen the error of its way, and announced this week that the double tax will be rescinded as of July 1.

With a strong programming background in financial software and a keen interest in blockchain technology, Alexiuc is also a multi-entrepreneur, previously launching innovative and successful companies in retail and factory management.

Block Tribune: Your company name is really interesting. Tell us how you came up with it to describe a service that pays bills with bitcoin. Why the living room and not the bedroom or kitchen?

Daniel Alexiuc: Our company is named in honor of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious and pseudonymous creator of bitcoin. Nobody really knows for sure who he is, or what he is doing now. But we like to imagine that when Satoshi has a bill to pay, he kicks back at the end of the day and pays it in his living room. Hence “Living Room of Satoshi”!

Block Tribune: How do you make money? Why no fee or registration charges?

Daniel Alexiuc: That’s right, there are no fees or registration charges; the single amount you see on the homepage is the only amount you will pay. Living Room of Satoshi makes money from currency spread. Combined with our “no registration” feature, this makes the service extremely simple to use. We really want to make it easy for people to pay their bills, then get out and get on with their lives!

Block Tribune: Where do you see growth opportunities for you?

Daniel Alexiuc: The growth opportunity is in the bitcoin network itself.  It is a currency that is really still only establishing itself in the market. But we get a lot of requests from people in other countries to offer a similar service, and we’d like to be able to help them, too, one day.

Block Tribune: Your business struggled when double-taxation was implemented. Tell us about that timing and how it affected you.

Daniel Alexiuc: The Australian Tax Office made a decision that heavily impacted all bitcoin business in Australia. In a nascent industry, this could have been a death blow at the time, since there were few exchanges and support services. We were forced to close, but eventually resourceful entrepreneurs and lawyers worked through the problem, and allowed us to keep operating in a reduced way – in anticipation of the GST law being overturned. And we all feel quite vindicated now that the government has decided to overturn this ill-considered decision.

Block Tribune: Several companies decided not to stay in Australia because of double taxation. Tell us about the state of the community there, and how you see its growth going forward now that the tax issue will be resolved on July 1.

Daniel Alexiuc: The GST issue being resolved is a boon for all bitcoin businesses, and Australian business in general. It means that a store accepting bitcoin is no longer at a 10% disadvantage compared to accepting Australian Dollars, Visa, PayPal etc. It will allow innovation in the cryptocurrency space, so I’m excited to see what happens in Australia from now on.

Block Tribune: If you could meet Satoshi Nakamoto and visit his home, what would you expect to see in his living room?

Daniel Alexiuc: It’d be nice to envision him relaxing in on a plush leather couch surrounded by fine art and a roaring fire. But I imagine he is probably hunched over a laptop on a fold-up table on a wooden chair hacking away at his next project. And occasionally paying his Internet bill at Living Room of Satoshi.