Page 66 - Forbes - Africa (March 2020)

QUESTION EVERYTHING

Want to make money in the crazy, opaque, inefficient crypto

market? Start by challenging every assumption, every nugget
of news, every piece of social-media wisdom.

BY JEFF KAUFLIN

Texas Traders
Multicoin Capital’s founders and
best friends Tushar Jain (left) and
Kyle Samani. To cope with the stress
of crypto markets, Jain meditates;
Samani takes spin classes.

ITTING SIDE-BY-SIDE IN A TRENDY Manhattan platforms such as ethereum are copying zcash’s privacy technology.
cafewhereaglassofcold-pressedpineapple-and-carrot A zcash spokesperson counters, “If you want a private medium of
juicecosts$9,the29-year-oldcofoundersofcryptocurrency exchange, there is nothing else like it.”
Sinvestment firm Multicoin Capital are ticking off the digital Samani’s cofounder, Tushar Jain, is eager to finger another
coins they’re shorting. They stand to make millions if the virtual popular cryptocurrency the duo thinks is worthless. “We’ve been
coins tank in value. “Two years from now, zcash is worth zero,” says publicly short XRP,” he says, referring to the coin used by San
Kyle Samani of the three year-old privacy-focused cryptocurrency. Francisco Company Ripple to speed up interbank transactions.
Currently, zcash trades for $66. From offices overlooking Austin, Texas’ Lady Bird Lake, they
Research suggests that few of zcash’s users are taking advantage manage a $100 million crypto hedge fund backed by venture
of its core privacy features. Even worse, other cryptocurrency capitalists including Marc Andreessen and Fred Wilson’s Union

62 | FORBES AFRICA MARCH 2020 FORBESAFRICA.COM