Tech
Zac Prince leaves BlockFi for real estate tech startup Re Cost Seg
“I have considered starting another cryptocurrency company after my time at BlockFi. I am passionate about this space and believe in it as much as I did when I started BlockFi,” Prince told CoinDesk in an interview. “However, my wife advised against it due to the craziness and volatility of the cryptocurrency industry. She suggested I do something less forceful.
Then Prince landed on Re Cost Seg, an opportunity he heard about through X. Re Cost Seg provides cost segregation studies for real estate investors, allowing them to accelerate depreciation on properties and save on taxes.
Typically, these types of services are only available to large institutional owners due to their cost, putting them out of reach for “mom and pop” sized owners, who make up 70% of homeowners rent in the United States according to data from the National Association of Realtors.
“This company is democratizing access to these cost segregation studies,” Prince said, adding that there are similarities to how BlockFi has provided a tax-efficient way to use cryptocurrency proceeds. “Our products will save you on taxes because no one wants to pay more taxes. Everyone loves to save on taxes.”
Prince said there were many lessons learned during BlockFi’s best days that he can apply to Re Cost Seg, such as the importance of customer service.
“We were the first company in the crypto lending category to have a phone number that people could call,” he said.
Prince also said there is a fast and furious development cycle in the cryptocurrency industry that he wants to bring into the TradFi real estate space.
“In five years, we have launched four consumer-facing products and an institutional platform, along with internal tools and processes for efficient product development,” he said.
“In marketing, cryptocurrencies are unique with their 24/7 media cycle, so learning how to navigate and develop strategies, such as partnering with great podcasters, has been key,” he continued. I also learned a lot about team building; We had a phenomenal team at BlockFi, many of whom remain in the cryptocurrency space, and some have even started new cryptocurrency companies, which makes me proud.”
While Prince has abandoned BlockFi, he says his cryptocurrencies will remain on the platform until all of the lender’s former customers have been made whole.
“As part of our bankruptcy process, I have always stored all of my cryptocurrencies with BlockFi. I said that I would waive any recovery rights on my cryptocurrencies until BlockFi customers have recovered 100%,” he said.
Prince explained during the interview that BlockFi failed because FTX and its affiliates borrowed money – this arrangement was fully disclosed in BlockFi’s terms and conditions – and did not pay it back, something he also said on the witness stand during the Sam Bankman-Fried trial.
“Early in our bankruptcy, FTX’s lawyers took a hostile position, claiming that BlockFi owed them money, which we found absurd since FTX and its affiliates owed us money,” he said. “It is positive to see the outcome in favor of BlockFi and the impact on customer recoveries is significant.”
In a post on XPrince said there were many things he would have done differently or changed in hindsight, but the most significant was BlockFi’s relationship with FTX.
“I testified at the SBF trial, which was helpful in terms of delivering justice through a guilty verdict, but the real goal and focus for me (and the rest of the BlockFi team) was and remains to give back as much as possible possible value to customers,” he wrote in the post.
“The people who accepted bankruptcy filings made a killing,” Prince concluded.