Russia Drafts Bill to Accredit ICO Issuers - Public Comments Wanted

The Russian government is drafting a bill to introduce the accreditation of initial coin offering issuers. Accredited organizations must comply with a set of rules and are subject to inspections every three years. The regulators are currently accepting public comments on the proposal.

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Accrediting ICO Issuers

The Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has submitted a proposal to accredit the issuers of initial coin offerings (ICOs) “on a voluntary basis for a period of five years,” the document reads.

This proposal details the procedure for accrediting organizations that issue digital tokens. It has been published on the Russian government’s portal of normative legal acts and the regulators are currently seeking public comments on the plan.

A digital token is defined in the proposal as “a record in a distributed information system created using cryptographic (encryption) means that certifies that the holder of the digital token has the right to receive from the person who posted the initial (initial) digital token of the initial (nominal) value token by presenting this token.” Under the proposal, Tass summarized:

The organization must comply with a number of criteria: registration in the territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with the legislation on state registration of legal entities; a charter capital of at least 100 million rubles; a license to develop, produce and distribute cryptographic funds; and a special account with a bank, obtained as a result of the sale of digital tokens.

Mandatory Rules

The accredited ICO issuers are required to adopt a number of mandatory rules. Firstly, they must “redeem digital tokens at a nominal price from any bearer of a digital token on the basis of an irrevocable public offer,” the news outlet described. Secondly, they are obligated to “issue digital tokens for Russian rubles through a cashless settlement.” In addition, they have a “duty to use funds received from purchasers of digital tokens, only for purposes related to maintaining the ability to fulfill the obligation to redeem digital tokens at a nominal price.”

The publication further noted:

The Ministry of Communications will decide on accreditation or refusal of accreditation within 30 days after receiving the application. Accredited organizations will also be subject to inspections every three years (with the exception of unscheduled inspections) for compliance with the requirements of the provision.

Despite the strict requirements for would-be ICO issuers, the Minister of Communications and Mass Media, Nikolai Nikiforov, commented last week that “it is very important in all projects of the digital economy not to over-regulate what is just emerging,” according to Tass. RBC also quoted him describing:

We decided that we should go the way of accreditation and get some professional organizations to implement the first real projects. Otherwise, our country will become technologically backward.

What do you think of this ICO accreditation proposal? Let us know in the comments section below.

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