Russia Testing ICO Technology to Bolster Investors in its Promising Crypto Market

National Settlement Depository (NSD) with Sberbank CIB will be testing the ICO technology on the regulatory platform of country’s central bank. Russian authorities are working on creating a more transparent crypto market space in order to bolster institutional investors in its demanding crypto market.

NSD & Sberbank CIB to test ICO on central bank’s regulatory platform

Russia is all set to test the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) technology at the regulatory platform of its central bank. This platform was launched in April 2018, that was specifically designed to test the unregulated techs.

As per the announcement, the financial market infrastructure of Russia, National Settlement Depository (NSD) along with the Sberbank CIB which is the corporate and investment banking branch of Russia’s state-owned bank will be piloting the ICO technology.

By the end of this summer, it is expected that the first digital asset transaction will be conducted.

NSD will be recording the tokens and carry out the settlements related to the issue and circulation of the tokens. Also, it will be the custodian of the transaction by keeping and registering the assets. Whereas Sberbank CIB will coordinate the issuance of these tokens and play the role of an anchor investor in tokens issued.

Reportedly the Russian crypto market has great demand for ICOs as stated by the Senior Vice President of Sberbank:

“Sberbank CIB considers the Russian ICO market to be very promising. Many Sberbank clients are interested in this type of investment, and we plan to promote this service proactively once the appropriate legislative framework comes into effect; we will be one of the drivers to institutionalize and popularize this type of transaction.”

Once the blockchain transactions are assessed and feedback has been collected regarding the transaction mechanism, the central bank will be able to bring more transparent ICOs in the Russian market, This would further help in making such transactions mainstream while boosting the interests of traditional investors.   

Also, read: Germany’s Largest Stock Exchange Deutsche Borse to Offer Bitcoin Products

Russian Duma moves on with 3 crypto-related bills

According to the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, the lawmakers are working on legal terms like digital money and digital rights instead of tokens and cryptocurrencies as stated by him.

“We need to consolidate the basic provisions and translate them into the language of the law. Therefore, instead of common slang expressions such as “cryptocurrencies” and “tokens”, lawmakers are developing the more strict legal concepts of “digital money” and “digital rights.”

In March, a bill has been drafted by the Russian Parliament that stated digital tokens are to be considered asset instead of money.

Recently, Russian State Duma approved the first reading of three bills on crypto that has three weeks for suggesting amendments before it gets finalized.

As per the bill, cryptocurrencies and tokens will be taken as digital financial assets instead of being a legal tender. Reportedly, the crypto purchase and sales could be done though crypto exchanges that will act as custodians.

The bill further describes the process of ICO where the entities have to disclose complete information. Also, crypto mining will be regulated and miners would have to register themselves with Federal Tax Service and pay taxes.  

Another important point is that only those tokens that have significant economic value will be considered as Digital Rights.

What are your views on the official testing of ICO platform by Russian authorities to create a better and more transparent crypto ecosystem for the traditional investors and crypto market?