Russian ICOs have raised a total of $300 million funds in 2017, but half of them went to pyramid schemes, according to The Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain (RACIB).
The association believes Russian projects are able to attract $1-1.5 billion USD in 2018 but they need to become more trustworthy.
Last year, the Russians lost $150 million due to investments in unscrupulous ICOs.
RACIB has announced its intention to develop guidelines for ICOs in Russia hoping to distinguish between legitimate projects from fraud schemes and financial pyramids.
According to the suggested guidelines ICOs should be judged by several criteria, including the credibility of its team members, its business plan and the viability of its product.
By Jade Olafson