The Moscow Stock Exchange (MOEX) is preparing an infrastructure that will allow companies to set up ICO's, Reuters reported yesterday, citing Alexander Afanasyev, the head of the exchange. The project is expected to launch this year.
Presently the exchange is working on building a basic infrastructure, which will allow to display token sales data and companies participating in the ICO.
“This is what now is missing at all those sites that offer this kind of services," - Afanasyev said.
He specifically underlined that the exchange will not start listing tokens, and instead will aim to educate investors on what obligations the issuer of the token assumes, what is a token, and general details on ICO participation.
"We're treating them [tokens] as we treat fiat currencies so far, because cryptocurrencies [In Russia] don't have a status of legally protected assets now, but if it appears, they will appear in our system as well", he said.
Russia is looking to define and regulate such terms as "digital signature" and "digital transaction”, in addition to outline the legal framework for various new activities, including mining and validation of digital transactions through blockchain. Only recently, cryptocurrencies and tokens were defined as a property in digital form, while forbidding their use as a means of payment in the country.
MOEX is also ready to consider issuing the futures assets for ICO's. But that will happen only once the benchmarks are set out, and as long as there will be a demand from the investors behalf
However on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the annual call-in television show that “the relationship of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation to cryptocurrency [is that] it considers cryptocurrency neither a means of payment nor a store of value. Cryptocurrency is not backed by anything. One should treat it cautiously, carefully.”
By Nadya Astam