A new approach to cryptocurrency regulation

The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation is considering the possibility of dividing cryptocurrencies for its further legal regulation.

Thus, Cryptocurrency should to be divided into the following types:

technical tokens for maintaining the system functioning;

virtual assets-bitcoins;

Digital financial assets or ICO (Initial coin offering – a form of attracting investments in the form of selling to investors a fixed number of new units of cryptocurrencies received by a single or accelerated issue)

According to the Ministry of Finance’ representatives, such approach should satisfy the needs of businesses, which is interested in issuing and selling tokens backed by commodities.

According to experts, the proposal to divide digital assets into several types seems adequate and corresponds to world practice.

Thus, the preliminary initiative of the Ministry of Finance is similar to the position of UK regulators. In July, the British financial conduct Authority (FCA) published the final version of the cryptocurrency assets guide, highlighting three types of digital assets: security tokens, utility tokens and exchange-traded tokens.

Nevertheless, the criteria for separation is also a target of criticism. Thus, the allocation of «technical tokens» in a separate type of cryptocurrency seems controversial. According to some experts, if «technical tokens» are considering as utility-tokens, they are already regulated by the so called Law «On crowdfunding».