Russian Minister of Communications suggests ICO accreditation

The Russian Minister of Communications Nikolai Nikiforov has recently offered a regulative approach towards initial coin offerings. He thinks that it would be irresponsible to allow all token issuers to operate, but instead he offers to approve ICOs only after ensuring they follow a set of regulations and criteria. Mr. Nikiforov did not specify which criteria exactly he offers to use.

When it comes to cryptocurrency and blockchain, the Russian Minister of Communications does not want to see cryptocurrency as a legal means of payment in Russia. This view is shared by the vast majority of the local influential politicians and this leads to believe that buying goods for coins would not be legal in Russia anytime soon. Nikolai Nikiforov offers to separate blockchain from cryptocurrency, in this his views greatly resemble the views of billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Lastly, the Minister of Communications supports the idea of state protectionism towards the blockchains developed by the local cryptography specialists, likely to ensure the state control over the difficult digital structures which could be used for undesirable purposes.