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The main criminal risks are mentioned in performing ICO in Russia. 15.Feb.18 4:26 AM By Daria Zaytseva Photo Toinnov.com 440 | |
On December 28, 2017, a draft law on the regulation of ICO was published. This document is extremely important for the further development of the cryptocurrency market in Russia and investment activities in general. ICO is a new way of raising funds for the development of projects, and therefore is associated with a high risk of speculation and fraud. Only a few countries have legalized this procedure. For example, in the US, tokens were equated to securities. Due to this step on December 11, the startup Munchee for the first time made a return to investors under the decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because of the violations revealed. According to the commission, the company put up unregistered securities for trading.What risks does ICO carry in Russia? Lack of guarantees to investors
Performing ICO is associated with an increased risk due to lack of guarantees. Buyers of tokens are not insured from possible project failure or hacker attacks. According to the statistics of the Russian Association of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain (RACIB), in 2017 only 3% of ICO proved to be successful. The remaining projects were never launched. And 67% of the projects have not been able to overcome the lower investment threshold due to the low conceptualization. The situation for the economy is not new and repeats the story with a boom of startups, most of which could not attract investors for the same reason. Fraud and default to investors
The risk of default is the main reason for the failure of ICO in many countries around the world. The main requirement imposed by regulators is to ensure fulfillment of obligations to investors. For example, in the US, tokens are equated to securities, respectively, the conduct of ICO is regulated by the Securities Act and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In case of detection of violations, the SEC has the right to force refunds. Taxation Startups performing ICO are a business and therefore are also taxed. The attempt to evade taxes on ICO is regulated by the same rules as normal business. Tax evasion violates Article 199 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Evasion of payment of taxes, fees payable by the organization, or insurance contributions payable by the organization paying the insurance premiums). A tax advisor may be required to resolve this issue, since the taxation system depends on the scale of ICO and the specifics of the startup. The provenance of money and the manipulation with cryptocurrency
One of the main risks in performing ICO – the acceptance from investors fiat money of doubtful source. In this situation there is a risk of violating Articles 174.1 of the Criminal Code (Legalization and Money Laundering). |