Belarusian DFA operators have found competitive advantages over Russian ones

Russian information system operators (OIS), which have the right to issue digital financial assets, will have to compete with Belarusian placement organizers (ICO) in the near future. Now the Belarusian organizer is conducting an ICO of the first issue of tokens from a Russian issuer. In size it is comparable to large placements of Russian IPOs ($40 million, or about 3.6 billion rubles), and settlements and profitability are tied to the US dollar. So far, the Russian DFA market is an order of magnitude larger than the Belarusian one, but more developed Belarusian legislation in the IT sector will contribute to an increase in the supply of such projects, experts say.

As Kommersant has learned, a DFA placement is currently underway for the Russian company Atalaya (the main shareholder of Softline). According to the declaration published on its website, the volume of attraction of three-year tokens will be $40 million. Subscription will continue until January 15, 2024.

At the same time, the placement is carried out not through the Russian IPO, but through the Belarusian LLC DFS (operator Finstore), a resident of the High Technology Park. The company provides services for the creation, placement, promotion of tokens, and also acts as an operator of the crypto platform. As Denis Polyakov, head of the Digital Economy practice at GMT Legal, explains, in fact, the emission of tokens is carried out in a foreign information system in accordance with local legislation. Atalaya does not comment on the choice of operator for the production of DFA.

According to experts and market participants, this is the first placement of a Russian company in the Republic of Belarus. In particular, Mr. Polyakov points out that, according to the Finstore service, this is the first release of DFA by a Russian company. In total, there are two companies in Belarus with a license to organize ICOs – Finstore and free2ex.com, but the second company has not actually conducted a single issue, the expert added.

Belarus is known for a large number of high-tech projects, including in the IT sector, and a loyal attitude to innovation and, in particular, to the crypto industry, noted Leonid Delitsyn. Back in December 2017, the decree “On the development of the digital economy” was signed. This document introduced tax benefits until 2049, simplified document flow, the institution of English law, simplified the regime for currency transactions and the hiring of qualified foreign specialists. In addition, with the support of the state, the Hi-Tech Park technopark operates, from which several world-famous projects have emerged (World of Tanks, MSQRD, Viber, Maps.me, Prisma and others).

The proposed financial product looks attractive to Russian investors. Russian law does not prohibit the purchase of tokens of Belarusian origin, noted Mikhail Uspensky, a member of the expert council of the working group on cryptocurrencies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. These tokens are attractive, according to independent financial analyst Andrei Barhota, due to the fact that they are issued in US dollars, and the yield is 7.5% per annum. If there are no dollar deposits on the Russian financial market, and replacement Eurobonds have ruble income, then DFAs with a base currency in dollars will have a wide pool of investors, he is sure.

The release is not without risks. The founder and CEO of the Fractio asset tokenization platform, Pavel Fedorov, believes that it very opaquely describes the payment guarantees for the token, which amount to 7.5% per annum. “On the one hand, this is the parent structure of the large IT company Softline, but, on the other hand, it is explained that payments are secured by incoming income in certain securities and assets of the company, but there is no explanation of how this works in the event of default,”— he points out. Transaction risks, technological risks and others, even political ones, are also possible, added BitRiver Communications Director Andrey Loboda. Also for Russian investors, the risk is that in the event of a violation of their rights in relation to the purchased tokens, “they will have to apply for protection of interests to the Belarusian courts according to their rules of jurisdiction and jurisdiction,” notes Mr. Polyakov.

In general, the Russian DFA market has incomparably greater depth than the Belarusian one, experts point out. According to Finam analyst Leonid Delitsyn, by the end of the year the number of market investors in digital investment funds in the Russian Federation can reach 40-50 thousand, and in Belarus there are only about 5 thousand. Deputy General Director of Masterchain Maxim Tishchenko does not see any big risks of competition between Russian and Belarusian ICO organizers and DFA operators, since “these are isolated cases.” He believes that over time, both Belarusian investors and issuers will come to Russia.

Ksenia Kulikova, Nikita Korolev