630 views
CSR proposes separate regulation of NFT
The initiative is mentioned in the Center’s report titled “Virtual Assets: NFTs and Virtual Items in Computer Games and Metaverses”. The CSR recommended a separate regulatory framework to be created for NFT because of the lack of a clear definition and legal regimes in Russian legislation. The report also examines the legal regulation of virtual items in computer games and play-to-earn metaverses.
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation did not receive this document fr om the Center, but, according to the regulator, the issues of regulating certain types of NFTs can be resolved within the scope of the law on investment platforms and will be thrashed over with financial market participants in the near future.
As noted in the report, such issues are still not obvious. Incorrect legal qualifications of a crypto asset are now widespread: NFTs can be liken to cryptocurrencies, digital assets, other property, relative property rights, digital rights, intellectual property, objects for investment, and so on. These definitions do not fully describe NFTs and lim it them.
Ignoring various types of NFTs can lead to incorrect practice. Therefore, at the first stage, it is necessary to amend the Civil Code article on digital rights as to specify there that the concept of digital rights can cover tokens that are not laid down by statute.
For a separate regulation of tokenized real rights, the CSR proposes, as an option, the introduction of an agent functionally similar to an escrow agent. Such an agent will monitor the safety of tokenized items and, following on from the results, ensure the synchronization of changes in the blockchain with the transfer of real rights.
In July, the Ministry of Economic Development, as part of the NFT market regulation development, proposed amendments to the RF Civil Code and the law “On Digital Financial Assets”. The Ministry suggested establishing the legal status of NFTs, clarifying the possibility of issuing a token, its regulation and circulation, protecting token purchasers from re-issuing, and other matters.