Vladimir Putin

Russia, Russia Russia. Putin, Putin Putin. (OK, that gets us a billion Twitter hits) Seriously, the rest of the world (including and somewhat led by Russia) is light years ahead of the U.S. in embracing the rapidly changing fintech innovation. Now here is a story that says Putin's internet advisers are raising $100M cryptocurrency equivalent to get Russia into bitcoin mining. China is already there. Iceland is beginning and now Russia is opening up a whole new industry. Oh yeah, its clean too. Cheap electric power is all that's needed. Stick that in your solar panel and wake up, U.S.

(Bill Taylor/CEO)

"A company co-owned by one of President Vladimir Putin’s internet advisers plans to raise the cryptocurrency equivalent of as much as $100 million in a push to help Russian entrepreneurs challenge China in bitcoin mining.

Russian Miner Coin is holding a so-called initial coin offering, where investors will use units of ethereum or bitcoin to buy new RMC tokens. These new tokens will have rights to 18 percent of the revenue earned with the company’s mining equipment, according to a presentation posted on its website.

RMC plans to use semiconductor chips designed in Russia for use in satellites to minimize power consumption in computers for crypto-mining, Putin’s internet ombudsman, Dmitry Marinichev, said at at a news conference in Moscow.

“Russia has the potential to reach up to 30 percent share in global cryptocurrency mining in the future," Marinichev said, adding that $10 million from the proceeds of the ICO may be spent developing the processors.

More and more startups are offering tokens as a way to raise money upfront for digital assets in ICOs. Unlike a traditional IPO in which buyers get shares, a startup’s ICO nets you virtual tokens unique to the issuing company or network that grow in value only if the business proves viable.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last month warned that ICOs may be considered securities and signaled greater scrutiny of the sector, though it stopped short of suggesting a broader clampdown..."

Full Story at Bloomberg