Defining Blockchain Economy in Russia
BlockchainHack (July 1st & 2nd)
BlockchainHack, which took place on the weekend of July 1st at the Pavletsky Art Center in Moscow, was the largest blockchain in Russia to date. Over one hundred developers participated in the event and even more came to learn about blockchain technology. The weekend started off with 45 groups which were narrowed down to 25. Developers stayed up all night to win part of the over $100,000 in prizes. BlockchainHack was made possible by the almost 20 partners that helped organize, fund, and promote the hackathon.
If you would like to read more about BlockchainHack, including who the winners of the Qtum prizes were, check out our blog.
Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation
During our stay in Russia, Qtum was able to meet with the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation. The Civic Chamber’s purpose is to help citizens interact with government officials and local authorities in order to take into account the needs and interests of citizens, to protect their rights and freedoms in the process of shaping and implementing state policies, and to exercise public control over the activities of executive authorities.
The team got to have an engaging conversation and illustrated the opportunities for Russia and its citizens that could be presented to them through blockchain technology.
Moscow State University
At Moscow State University, home to one of the winning teams of BlockchainHack, Qtum got a tour of the university. We met with Professor Igor Yaminsky who led the tour of the university and showed us what some of his students were working on.
Higher School of Economics
At the Higher School of Economics, we met with representatives from several departments of the university. The representatives were quite knowledgeable of the technicalities of blockchain technologies and were interested in its applications within different areas of study.
ITMO in St. Petersburg
In St. Petersburg, the team met with several ITMO University representatives and affiliated groups. ITMO is home to some of the best developers in the world and recently won their 7th ACM ICPC. We hope that we can visit again when classes start and see the bright minds of ITMO in action.
World Trade Center Moscow
On July 6th, the Qtum team including project cofounder Patrick Dai, core developers Alexei Dulub and Alexei Zhakov as well as marketing director, John Scianna, gave a presentation to an audience of roughly 40 business professionals and technology enthusiasts at the World Trade Center in Moscow.
The World Trade Center Moscow (WTC Moscow) is a large multipurpose business complex, situated in the center of Moscow, close to the Kremlin, the Government House of the Russian Federation, the Building of Moscow Government and Moscow City business district.
Dai gave an overview of the Qtum Project as well as one of the entire industry, especially his perspective of the Chinese community. Dulub spoke to the audience in Russian about the technical details of the project while John Scianna talked about regulatory issues facing the industry and how Russia could promote this emerging sector of the economy.
The audience was knowledgeable of many aspects of the blockchain space, which led to a constructive discussion on how Russia could benefit, and how they could get more involved in the industry.
MISIS
Also on Thursday, the Qtum team met with representatives from MISIS (National University of Science and Technology), where we introduced the benefits of Qtum and opportunities involved in the blockchain space.
The MISIS representatives were incredibly kind and even showed us their Quantum computer.
Yaroslavl
On July 7th, Patrick Dai and John Scianna went to Yaroslavl, Russia and gave a presentation about blockchain technology to students and professors from Yaroslavl State University at Yaroslavl Business Incubator.
For many of the students, it wasn’t their first time learning about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. The students had become aware of the large mining community in Russia because graphics cards had become increasingly scarce.
One of the students was interested in blockchain technology and wanted to start a blockchain project but realized that there weren’t as many students aware of the technology in Yaroslavl and was happy that we came.
There’s still lots of educating that we and the community have to do to help this problem. Most people including researchers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and students are unaware of the potential of this technology and opportunities in the community.
Please note that we held many meetings while part of the Qtum team was in Russia, most of which weren’t included. These meetings do not constitute any form of partnership between the Qtum Foundation and the pictured parties as they were mostly introductory and educational conversations. That being said, we look forward to engaging with the people of Russia more in the future.
