Russian Blockchain.Community Future Remains Uncertain

Artem Tolkachev, chairman of Russia’s Blockchain.Community spoke to ForkLog at Bitcoin&Blockchain Conference Kyiv about the future of the community and current state of affairs in Russia’s blockchain industry.

Tolkachev is the managing partner of legal fir Tolkachev & Partners and expert in legal regulation of cryptotechnologies. He was elected the chairman of Blockchain.community this June.

FL: What are your future plans? What are you working on right now?

A.Т.: For one thing, we as a company Tolkachev & Partners have joined Deloitte to support technological projects. We’re promoting everything related to cryptotechnologies and cryptocurrencies. I was surprised to learn that Deloitte is more and more involved in this sector, and they boast great competence and expertise. Last week we visited Kazakhstan to explain the possibilities of blockchain to one of their major banks. The interest is pretty high, and we try to help them with our expertise.

FL: There was news about IBM considering in development of blockchain technologies in Kazakhstan.

A.Т.: I know nothing of IBM’s interests, but I sure see a great deal of interest on the side of particular banks, not just in Kazakhstan, but throughout the entire former USSR. Kazakhstan is just trying to make out what’s going on as fast as possible.

FL: Back to Blockchain.community, how is it doing now?

A.Т.: It’s not as fast as we’d like to see it. In all fairness, we’re not making any serious efforts right now because each participant is busy with their ongoing activities. We are going to have a general meeting in order to determine basic directions of development for the next year, and to understand what we are actually doing, where we are heading, what are our objectives and how we may reach them.

FL: Recently, the Russian president’s administration held a meetup on cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. What are your impressions of the event?

A.Т.: The meetup was initiated by Moscow’s IT Department. A few months ago they contacted us with a query about blockchain implementation in a voting system. The event in question resulted in a decision to establish a working group within the Institute for Internet Development. According to their seniors, the question will be discussed in the short run. Also many important issues were discussed at the recent Moscow Financial Forum. However, the working group on blockchain technologies is number one in our agenda.

Speaking about this, Marina Gurieva, the Head of Innovations at the Higher School of Economy, said:

“The working group has indeed been established. From time to time, they have some meetings with rather restricted attendance. Most likely, the question will be widely discussed at the Forum of Innovative Financial Technologies in Kazan this October,” she said.

Blockchain.community was created in 2013. It is a permanent deliberative body considering the development issues of blockchain technology. Its main purpose is to consolidate opinions and represent the community actors.

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