Russian president, Vladimir Putin, recently met with Ethereum Cryptocurrency founder, Vitalik Buterin. Russia, in the past, has effectively banned Bitcoin use by its companies and is now likely switching to "use and control" emerging Blockchain technologies. Bitcoin is the original blockchain-based cryptocurrency and has become very popular in black markets, including online drug sales and cybercrime. Ether (token for Ethereum), is one of the alternatives growing fast in general popularity. Besides the currency function, Ethereum provides much more functionality: it is an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform that features smart contact (scripting) functionality, which facilitates online contractual agreements. This makes Ethereum technologies of interest for major financial institutions and IT companies. Blockchain technologies are not bad per se, and many Western financial institutions are attracted to its use, but Russia's history of protecting black-hat hackers and controlling some online black markets make this development worrisome...READ MOREWapack Labs has cataloged and reported extensively on Russia, blockchains, and cryptocurrency in the past. An archive of related reporting can be found in the Red Sky Alliance portal.
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