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RUSSIA'S ECONOMY

Russian PM predicts blockchain technology will become part and parcel of daily life

Medvedev compared it to the development of IT technology, pursued in particular by companies that had exited the market long ago

Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Astakhov/Russian Government Press Office/TASS

Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev

© Dmitry Astakhov/Russian Government Press Office/TASS

MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. Cryptocurrencies may disappear in several years but blockchain technology will be part of everyday reality, Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

"New spheres of competition previously difficult to fathom are opening up in today’s economy," the prime minister pointed out. "For example, competition of private electronic currencies emerged. Theorists predicted this as early as the middle of last [the 20th] century. Nevertheless, this is a new challenge for governments, for business, and particularly for experts," Medvedev noted.

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"Absolutely different approaches towards cryptocurrencies, ranging from prohibiting to fully liberal ones, exist now," the prime minister said. "Everyone gets stirred up by the question: Is there a ceiling for this cryptocurrency competition. Or could it be a dead-end for the cyber-revolution?" the premier questioned.

Medvedev compared it to the development of IT technology, pursued in particular by companies that had exited the market long ago. "After all, it cannot be completely ruled out that there will be a repeat of this well-known scenario that occurred in the early 1990s, when many evolving Internet companies [dot.coms] appeared, and then these companies largely vanished in early 2000s. Internet technology does not merely survive but plays the key role in our life now," he pointed out.

"Cryptocurrencies can also disappear in an exactly the same way in several years and the technology being the basis for their development - blockchain - will become part of everyday reality," Medvedev emphasized.

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Dmitry Medvedev

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