The Ethereum project and the Ethereum cryptocurrency were founded by a simple guy from Kolomna near Moscow, Vitalik Buterin. He moved to Canada with his parents at the age of six. Passion for programming and digital currencies allowed him to become a billionaire in his early twenties. The Ethereum project turned out to be so successful that the leaders of states are now listening to the words of Vitalik Buterin.

After the official part of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin met separately with Vitalik Buterin to discuss the prospects for blockchain and smart contracts. An interpreter was not required, since Vitalik is fluent in Russian. The fact of such a meeting was confirmed by both the press secretary of the President, Dmitry Peskov, and Vitalik Buterin.

Vitalik also said that he had meetings with representatives of the governments of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Switzerland and the EU countries. On the official website of the President, it is written that Buterin spoke about the possibilities of using the technologies he developed in Russia.