Identifying with cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain technology has improved in the eastern part of Europe as lots of new start-ups and projects are now being introduced there.
According to a crypto industry insider from Ukraine and CEO of Remme, Alex Momot, although most of these projects’ main contribution as of today center on technical help for other projects due to the lack of entrepreneurial talents and experience, the impact of the region on the burgeoning cryptocurrency market will gradually become more visible.
From Russia to Ukraine, to Slovenia and others, Eastern European countries now hold a major pillar in the crypto space that stands between countries in the West and Asia which have been known to dominate the industry.
Several events and initiatives have been introduced from their end of late, and the region’s impact has taken a stand that shows it will likely widen with time going by indications.
Russia
In the last two years, the crypto market in Russia has seen a boost following developed interest among users and there’s been a recent approval from the political authority.
“Big country with large investments possibilities that could create a lot of good projects,” Momot says about Russia.
“IT specialists and companies were focused on the internal market before the war with Ukraine started which led to suffering from sanctions and inflation. So, most progressive developers are now switching to much more perspective crypto projects. But the crypto community from this country could face problems if authorities change their opinion about Bitcoin/Blockchain and start hard regulation or restrictions.”
Ukraine
While Russia is key, Ukraine, where several Blockchain-related initiatives have been produced lately, is also a vital destination for the market.
From ASIC miners produced in Ukraine in 2013 to the Ukrainian pool controlling a chunk of Bitcoin mining hash power, crypto exchanges, start-ups and conferences, Ukraine has become a force in the digital currency revolution.
The world’s first Blockchain-based state auction to stem corruption was the biggest Ukrainian bank "PrivatBank" integrating Bitcoin wallet and the government working with Bitfury to create an eGovernance solution on the Blockchain. With this, the crypto community is bigger in the region, especially in Ukraine.
Momot says: “Ukraine government’s impact on the industry is almost zero. The main advantages of the country is its innovative, well-educated and progressive society especially in IT.”
“Usual meetups in the second largest Ukrainian city, Kharkiv, have 1,000-1,200 visitors in attendance - more than Bitcoin meetups in SF/Valley. Odesa during one week in July will hold several meetups and conferences with industry top leaders. Kyiv is home to tens of Bitcoin startups and has been hosting region-leading conferences since 2013. Belarus is starting their own small but strong community in the last one to two years. Top Bitcoin enthusiasts from these three countries help each other and work together to form a single united crypto-community.”
Security
The growing need for stronger security solutions to tackle menaces of cyber-related attacks is a key factor that has improved the level of importance of some of the European countries. According to Mamot, whose Remme project is a passwordless auth through the Blockchain that allows logins without entering any user credentials with the help of an SSL certificate, other factors triggering the interest of people in the region into the crypto space are hard economic situations in traditional industries, inflation and a combination of technical education and experience.