Russian Prime Minister: Blockchain can have a significant impact, but it will take time for its application to be implemented

Blockchain could have a major impact, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said, adding that “so far we have not seen any substantial research results”.

Medvedev, who was Russia’s president before Vladimir Putin took office in 2012, spoke at an investor summit in Sochi this week, according to state-run news service TASS. He has mentioned blockchain technology several times in the past, focusing specifically on legal aspects of blockchain and smart contracts.

Medvedev mentioned that he is "not against" the application of blockchain, but the hype about this technology should be stopped for now, and he believes that the influence of this technology will mainly be in the future.

I am not against the application of blockchain technology, which has begun to circulate widely and will eventually change our way of life. This is quite meaningful, however, we still haven't seen any substantial research results.

Medvedev’s remarks are in stark contrast to the attitude of the Russian Central Bank, which is no secret to its keen interest in blockchain.

The Russian Central Bank began formally studying the technology in early 2016, and soon after formed a financial technology (fintech) working group, with blockchain listed as one of the research projects.

The central bank has studied blockchain technology from many angles, including digital currency, and last year developed a distributed ledger prototype "Masterchain" for technical testing.