Blockchain Will Be Theirs, Russian Spy Boasted at Conference - The New York Times

Later in the article: "Mr. Putin also put the blockchain at the center of his “Digital Economy” program for Russia, and his government has talked about creating a crypto-ruble, similar to Bitcoin."

"Some of the technologists at the meeting of the International Standards Organization were surprised when they learned that the head of the Russian delegation, Grigory Marshalko, worked for the F.S.B., the intelligence agency that is the successor to the K.G.B.

They were even more surprised when they asked the F.S.B. agent why the Russians were devoting such resources to the blockchain standards.

“Look, the internet belongs to the Americans — but blockchain will belong to us,” he said, according to one delegate who was there. The Russian added that two other members of his country’s four-person delegation to the conference also worked for the F.S.B."

Blockchain Will Be Theirs, Russian Spy Boasted at Conference - The New York Times