Waves CEO Sasha Ivanov gave a CoinDesk interview in which he discussed the advantages and disadvantages of a Russian brand in the blockchain industry. He also addressed the subject of future plans for the project.
“There are risks to promoting our brand in the West”,
said Ivanov.
Mostly, they are due to the fact that the Vostok project launched by the company Waves had a partnership with the Russian Rostec corporation. Rostec was sanctioned by the US in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the war in Ukraine.
So Waves decided to move away from Vostok brand. In July, Ivanov sold the Vostok brand to the investment firm GHP Group for an undisclosed amount. The Vostok team and product, however, remained with Waves.
After the sale, Vostok (which means “East” in Russian) was renamed Waves Enterprise. The Vostok VST tokens, issued last year, were renamed and became WEST: Waves Enterprise System Token.
Also, Waves and GHP have decided to form a partnership to develop the blockchain together. GHP has invested $ 3.8 million in the project, according to Waves.
“We cannot completely separate ourselves from our Russian roots, even if they may hinder a little development,” Ivanov said. “I think we should become the leading advocate for blockchain technology in Russia.”
Registered in Switzerland, Waves is striving to become a key blockchain provider for the Russian state. The company is headquartered in Moscow and has expanded its activity with government structures.
These include the Moscow City Hall’s Information and Technology Department, which tested the first blockchain voting system for elections to a Moscow legislative body.
About 450,000 Moscow residents could vote electronically during the September 8 municipal elections. The experiment did not get positive reviews, because bugs were identified that allowed data manipulation.
Even so, Ivanov sees a promising future for blockchain in election management.
“The blockchain can help the government communicate with civil society. It is a good marketing tool for the government. It is hard to say how much transparency it will bring, but certainly more than it exists now ”,
he said.
In any case for the company Waves, the idea is to maintain a balance between friendly relations with the state-controlled corporations in Russia (many of them being sanctioned by the US and Europe) and to build a positive image for the global market.
Russia, still undecided on blockchain technology
Waves worked with Rostec to develop a roadmap for developing blockchain in Russia. According to the document released in May, most government information systems should be put on the blockchain. This would require investments of approximately $ 1 billion.
Ivanov said that the document was not received with enthusiasm
“The roadmap did not meet the government’s expectations. They have not yet realized why they should use blockchain technology. We’ll try another one. “
In addition, Waves has a competitor in the blockchain Hyperledger, which enjoys worldwide popularity as well as in Russia.
One way that Waves is trying to differentiate itself from Hyperledger is to obtain certification from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Such certification is required for collaboration with Russian government bodies, but it is a long and costly process.
To date, only one blockchain system has been certified in Russia: Masterchain, a system for banks. Waves hopes to complete certification by the end of this winter. The lawsuit, overseen by FSB-approved personnel designed to ensure the software has no hidden features, costs companies up to $ 100,000, Ivanov said.
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