‘Misunderstanding’: Vitalik Buterin to Create New Entity for Russian Bank Deal

New information is coming to light about the relationship between Russian state-owned development bank Vnesheconombank (VEB) and ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin.

First reported as a partnership that would find the state-owned bank collaborating directly with the Ethereum Foundation, the non-profit for which Buterin serves as council, the VEB has confirmed it will be retracting public statements to that effect.

According to Buterin and the VEB, a deal has actually been struck with a new entity, Ethereum Russia, which is being created for the partnership. Buterin, in statements to CoinDesk, called the press release, issued yesterday, a “misunderstanding.”

The new entity is founded by Buterin and Vladislav Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices, a Russia-based mobile communications and connectivity devices company.

Maryynov told CoinDesk:

“We signed, not a partnership, a kind of collaboration agreement … where we, and when I say we, it’s Ethereum Russia, the company which is founded by Vitalik and myself, we provide, we provide specific support, we took a commitment to provide specific support to the bank.”

According to Martynov, Ethereum Russia will provide education, events and architecture review for VEB, while also providing support to the development of the new center for blockchain research at the National University of Science and Technology (MISIS). The new center is being funded by the bank and geared towards providing solutions to government services.

Martynov clarified that the difference between Ethereum Russia and Ethereum Foundation is that while the Foundation must be left “pure” and free from conflicts of interest, other variations can collaborate with government and corporate bodies.

Vitalik Buterin image via YouTube