Montenegro, a small Balkan country, appears to be trying to become a regional crypto powerhouse.
Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum (ETH), has been awarded citizenship by Montenegro, a small nation in the Balkans. Citizenship was granted on the proposal of Zdravko Krivokapic, the Prime Minister, and Milojko Spajic, the Finance Minister of Montenegro.
The Finance Minister, Milojko Spajic, took to his Instagram account on Monday to reveal the following: “Today, I had the pleasure to give Vitalik Buterin a Montenegrin citizenship as a sign of gratitude for everything he has done and will do for our country.” Spajic also said that “he [Buterin] will, as the most famous name of this industry, contribute to the further promotion of Montenegro and the overall development of the crypto industry in our country.” Additionally, Spajic tweeted a photograph of Buterin and himself in which the founder of Ethereum (ETH) is carrying a passport of Montenegro.
On April 7, Montenegro hosted a cryptocurrency conference dubbed “Future Now!” where panelists were Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum (ETH) researcher Vlad Zamfir, and law professor Boris Mamlyuk.
There, the cryptocurrency professionals addressed cryptocurrency regulation, government adoption, and other subjects with minister Spajic, giving their perspectives and insights in order to assist Montenegro in its aspirations to become a crypto powerhouse in the region.
A small nation in the Balkans with a population of around 620,000 people has just begun to make efforts toward building its cryptocurrency business to the point where it can compete with tourism and energy as a main economic engine. The 34-year-old finance minister Spajic is spearheading the effort, believing that the blockchain business may make up for roughly 30% of the GDP of Montenegro in less than 5 years to come.
Speaking for Mina, a local news outlet, Spajic confirmed that “I think that in three years, the blockchain [industry] can account for about 30 percent of the Montenegrin economy, i.e., contribute an additional 1.5 billion to two billion euros to the gross domestic product (GDP).”
Vitalik Buterin has yet to corroborate the report, and Spajic has subsequently removed his initial tweet proclaiming Montenegro’s citizenship award to the founder of Ethereum (ETH). Nevertheless, the finance minister’s official Instagram post remains.