Vladimir Putin, currently the worlds most notable villain, met with the worlds most notable young leader in the cryptocurrency and blockchain market. Vitaliy Buterin had meetings with Putin sometime during the World Economic Forum that was held in St. Petersburg. According to the cointelegraph.com,
"As commented by Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, during the meeting, Putin and Buterin discussed the application of technologies in the country. Reportedly, the president supported the idea of establishing new business relationships following the road paved by Blockchain technology." -Alicia Naumoff
Cc: https://cointelegraph.com/news/suddenly-vladimir-putin-meets-vitalik-buterin-endorses-ethereum
Vladimir Putin has been known to be anti-globalist, although there is much criticism of his government, many of the people I know from first hand experience love what he has done with his leadership role in Russia. Since the end of communism, Russia has been gearing towards nationalist capitalism, and I would imagine Putin has his sites on creating a nationalized cryptocurrency that can be somewhat regulated. I do see Putin using blockchain currency to his advantage, this may be able to help Russia's economy, bypassing sanctions and creating different platforms for contracts to unleash the current limits on the Russian economy, mainly thanks to the United States and their EU partners.
Obviously, there are many reasons beyond currency, that Putin would like to see implemented in society. The underlying message here is that a government as notable as the Russian government, looking to take steps into implementing blockchain technology in the economy, is a step forward for cryptocurrency.
Vitalik Buterin has been at the forefront of the blockchain and cryptocurrency hype; although, there are many in the BTC community that don't like what he is doing with Ethereum. Vitalik is a bright mind, you can see how active his brain is, with the movement of his eyes when he is explaining these incredible blockchain use cases and more.
As Ethereum is making its move at the moment, it is important for everyone to research. Go through YouTube, and watch Vitaliy presenting at different conferences. Try to understand his logic.
Watch the video in the link below, it is incredibly informative on blockchain, and different use cases. You will be better for it!