After inspiring remarks of Vladimir Putin on "coins", russian fans of the digital currency organize the picnic in Gorky Park.

The organisers announced the picnic through “Vkontakte” social network.

“The summer is at the peak. We are organising picnic/meetup for all bitcoiners and all those interested in digital currencies and the blockchain technology.”

The picnic will happen in Gorky Park on 1 August around noon. It is just 2 kilometres away from the Kremlin.The organisers ask all participants to bring volleyballs, Frisbees, longboards and “food and drinks” (whatever it means). They also ask the community members to invite people who are interested in bitcoin.

The admission is free. Despite this, presently only 19 people confirmed their participation in Vkontakte network and another 11 said that they “may go there”. The event organisers ask the participants to avoid any political statements. CoinFox plans to attend the event.

Last year, Russian Ministry of Finance introduced a law which, if accepted, would effectively ban bitcoin in the country. This year, the state authorities changed their attitude to bitcoin. In April, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina spoke favourably of bitcoin. Experts suggested that a government-run bitcoin exchange could be created to monopolise the ruble/bitcoin conversion

On 14 July, President of Russia Vladimir Putin said that it is possible to use bitcoins for some operations:“You can use them as the equivalent [of money] in certain segments of economy. This is possible.”

Roman Korizky