Abstract:

The current development of the global economic system cannot be imagined without the widespread introduction and use of innovative digital technologies, which have led to the complete transformation of some economic sectors. The innovative potential of some modern information and communication technologies enables us to radically modernize the entire economic system, allowing it to move to a new stage of development. Today many experts are talking about the fourth industrial revolution, which should provide a new qualitative leap in creating a “smart economy” based on innovative potential to meet the needs of each individual in accordance with his or her requests. One of such revolutionary technologies that enable changing the economic landscape of entire areas of economic development is blockchain technology, which originally appeared as part of the Fintech area in the financial sector, but currently has been used in many other economic areas. It is no coincidence that many countries with developed and developing economies pay attention to the development and use of these technologies, investing huge amounts of money both from the private business and through government support through various programs. In Russia, the implementation and use of these technologies are at the initial stage, however, over the past few years, blockchain technologies have become used in the Russian economic sectors. The innovative potential of blockchain technologies was considered in this study, the basic principles of blockchain technology as a distributed database capable of functioning within the information network space were analyzed. This analysis identified the features of this technology, from the standpoint of its formation and development as a new entity within innovative information technologies. The Russian potential for the development and application of blockchain technology has been analyzed; the Russian market for this technology has been evaluated: the volumes of the Russian market, growth rates and its key players have been determined. The main areas of using blockchain technologies in the Russian economy are analyzed in this paper, the main barriers to their implementation are revealed. Based on the analysis, the prospects for the introduction and use of blockchain technologies in the Russian economy are estimated.