Mikhail Shlyapnikov

Mikhail Shlyapnikov
Михаил Шляпников
CitizenshipRussia
OccupationsFarmer, crypto entrepreneur
Known forKolion scrip, [KLN] cryptocurrency

Mikhail Shlyapnikov (Russian: Михаил Шляпников) is a Russian farmer, direct counter-economic activist and entrepreneur known for creating the kolion local currency scrip, and its post-ban cryptocurrency form.

Career

Shlyapnikov worked in the business and finance sector since the 1990s. In 2007 he was diagnosed with an inoperable cancer. Following a car accident, he relocated to Kolionovo to become a farmer.

Grassroots activism

Shlyapnikov first gained notoriety for fighting the 2010 Russian wildfires without government approval.

Shlyapnikov organized harassment of government officials entering Kolionovo, such as requiring a doctor's note proving their mental health and a recent fluorography lab test to prove that they do not have tuberculosis.

Kolion scrip

In 2014, during the Russian financial crisis, Shlyapnikov minted a scrip, the kolion, as an alternative to the ruble. The name is a truncation of Kolionovo. The scrip is a local currency usable only in Kolionovo, pegged to both 10kg of potatoes or 1/50 of a goose. Shlyapnikov sought to introduce kolions to promote a circular economy to improve Kolionovo's living conditions.

Kolion notes are one-sided and were printed by Shlyapnikov in multicolored denominations of one, three, five, ten, twenty-five and fifty Kolion. Every note had the following inscription:

«Билет является собственностью казны Колионово. Не подлежит инфляции, девальвации, стагнации и прочей фальсификации. Не является средством обогащения и спекуляции. Обеспечен собственными ресурсами Колионово. За подделку можно и того…»

Translation:

"This note is the property of the Kolionovo exchequer. It does not undergo inflation, deflation, stagnation or other falsifications. It is not a means of enrichment or speculation. It is supported by the resources of Kolionovo. Or maybe it’s a fake…"

On 1 July 2015, the kolion scrip was declared illegal tender by a Moscow regional court, and Shlyapnikov ordered to cease and desist printing.

Cryptocurrency

In 2016, Shlyapnikov sold shares of his farm for Emercoin [ru], allowing public speculation on his farm's production. He collected 800,000 ₽-equivalent in capital, and paid dividends via cryptocurrency.

Shlyapnikov went further to mint his own cryptocurrency token, reviving the kolion as [KLN]. The initial coin offering in April 2017 on Waves [de] raised 401 ₿.

One year on, Shlyapnikov claimed over 100 people in the Kolionovo area were using [KLN] for transactions. He introduced a loan program for other farmers to receive chicks and split the egg production 50/50, on the condition that transactions are made in [KLN].

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "He calls it a 'hustle,' but this Russian's cryptocurrency empowers a village". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
  2. 1 2 3 Первый на деревне, или как Михаил Шляпников сидя на пеньке создал свою криптовалюту Kolion (in Russian), DeCenter, 2019-02-26
  3. 1 2 3 Andrey Kozenko (June 12, 2015). "Russian Farmer on Trial for Printing His Own Monopoly Money". Meduza. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  4. ↑ Ivan Nechepurenko (June 2, 2015). "Anarchist Russian Farmer to Defend His Village Currency in Court". The Moscow Times. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Russian Prosecutors Seek to Ban "Surrogate Money" Known as Kolions". Russian Legal Information Agency. June 1, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  6. ↑ "The absurd trial of a Russian farmer who invented his own inflation-proof currency". 17 June 2015.
  7. ↑ Russian Court Bans Anarchist Farmer's Self-Made Currency, The Moscow Times, 2015-07-02, archived from the original on 2024-09-16
  8. 1 2 Heppel, Gregor (2019), "Pflügen statt schürfen" [Plowing instead of stoking], MIT Technology Review (in German), vol. 2019, no. 8, Germany: heise, p. 62, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ↑ Grove, Thomas (2018-04-18), Russian Farmer Alters Rural Economy With Virtual Currency, as Moscow Watches Warily, The Wall Street Journal{{citation}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)