{{Short description|Russian farmer and entrepreneur}} {{Infobox person | name = Mikhail Shlyapnikov | image = | website = | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | native_name = Михаил Шляпников | native_name_lang = ru | pronunciation = | other_names = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | citizenship = Russia | occupation = Farmer, crypto entrepreneur | known_for = Kolion scrip, [KLN] cryptocurrency }}
'''Mikhail Shlyapnikov''' ({{lang-rus|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.<ref name=CSMonitor>{{Cite news |title=He calls it a 'hustle,' but this Russian’s cryptocurrency empowers a village |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2018/0723/He-calls-it-a-hustle-but-this-Russian-s-cryptocurrency-empowers-a-village |access-date=2024-08-31 |work=Christian Science Monitor |issn=0882-7729}}</ref> Following a car accident, he relocated to Kolionovo to become a farmer.<ref name=DeCenter></ref>
== Grassroots activism ==
Shlyapnikov first gained notoriety for fighting the 2010 Russian wildfires without government approval.<ref name="meduza">{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2015/06/12/do-not-pass-go-do-not-collect-200-dollars|title=Russian Farmer on Trial for Printing His Own Monopoly Money|author=Andrey Kozenko|date=June 12, 2015|access-date=September 5, 2017|publisher=Meduza}}</ref>
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.<ref name="meduza"/><ref name="moscow">{{cite news|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/anarchist-russian-farmer-to-defend-his-village-currency-in-court/522928.html|title=Anarchist Russian Farmer to Defend His Village Currency in Court|author=Ivan Nechepurenko|author-link=Ivan Nechepurenko|date=June 2, 2015|access-date=September 5, 2017|newspaper=The Moscow Times}}</ref>
=== 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.<ref name="meduza"/><ref name=CSMonitor/><ref name="rapsi">{{cite web|url=http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20150601/273841914.html|title=Russian Prosecutors Seek to Ban "Surrogate Money" Known as Kolions|date=June 1, 2015|access-date=June 11, 2016|publisher=Russian Legal Information Agency}}</ref>
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:
{{verse translation|lang=ru|«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…»<ref name=DeCenter>{{Citation |title=Первый на деревне, или как Михаил Шляпников сидя на пеньке создал свою криптовалюту Kolion |date=2019-02-26 |url=https://decenter.org/pervyi-na-derevne-kolion/ |publisher=DeCenter |language=ru}}</ref>|"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…"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://qz.com/429536/the-absurd-trial-of-a-russian-farmer-who-invented-his-own-inflation-proof-currency | title=The absurd trial of a Russian farmer who invented his own inflation-proof currency | date=17 June 2015 }}</ref>}}
On 1 July 2015, the kolion scrip was declared illegal tender by a Moscow regional court, and Shlyapnikov ordered to cease and desist printing.<ref>{{Citation |title=Russian Court Bans Anarchist Farmer's Self-Made Currency |date=2015-07-02 |url=https://www.themoscowtimes.com/archive/russian-court-bans-anarchist-farmers-self-made-currency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240916184518/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/archive/russian-court-bans-anarchist-farmers-self-made-currency |archive-date=2024-09-16 |url-status=live |publisher=The Moscow Times}}</ref>
== Cryptocurrency ==
In 2016, Shlyapnikov sold shares of his farm for {{Interlanguage link|Emercoin|ru}}, allowing public speculation on his farm's production. He collected {{RUB|800,000}}-equivalent in capital, and paid dividends via cryptocurrency.<ref name=CSMonitor/><ref name=heise>{{Citation |title=Pflügen statt schürfen |last=Heppel |first=Gregor |work=MIT Technology Review |volume=2019 |issue=8 |pages=62 |url=https://www.heise.de/select/tr/2018/9/1535263573598793 |url-status=live |place=Germany |publisher=heise |year=2019 |trans-title=Plowing instead of stoking |access-date=2025-07-30 |language=de}}</ref>
Shlyapnikov went further to mint his own cryptocurrency token, reviving the kolion as '''[KLN]'''. The initial coin offering in April 2017 on {{interlanguage link|Waves (cryptocurrency exchange)|lt=Waves|de|Waves_(Kryptowährung)#Dezentrale_Handelsplattform}} raised 401 ₿.<ref name=DeCenter/><ref name=CSMonitor/><ref name=heise/>
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].<ref name=WSJ>{{Citation |title=Russian Farmer Alters Rural Economy With Virtual Currency, as Moscow Watches Warily |last=Grove |first=Thomas |date=2018-04-18 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-farmer-alters-rural-economy-with-virtual-currency-as-moscow-watches-warily-1524398400 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180422173010/https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-farmer-alters-rural-economy-with-virtual-currency-as-moscow-watches-warily-1524398400 |archive-date=2018-04-22 |url-status=live |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |url-access=subscription}}</ref> Category:Local currencies Category:Currencies of Russia
== References== {{reflist}} {{Russia-stub}} {{Money-unit-stub}}