Mikhail Shlyapnikov, cancer survivor turned quaint Russian farmer and cryptocurrency revolutionary, is well known within the ecosystem. He's about as eccentric as imagined, defiantly taking on his government through the issuance of a proprietary, local money. It was a way to get out from under gouging state-backed banks. Close to half a decade later, and after a crackdown, his little hamlet is thriving as a result of tapping the digital universe to cure their monetary ills.

Russian Farmer Living the Crypto Revolution

"I don't want to expand because it will bring obligations I'm not ready for. I'm not ready to save the world or even Russia, I want to be comfortable and I want to share this comfort with the community," Mikhail Shlyapnikov told CNN Money. The expansion he speaks of revolves around his personal economic odyssey spurred by banking cartels and their double digit interest premiums on access to capital, Russian rubles.

Mikhail Shlyapnikov

?????????? (Kolionovo) is little over an hour by car from Moscow. That was just enough space for Mr. Shlyapnikov to hospice a cancer diagnosis. It's a farming village, population probably around a couple dozen. It was a chance to escape city life. That was nearly a decade ago, and almost immediately the iconoclast former banker set about changing things.