Web3 Institute Results, Plans & Invitations
Program Director @Web3 Institute, Advisor to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
Max SemenchukKey Ideas:
Background:
- 7 years in Web3, focus on DAOs and distributed governance
- Previously managed 4irelabs (development company)
- 2020: Joined Ministry of Digital Transformation's virtual assets regulation team (5 years)
- Created Web3 Institute initiative as Program Director
- Research interests: Public goods, regenerative finance, agent-based modeling
Why Web3 Institute Exists:
- Ukraine's Position:
- Top 1-5 in crypto adoption per capita globally
- Not biggest market in size, but highest adoption level
- Crisis contributed to adoption
- No regulation initially, but lots of services
- The Gap (2020):
- Big disconnect between market reality and regulators' understanding
- Business people didn't understand policy implications
- Regulators lacked industry understanding
- Suggested by UNDP advisor: Use foresight methodology for long-term thinking
2020 Foresight Research:
- Vision: What market do we want by 2030?
- Participants: 100+ people
- Every relevant ministry
- Parliamentarians
- Every type of business (mining, DeFi, developers, consultants)
- NGOs
- Even sociologists
- Methodology: Online and offline workshops collecting ecosystem intelligence
- Key Contradiction: Freedom vs. SecurityFreedom Side (Market):Security Side (Legislators):
- Enjoyed lack of rules
- Nothing restricted (crypto never banned, never illegal, but never legal - gray zone)
- Minimum restrictions (only terrorist funding enforcement)
- No bank access but maximum freedom
- Protect country (already had Russian aggression in 2020, escalated 2022)
- Economic security
- Currency stability
- Consumer protection
- Crypto reputation issues (illegal activities, tax evasion)
- Two Visions Emerged:
- Digital Democracy: Open, transparent, collectively governed
- Digital Dictatorship: Restricted, corporate-favorable (monopoly positions, heavy lawyers), more surveillance
- Comparison drawn to Taiwan vs. China approaches
- Tension existed but majority leaned toward freedom
- Roadmap Outcome:
- Education project united both sides
- Became foundation for Web3 Institute's work
Web3 Institute Development (2020-2024):
- Structure: Public-private partnership (legally a public union)
- 50+ Partners including:
- Government: Ukraine Ministry of Digital Transformation, Parliament, Switzerland government, Cyber Police
- Academic: Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, IEEE, Linux Foundation, top Ukrainian universities
- Business: Provided expertise and funding
- Core Team:
- Passionate coordinators maintaining initiatives
- Dmytro Nikolaievskyi (co-author of virtual assets law) - presenting tomorrow
- Dmytro Maslov (decentralized science) - presenting day 3
- Sergii Grybniak (constant host, research presenter)
- Guiding Values:
- Digital economy and digital democracy
- Economic recovery
- Digital trust
- Interoperability (within countries, within systems)
- Social impact
- Ecological impact
Why Focus on Talent:
- Ecosystem Pillars Assessment:
- Regulation: Still not in place after 5+ years (law passed, needs taxation amendments)
- Investment: Never strong hub due to judicial weaknesses; war worsened (migration, risks, development offices)
- Talent: ✅ Only strong, consistent pillar
- Best technical universities for long time
- Development hub status
- Great projects founded by Ukrainians (Solana, Near - not registered in Ukraine, but founded by Ukrainians)
- Most important: Ukrainians' prosperity
- Creating opportunities for other Ukrainians
- 2024 Strategy: Bet on talent where lack of meaningful, sustainable activity existed
Programs & Achievements:
1. Education Courses:
- Basic Crypto Literacy Course:
- 36,000+ students started
- Plan to update with new content and onchain certifications
- Being integrated into universities (some provide official credits)
- Intro to Web3 Professions:
- Market needs: Developers, marketers, managers, financiers, community managers
- Featured Ukrainian-rooted company representatives for each profession
- Covered: Myths, roadmaps, expectations, important knowledge/media
- Also being integrated into universities
- Government Training:
- Partnership with Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (regulators)
- Internal Ministry workshops (promoting DLT use in government)
2. Research Publications:
- Talk to Founders:
- Interviewed founders (most advanced market perspective)
- Topics: What drives and stops market development (talent, regulation, war)
- Summarized thoughts on market development
- Web3 Manifesto:
- Four topics: Trust, recovery, interoperability, ESG
- "Bible" for measuring Web3 Institute's efficiency
- Government DLT Use Cases:
- Researched 6 cases: CBDC, timber industry supply chain tracking, etc.
- Analysis: What worked in implementations, how to move forward
- This Conference:
- Part of research effort
- Connects best minds globally on Ukraine's rebuild
- Upcoming: Digital Economy Impact Research (presenting tomorrow)
- Panel with Minister and experts
- Need scientific rigor in implementations (Ukraine has limited resources to spare)
- Making steps measurable
3. Internship Matching Program:
- Context:
- Web3 is tight bubble (slang, insiders, recruiting from internal circles)
- Professions course helped orientation, but practice needed
- How It Works:
- Students sign up, share experience (hackathons, cryptography courses, etc.)
- Companies receive list, select candidates to interview
- Several students already transitioned to full-time jobs
- Expansion Plans:
- Scale to more companies
- Include economic universities (not just technical)
- Expand to other countries (European Union and beyond)
- Open to curriculum development collaboration
- Help incubate student projects (find experts/mentors)
4. Grassroots DAO Fund:
- Purpose: Support leadership in universities
- Structure:
- 18 community signers (second half of 2024)
- Donations from: Celo, Gitcoin, community members
- Applications for small funding (meetups, initiatives)
- Results:
- Already distributed to 2 applications
- Plan to increase fund 10-20x next year
- Small amounts have significant impact on initiative speed
Future Plans:
1. Talent Association (Vision):
- Problem to Solve:
- Decrease hiring costs
- Increase hiring quality
- Security issues (bad actors taking positions in companies)
- Onchain Certification Approach:
- Map the industry
- Form "union of Web3 professionals"
- Enable voting, whitelisting/blacklisting
- Professors attest students
- Companies see new talent instantly
- Use network science to improve efficiency
2. Collaboration Opportunities:
- Curriculum development resources
- Student project incubation
- Expert/mentor matching
- Cross-university partnerships (EU and beyond)
3. Digital Economy Impact Research:
- 20+ sections (energy, judicial system, etc.)
- Need more experts for specific domains
- Help use cases gain Ukrainian context consideration
- Get feedback and traction from expert community
- Contributors: EY (Paul Brody), IEEE leadership, Linux Foundation (Ramesh), GPBC (Dimitrios)
Website Resources:
- Current internship talent profiles visible
- Two-year plans page
- Open to new partner proposals
- Contact information available
Invitation to Collaborate:
- Join talent association
- Propose programs aligned with current successes
- Contribute to digital economy research
- Hire Ukrainian talent (strong cyber security, cryptography, mathematics, deep tech, English skills)
- Support grassroots initiatives through DAO fund
Closing:
- Contact: Max Semenchuk, web3institute.org
- Next two days of IEEE agenda continue
- Tomorrow starts 30 minutes earlier
- Great speakers lined up (UNDP pension fund presentation on decentralized identity, etc.)
We're excited to introduce Max Semenchuk, Program Director at Web3 Institute and Advisor to the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, as a featured speaker at the IEEE 2nd Ukrainian DLT Forum: REBUIDL.
Max Semenchuk will share insights on Web3 talent development in Ukraine and building the next generation of blockchain innovators. As Program Director at Web3 Institute, Max has been instrumental in cultivating Ukraine's Web3 ecosystem through educational initiatives, community building, and strategic partnerships that connect Ukrainian talent with global opportunities. His advisory role with Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation positions him uniquely to speak on the intersection of education policy, workforce development, and technological innovation.
With extensive experience in tech education and community development, Max has led programs that empower Ukrainian developers, researchers, and entrepreneurs to engage with cutting-edge blockchain technologies. His work focuses on creating pathways for talent to contribute to both Ukraine's reconstruction and the global Web3 ecosystem, demonstrating how decentralized technologies can create economic opportunities and foster innovation even in challenging circumstances.
Through his leadership at Web3 Institute, Max has built bridges between Ukrainian talent and international Web3 communities, organizing educational events, research collaborations, and professional development opportunities. His approach emphasizes practical skills development, fostering critical thinking about decentralized systems, and creating sustainable career paths in the blockchain industry.
His presentation will explore the current state of Web3 talent in Ukraine, strategies for developing technical expertise and entrepreneurial capacity, and the unique advantages Ukrainian developers bring to the global blockchain ecosystem — drawing from his direct experience building educational programs and fostering the growth of Ukraine's Web3 community.
Sign up: https://luma.com/ophiykvy
Full agenda: https://luma.com/dltforum