Ukraine passes crypto bill even as IMF sounds the alarm

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The Ukrainian parliament has passed a bill legalizing and regulating cryptocurrencies and other digital assets in the country.

In a near-unanimous vote, a total of 276 Ukrainian lawmakers voted for the bill on September 8 and sent it straight to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desk.

Cryptocurrencies are on the verge of breaking out of a legal gray area in Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, officially adopted Bill 3637 on virtual assets, legally recognizing cryptocurrencies in the country for the first time. Although digital assets were never considered illegal, they existed in a legal gray area as they were not recognized by any of the country’s legislative branches.

Ukraine’s new bill defines digital assets as intangible assets expressed as electronic data, a Kyiv Post report revealed. It also offers a detailed explanation of what digital wallets and private keys are, as these terms have never been used in any Ukrainian law.

The country’s Digital Transformation Ministry will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the new law if approved by President Zelensky. The ministry will also work to “guide industry growth” in line with existing standards developed by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).

However, unlike El Salvador’s ruling this week, Ukraine’s new law does not recognize cryptocurrencies as legal tender. This means that Ukrainians cannot use cryptocurrencies as a means of payment or exchange them for goods and services, only the country’s national currency, the hryvnia, can be used for this.

What Ukrainians can do is own, trade and trade any type of cryptocurrency using both local and foreign exchange platforms that have been registered in the country.

The law will make registration much easier for crypto companies, requiring proof of transparency and a fee that starts at $ 3,100.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s Minister for Digital Transformation, believes that the regulation of cryptocurrencies will make them safer and more attractive to investors. He also noted that the law was part of the country’s efforts to modernize its payments market so that its National Bank would be able to issue its own digital currency, CNN reported.

Last month, during an official visit to the United States, President Zelensky said the country was building an “innovative legal market for virtual assets” that would be its main selling point for foreign investment.

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