The NBU is not ready to deprive the hryvnia of its status as a single legal means of payment.
The National Bank will resist circumvention of state regulation during transactions with virtual assets. The hryvnia will remain the main means of payment in Ukraine.
The head of the NBU Andriy Pyshnyy said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“The hryvnia is the only legal means of payment in Ukraine. This is our fundamental position. It is the fact that the hryvnia remains functional, is stable, and enjoys trust that allows Ukraine to be effective in many ways, despite the war. We do not consider cryptocurrency as a legal means of payment. Are we working on this challenge? Yes, we are. Several technical missions of the IMF took place, the purpose of which was to deeply study various experiences and develop comprehensive proposals for the legislative regulation of the virtual asset market that would take into account the European experience and requirements for financial monitoring,” Pyshnyy said.
Recall that in March 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the law “On Virtual Assets”, but, despite the expectations of players in the Ukrainian crypto market, the document has not been entered into force. To make this possible, amendments to the Tax and Civil Codes of Ukraine were required – this would clearly define the mechanism for taxing virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies.
However, at the beginning of a full-scale war, the issues of amendments to the Tax Code were postponed, and subsequently the law in its first version was abandoned.
At the same time, the popularity of central bank digital currencies – CBDC – is growing in the world.