A digital hryvnia will be introduced in Ukraine – a new form of money that combines elements of non-cash and cash money.
The National Bank of Ukraine is working on a pilot project for a digital hryvnia, which will be a new alternative form of money alongside traditional cash and non-cash payments.
This was stated by the Deputy Head of the National Bank of Ukraine Oleksiy Shaban, reports CES.
I will start with the remark that it is not electronic money, but digital money. Electronic money is somewhat different in nature, and the goal, probably. Now the hryvnia can be digital. We are not saying that this will be the only type of currency and that a citizen can decide for himself whether to use it or not. If you don’t want to, don’t use it. The third form of the hryvnia, an alternative one,” Shaban pointed out.
According to him, the e-hryvnia allows for automatic payments under certain conditions, for example, government support programs such as “eBook” and “eRestoration” limit the use of funds only to relevant categories of goods, which increases the effectiveness of such initiatives.
Oleksiy Shaban explained that the digital hryvnia will be a combination of non-cash money and an analogue of cash, which requires direct control of the central bank. The National Bank plans to launch a pilot project to test the technological aspects of the e-hryvnia. This will happen in a real environment, where participants, in particular, entrepreneurs and wallet owners, will be able to check how the new currency works. The NBU is actively looking for a technology partner to implement the project, and several banks have expressed interest in cooperation. The testing process is exploratory and will allow us to confirm or refute previous hypotheses.
Let us recall that the National Bank of Ukraine plans to replace the exchange rate currency – instead of the dollar, this role will be performed by the euro. But for ordinary Ukrainians, this transition, as promised by the NBU, will happen slowly and imperceptibly. However, the specific timeframe for the implementation of this important step has not yet been announced.
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