The National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (NSSMMC) is working on a draft law on virtual assets with the aim of creating a new sector in the country's economy. The commission believes that the likelihood of Ukrainian virtual assets appearing is very high with proper regulation. This was stated by the head of the NSSMMC, Ruslan Magomedov, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
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According to him, it is difficult to predict when this law will be adopted.
“For us, this is not an election project, but a thorough work to create a new sector in the country’s economy… I believe that the likelihood of the emergence of Ukrainian virtual assets is very high,” he said.
“Why this bill has been sitting on the desks of people's deputies for over 1.5 years is a rhetorical question. But it looks like preparation for an election campaign,” added the head of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
In his opinion, this bill will definitely be adopted in the first reading in the near future, but when in the second reading is a question.
Magomedov noted that the commission proposes to act as a regulator of all virtual assets associated with a tangible asset or asset-referenced token (ART), while the National Bank of Ukraine will regulate money tokens, for which the underlying asset is money.
According to him, the model presented by the NCSSM was developed according to the standards of the EU Regulation on Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) and was preliminarily presented to the IMF mission, as well as during the meeting of the Financial Stability Council of Ukraine.
“We propose regulation based on MiCA because we are going to the European Union and are candidates for accession. This is not a story about us wanting to regulate someone and tighten the screws. We want honest white business to be protected from fraudsters,” the head of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission emphasized.
He added that the commission also proposed a tax matrix for virtual assets at a meeting of the working group of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, which it considers an economically balanced approach that will be comfortable for both business and the state.
“However, the final decision lies within the competence of the people’s deputies, the relevant committee of the Rada and the Ministry of Finance,” the chairman said.
In his opinion, virtual assets are the next step in the evolution of capital markets, just as securities were once in documentary form, and now it is enough to press a button to buy government bonds through “Action”.
“The same is true for virtual assets: businesses will use not an IPO (Initial public offering) but an ICO (Initial coin offering) to attract investment, that is, modern technologies like blockchain. This is convenient and modern,” Magomedov believes.
According to him, the commission could help with the creation of the first whitepaper in Ukraine (White Paper is the basis of a crypto project, containing technical information about the project and explanations of its purpose) and the placement of ART for an operating enterprise in Ukraine, which will use this money to develop its business, and Ukrainian virtual assets can give the right to a share in the business, the right to the right.
“I want to use all the best from the virtual assets market, but regulate it in our jurisdiction,” the head of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission concluded.
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