Ukraine is preparing to introduce a new form of national currency — the digital hryvnia. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is developing a pilot project that will test this form of money.
URA-Inform reports this, citing Today.ua.
Deputy Head of the NBU Oleksiy Shaban spoke about the prospects for the emergence of a digital hryvnia. According to Shaban, the National Bank has not yet made a final decision on the start of issuing a digital hryvnia. However, there is already a corresponding article in the law on payment services, which provides for a new form of money – e-hryvnia, along with cash and non-cash currency.
It is worth noting that the digital hryvnia differs from electronic money, as Shaban clarified:
“This is not electronic money, but digital money, with a different nature and purposes.”
The digital hryvnia will be an alternative to traditional money, and citizens will be able to decide for themselves whether to use it in everyday payments.
One of the possible applications of digital money will be its programmability. For example, citizens will be able to receive money within the framework of social programs and use it exclusively for the purchase of certain goods. In stores participating in the project, goods can be coded and can only be purchased using digital means. Thus, the digital hryvnia will perform functions similar to cash, but with additional capabilities related to programmable payments.
The NBU plans to conduct a pilot test of the digital hryvnia with real participants — merchants and wallet owners. This will allow testing the technological aspects of the project and confirming or refuting hypotheses about its effectiveness. As Oleksiy Shaban noted, this will be an open environment where everyone can take part in the testing. It is expected that the project will become available to the public in the near future.
Let us recall that the “Contract 18-24” program has begun to produce results: the first payments have been made.