By
Bena Ilyas
April 25th, 2024
The President of Ukraine signed a law officially recognizing crypto, as part of financial efforts to withstand the assault from Russian forces.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has formally signed a virtual asset bill to legalize crypto in the war-torn Eastern European country. Zelenskyy’s assent may be primarily influenced by the massive aid crypto has provided for Ukraine. Since Russian forces invaded the country, Ukraine has benefitted from up to $100 million in support from the crypto community.
Ukraine has channeled a significant sum from the received crypto towards Ukrainian military efforts in fending off Russia. Crypto has also facilitated relief administrations to the countless displaced Ukrainian citizens impacted by the war.
Insight Into New Ukraine Crypto Initiative
Weighing in on Ukraine’s new crypto initiative, the nation’s deputy minister of digital transformation Alex Bornyakov said in a tweet:
“Almost for two years our ministry @mintsyfra have been working on developing a legal framework for crypto companies. Today crypto plays a vital role in Ukraine’s defense process. All this helps to raise awareness and engage people worldwide.”
In addition, the top-ranking government official also stated:
“We believe that crypto industry offers new economic opportunities. We will do our best to bring the bright new future closer as soon as possible.”
According to a statement from the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the new crypto law comes with stipulations. These include ‘what should pass as a crypto asset,’ as well as conditions for establishing a legal virtual asset market in the country. Furthermore, other regulations contained therein include who can offer digital currencies and details regarding requisite registration.
The National Securities and Stock Market Commission will regulate the newly-created crypto space along with the National Bank of Ukraine. These will carry out a host of core obligations in the course of financially monitoring the crypto space. Such obligations include forming and implementing state policies on crypto and issuing permits to crypto service providers.
Ukraine’s parliament adopted the crypto law on February 17. Before this, there was also an earlier version of the bill, proposed September last year, to which Zelenskyy requested some changes. However, the new bill contains the Ukrainian president’s preferred adjustments and is now official in the country.
Ukraine Big on Leveraging Metaverse-Centric Tools in Defense Against Russia
The crypto decree in Ukraine could not have arrived at a better time as the country is already one of the world’s top 5 for crypto usage. The decree is taking effect shortly after Dubai instituted its Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority and on the heels of US President Joe Biden signing an Executive Order on oversight of the crypto industry.
On Monday, March 14th, the Ukrainian government launched a website dedicated to global crypto donations. By Wednesday afternoon, the platform had raised more than $54 million of its targeted $200 million. Notable digital currencies accepted are Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT).
Ukraine also intends to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) collection about the Russian war.