TL;DR Breakdown

• Ukraine has passed a bill to legalize all cryptocurrencies. 
• All cryptocurrency usage, trading, and investment will now be legal in the country. 
• The law will influence crypto and blockchain entrepreneurs in the country. 
• The bill sets clear regulations and obligations for crypto exchanges. 

Ukraine’s parliament has voted in favour of legalizing cryptocurrencies including Bitcion. The Virtual Assets Bill was passed today in the parliament, according to which all cryptocurrencies will now have legal status in the country. Specifically, crypto investment, trading, and usage will be legal in Ukraine from now on. However, Bitcoin or anyother crypto will not be recognized as a legal tender in the country like El Salvador. 

Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov expressed his gratitude and satisfaction with the newly passed bill. According to Fedorov, this new law will provide significant opportunities for the country’s digital businesses, and allow virtual platforms and exchanges to trade more freely. He also emphasised that legalizing crypto will aid in the country’s ongoing digital transformation. 

Fedorov also expressed that the law will allow more entrepreneurial ventures to flourish in the country surrounding the crypto and blockchain space, and it will also allow more capital investments to flow into this industry. 

Ukraine provides regulatory clarity for crypto exchanges

The newly passed law also provides a regulatory framework for businesses that trade in crypto, mainly crypto exchanges. According to the details, crypto or Bitcoin service providers must abide by the rules and regulations set by the bill. Any violation of such regulations will incur significant fines. The bill also details that the National Securities Commission will regulate the crypto market in the country. 

The bill also classifies all cryptocurrencies as ‘virtual assets’. It confirms that Ukrainian citizens will have the right to hold and use virtual assets with any market participants. However, virtual assets are not to be used as traditional payment instruments. 

The bill passed today was also presented to the parliament back in September 2021. However, the country’s President Volodymyr Zelensky vetoed the bill, arguing that the country wasn’t ready for a new regulatory body to specifically regulate cryptocurrencies. 

President Zelensky re-introduced the bill again in this sessions parliament hearing, with a solution to allow existing regulators to oversee the crypto sector. Thus the National Securities Commission was nominated to regulate cryptocurrencies in the country.