On August 6, 2021, a new crypto-related bill in Ukraine will support crypto payments like Bitcoin (BTC) despite not recognizing all cryptos as legal tender, one government official claimed. The deputy minister of Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation Oleksandr Bornyakov thinks that cryptocurrency payments will be allowed in the country just like the payments made using US dollars.
Oleksandr Bornyakov is confident that it would be quite legal to pay using cryptos in Ukraine via payment intermediaries that enable crypto-to-fiat conversions. The official also said in an August 6 interview with the local financial publication Minfin that Ukraine’s draft bill on virtual assets says that cryptos do not constitute legal tender in the country, only supporting crypto purchases.
Nonetheless, the bill stipulates that local payment processors would still manage to offer services for changing crypto into fiat to enable payments deriving from cryptocurrency, saying:
“Today, the legislation in Ukraine also does not allow you to pay in dollars, but you can easily pay for purchases with a dollar card. Currencies are converted instantly during payment. […] Therefore, it will be quite legal to pay with cryptocurrencies in Ukraine, but through an intermediary.”
Bornyakov also stated that the forthcoming bill will officially legitimize the process of crypto trading and reporting. He added:
“We expect that there will be a whole market of intermediary services for payment of goods by cryptocurrencies, their storage and exchange. This will expand the possibilities of their use.”
Based on previous reports, the Ministry of Digital Transformation recommended the cautious adoption of an up-to-date draft bill “On Virtual Assets” in the second reading that happened in late June. Local e-bank Monobank eventually disclosed plans to launch a debit card featuring Bitcoin trading.
This news comes just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed another digital currency-related legislation, known as the law On Payment Services. This legislation officially enabled Ukraine’s central bank to issue a central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital hryvnia.
