Ukraine is the fifth country in as many weeks to set basic ground rules for the cryptocurrency market. Therefore, indicating that governments worldwide recognize bitcoin’s long-term sustainability thus driving Bitcoin adoption at world-wide level.
Legalizing Bitcoin
The Ukrainian Parliament passed a measure legalizing and regulating bitcoin in a near-unanimous vote. The effort, introduced in 2020, is presently on its way to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s desk.
Until now, cryptocurrency has operated in a legal grey area in Ukraine.
Inhabitants now had the permission to buy and exchange digital currencies. However, law enforcement kept a watchful eye on crypto firms and exchanges.
Aggressive Approach
According to the Kyiv Post, officials have taken an aggressive approach to virtual currency. Therefore branding it a “scam,” raiding crypto-related enterprises, and “often confiscating expensive equipment without any grounds.”
Additionally, in August, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) shut down a network of “clandestine cryptocurrency exchanges” in Kyiv. The SBU alleged that the sole purpose of these exchanges was to facilitate financial fraud and provide transaction anonymity.
The new laws also spell out basic fraud measures for those who possess bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and lawmakers have attempted to define core terminology in the crypto realm, which is a first for the Verkhovna Rada. If signed by the president, virtual assets, e-wallets, and private keys will be incorporated into Ukrainian law.
Not Easy To Use Bitcoin
Unlike El Salvador’s decision this week to make bitcoin legal finances, Ukraine’s crypto law does not make it easier to use bitcoin as a means of payment, nor does it place it on par with the country’s currency hryvnia.
However, the former nuclear power’s vote today is part of a more extensive campaign by Kyiv to embrace bitcoin.
According to the Kyiv Post, the country wants to open the cryptocurrency market to businesses and investors by 2022. Top state officials have also been promoting their crypto credentials to Silicon Valley investors and business capital funds.
President Zelensky mentioned Ukraine’s budding “legal innovative market for virtual assets” as a critical differentiator for investment during an official state visit to the United States last month, and Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, said the country was modernizing its payment economy so that its National Bank could release digital currency.
Incorporating Bitcoin Worldwide
Ukraine has joined a growing list of countries that have incorporated bitcoin into their national legislation.
El Salvador became the first nation to embrace bitcoin as legal tender and keep it on its balance sheet just this week. President Nayib Bukele’s political future is fundamentally tied to the outcome of this statewide bitcoin experiment.
Cuba, a notoriously conservative government still committed to old Marxist values, enacted a law two weeks ago recognizing and regulating cryptocurrency, claiming “socioeconomic interest.”
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