Ukraine’s Parliament Approves Bill Legalizing and Regulating Crypto

Ukraine has joined the list of countries that have approved laws to legalize and regulate cryptocurrencies.

According to a Wednesday report by a local media outlet, Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, has approved a bill that will see crypto and other digital assets become legal in the country.

The bill was approved with a total of 276 votes from the Ukrainian lawmakers on Sept. 8.

What The Bill Entails

Once the bill is officially signed by the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, the new law will serve as a protection for digital asset owners and crypto exchanges from fraud.

For the longest time, crypto assets have never been viewed as either legal or illegal in Ukraine due to the lack of any laws defining them. Citizens could make crypto transactions but were not guaranteed the government’s protection whenever something went wrong.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Digital Transformation noted that Ukraine is also planning to open the cryptocurrency market for businesses and investors by 2022

However, the country’s parliament will have to pass a set of laws and amend the Tax Code and the Civil Code first. The law will allow crypto-related businesses to operate in Ukraine but they must pass state registration requirements and submit the necessary reports on their activities to the competent authorities.

The country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, the National Bank of Ukraine, the National Securities Commission, and other top financial watchdogs, will be the main regulators of the virtual assets market, according to the law. 

Sadly, though, despite being legalized, digital currencies can not be used as means of payment in Ukraine in the meantime. But, citizens can hold and trade them on different foreign and domestic crypto exchanges in the country.

A Favorable Environment for Crypto Businesses

Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, noted that legalizing crypto will improve their safety and encourage more Ukrainians to invest in it and also encourage crypto businesses to register in the country.

“Only a few countries in the world have legalized crypto assets — Germany, Luxembourg, Singapore. Ukraine will be one of them… Favorable conditions will allow companies to register in Ukraine, rather than abroad. The entrepreneurs will pay taxes to the budget, but will be protected by the state.”

El Salvador, the first country to make bitcoin a legal tender, celebrated its Bitcoin day by increasing its bitcoin holdings.