Ukraine has officially legalized Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after President Zelensky signed the virtual assets bill into law.
Bitcoin and Other Crypto Assets are now legal in Ukraine
Amid the ongoing military conflict with Russia, the bill, called the Law on Virtual Assets in Ukraine, which establishes the parameters for the legalization and regulation of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, was finally signed by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, after approval by the Verkhovna Rada, as Ukraine’s parliament is known, in mid-February.
Zelensky had sent the bill back to the local parliament with a series of amendments that were finally approved by the legislators.
Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, confirmed the news on twitter. He wrote:
“The law “on virtual assets” was signed today! Now crypto is legalized in Ukraine. Thank you, President Zelensky for the support. We believe that the crypto industry offers new economic opportunities. We will do our best to bring the new bright future closer as soon as possible.”
With this new law, the holding, classification and legal status of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine is officially recognized, thus representing “another important step in bringing the cryptocurrency sector out of the shadows and launching a legal market for virtual assets in Ukraine”, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation said in a statement.
Ukraine Central Bank and The National Securities and Stock Market Commission To Monitor Crypto Players
According to the law, National Bank of Ukraine, the country’s central bank, and the National Securities and Stock Market Commission will be in charge of monitoring crypto participants and companies.
Crypto firms will have to adhere to the guidelines, licenses and compliance regulations. In addition, this regulation will allow international and local cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as crypto companies, to operate legally in the country , while banks will be able to open accounts for said crypto companies,
According to the announcement of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, after the Law on Virtual Assets in Ukraine is ratified by Zelensky, it is expected to come into effect soon with the Law of Ukraine on Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine, a draft law parallel that will seek to lay the tax and tax bases for cryptocurrencies in the country .
Crypto is lifeline for Ukraine
For now, Ukraine has been visualizing the potential of cryptocurrencies and the solidarity of the crypto sector during the Russian invasion, since both the national government and different NFT projects and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), have received millions of dollars in donations with cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Monero, Dogecoin, Polkadot and stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and DAI, funds that have already been used to buy military equipment and supplies.
Apart from the government, crypto has also become a lifeline for Ukrainian as the normal banking is affected by the war like situation.
Millions of Crypto donations pouring into Ukraine to support its defense against Russian invasion
Cryptocurrency donations to Ukraine amount to more than $80 million, according to data compiled by SlowMist.
For its part, The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation partnered with the crypto exchanges FTX, Kuna, and staking platform Everstake to launch a fundraising portal to channel donations in crypto and convert them into fiat money to send to the Central Bank of Ukraine. They have set a goal of $200 million in crypto donation from this portal. Within two days of launch of this portal over $53.9 million (over 25% of the target) have already been raised at the time of publication.
Several other fundraising initiatives are being run by crypto community. Recently, 100 Ukrainian artists joined together to create an Art collection of 300 NFT to support the Ukrainian fight against the Russian invasion.
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