Ukraine to legalize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

Ukraine legalizes Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and other virtual assets.

The Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, on 8 September passed the draft law to legalize and regulate cryptocurrency and other virtual assets like Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT).

Previously, cryptocurrencies were neither legal nor banned in Ukraine; they existed in a legal grey area. Ukrainian citizens could buy and trade in cryptocurrencies but were not protected if something went wrong.

If President Volodymyr Zelensky signs the bill, the law will legalize virtual assets and protect their owners and exchange platforms from fraud. The law also defines virtual assets as intangible digital assets; the Ukrainian constitution enshrined the words virtual wallet, cryptocurrency, and private keys.

The cryptocurrency market for businesses and investors is to open in 2022 in Ukraine. Trading and investing in cryptocurrencies is extremely popular in Ukraine — with the daily turnover of virtual assets amounting to nearly $37000, according to the Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Federov.

Although the bill legalizes cryptocurrency and virtual assets, they cannot be used as legal tender to buy and exchange services or goods. The official currency, the Hryvnia, can alone be used as legal tender.

Ukraine now joins Cuba, El Salvador, Germany, Luxembourg, and Singapore as the only countries where virtual assets are legal.