The team behind Ukraine’s monobank has not ruled out the possibility of reviving their previously proposed cryptocurrency card project in 2025. This was stated by the bank’s co-founder, Oleg Gorokhovsky, in an interview with the YouTube channel “Bombardier.”
In July 2021, monobank announced plans to issue bitcoin cards that would allow the bank’s clients to conduct cryptocurrency transactions. The project, according to ForkLog, was to be implemented in partnership with the WhiteBIT exchange. However, it did not receive approval from the National Bank of Ukraine.
Gorokhovsky hopes that with the potential presidency of Donald Trump in the United States, the crypto industry will gain new momentum and regulatory easing will occur.
“I think more enthusiasm will be added to the whole world, including our regulator, who will eventually allow Ukrainians to operate with cryptocurrencies. We made a good project, and I still hope that we will succeed [in implementing it],” the businessman stated.
With bitcoin cards, monobank aimed to popularize cryptocurrencies among Ukrainians and demonstrate their accessibility.
“People want this, and if the regulator is willing, we would gladly do something useful and interesting, as monobank usually does,” Gorokhovsky added.
He also emphasized that Ukrainians primarily view cryptocurrencies as “a good way to bypass classic regulations, such as capital controls and AML procedures.” In the future, he believes the market will become legitimate:
“Cryptocurrency might add some alternative payment history — this appeals to me. And the fight to hide things will only intensify — cryptocurrencies will be harder to conceal, and taxes will have to be paid.”
Gorokhovsky believes in bitcoin, owns several coins himself, and considers this market worthy of attention.
In August 2023, monobank co-founder Mikhail Rogalsky stated that the company does not plan to add bitcoin as a payment option for its services due to the asset’s “poor reputation.”
On December 10, 2024, monobank became one of the major commercial banks in Ukraine to sign a memorandum on tightening limits on outgoing transfers.