NBU Delays E-Hryvnia Pilot Payments Again

The National Bank of Ukraine is preparing a comprehensive pilot project for the e-hryvnia, which will involve real users and payment service providers. This was announced by NBU Deputy Head Oleksiy Shaban in his column in Ekonomichna Pravda.

According to him, participants will have the opportunity to test the CBDC in various types of transactions, including P2P transfers, payment for goods and services, budget payments, donations, and salary receipts.

“This will allow us to determine whether the e-hryvnia can perform the functions of money, meet user needs, and if its programmability is effective,” explained Shaban.

Based on the test results, a decision will be made regarding the large-scale issuance of the e-hryvnia.

If approved, the digital form of the national currency will complement cash and electronic funds, but will not replace them.

Meanwhile, the NBU will ensure confidentiality in the use of the e-hryvnia.

“The National Bank will not possess any personal information about users or have access to it. It will act solely as the operator of the e-hryvnia platform, ensuring its continuous and secure operation,” added Shaban.

The deputy head of the regulator did not specify the start date for the pilot project.

The initial steps towards implementing the e-hryvnia were taken by the NBU back in late 2016. Preliminary testing of the innovative payment solution began in June 2017, during which the National Bank issued coins worth about 5000 hryvnias.

In February 2020, the NBU, in collaboration with blockchain company Distributed Lab, presented an MVP of the digital hryvnia system.

In June 2021, the Verkhovna Rada passed the “On Payment Services” law, which also regulates the general principles of CBDC issuance.

In November 2022, the NBU presented the e-hryvnia concept project to market participants in virtual assets and representatives of banks and financial institutions.

In January 2023, Ukraine’s Tascombank published the results of pilot testing for the issuance of electronic money on the Stellar network. Following this, Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov expressed his desire to become one of the first users of the e-hryvnia, and his department urged the acceleration of the digital national currency’s launch.