The National Bank of Ukraine does not recognize cryptocurrency as legal tender and asserts that the digital asset market requires legislative regulation. This was stated by the head of the regulator, Andriy Pyshnyy, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
Following the imposition of restrictions on P2P transfers, capped at 150,000 UAH per month, experts noted a potential increase in interest towards cryptocurrencies.
“Are we addressing this challenge? Yes, we are. Several technical missions from the IMF have taken place, aimed at thoroughly studying various experiences and developing comprehensive proposals for legislative regulation of the virtual asset market, taking into account European experience and financial monitoring requirements,” Pyshnyy noted.
He emphasized that the restrictions do not affect 98% of bank clients and will help minimize the use of payment infrastructure in illegal activities and the shadow economy.
“Do we believe that unscrupulous individuals, under the established limits, will more actively use crypto assets in their activities and that the volume of operations with them will increase? Yes, certainly. Therefore, we understand that step by step, at least within the mandate of the National Bank, we must create the most transparent and understandable rules of the game in this market,” added the head of the NBU.
According to him, today the virtual asset market mainly serves the shadow turnover and optimization schemes. The regulator aims to “further fine-tune regulatory mechanisms to prevent abuses in payment operations.”
“But to say that there is currently a ready solution for the legislative regulation of the virtual asset market, which the National Bank could endorse, no, there is not. Therefore, we must critically rethink this situation together with colleagues from other institutions and, after analyzing what has already been developed, focus on finding optimal solutions for updating legislation. Work on this is also ongoing,” said Pyshnyy.
He stressed that there are no plans to strip the hryvnia of its status as the sole legal tender.
In September, the National Bank of Ukraine urged commercial banks to form a coalition to implement monitoring of clients’ P2P transfers.