First Deputy Head of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova said that the law on virtual assets in Ukraine should be ready by October 2025. Which regulator will be responsible for virtual assets has not yet been determined, but it will definitely not be the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
First Deputy Head of the NBU Kateryna Rozhkova said that the law on virtual assets in Ukraine should be ready by October 2025. Which regulator will be responsible for virtual assets has not yet been determined, but it will definitely not be the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
As Rozhkova noted in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine, the law will be based on the European directive Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), which introduces regulation of cryptocurrencies in the European Union member states. It became fully operational in the EU countries at the end of last year.
MiCA regulates the issuance of crypto-assets and related services. In particular, it introduces a pan-European licensing and supervision regime for crypto-asset issuers, crypto-platforms and crypto-asset service providers, including various tokens.
MiCA provides that even tokens backed by clear underlying assets are acceptable only if this collateral is located in Europe, noted Kateryna Rozhkova.
She added that Ukraine, together with international partners, will clearly determine which regulators will be responsible for what, but assured that the Ministry of Digital Affairs will definitely not be the regulator due to the position of the International Monetary Fund, but the involvement of this ministry in working on the draft law is welcome.
«The IMF is against this idea, and we need to take into account the regulatory practice in the EU. But we must recognize that technologies are changing the pattern… So if the Ministry of Digital Affairs is at the forefront of advanced technologies, their experience and vision should be used when developing the draft law,» the deputy head of the NBU said.
She noted that macro-financial stability must be maintained, and virtual assets must not replace money.
«We must ensure the transparency of operators in view of the requirements of financial monitoring, protect the financial system from capital flight, and protect the population,» said Kateryna Rozhkova.
According to her, due to the dispersion of crypto wallets, it will be difficult to regulate and restrict them, and there is also a risk of legalization and tax evasion.
In January last year, Rozhkova said that the National Bank is against recognizing cryptocurrency as a legal means of payment: one of the reasons is that such changes could threaten the stability of the Ukrainian financial system.
Earlier, two draft laws were registered in the Verkhovna Rada to regulate the circulation of virtual assets — from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Finance and the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC). Both draft laws are based on the MiCA directive, but differ in issues regarding the classification and taxation of cryptocurrency transactions.
In December 2024, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Mykhailo Fedorov stated that the legalization of the cryptocurrency market could potentially bring up to UAH 15 billion to the Ukrainian budget. This is stated in a study by Global Ledger, which notes that Ukrainian users generate about 2,5% of global crypto exchange traffic.
«I don’t expect any crazy revenues to the state budget, to be honest, I don’t expect them in any decent form at all. Although, maybe something will happen. We will definitely legalize crypto, I think we will try in the first quarter. Maybe in the second quarter, in the second reading, we will get to this,» said Danylo Hetmantsev, the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Finance Committee, in early 2025.
