With the news coming out today that India might ban the use of cryptocurrencies, there are also enough countries with a more positive approach. One of those countries: Ukraine. The government of Ukraine released a press release outlining how it plans to draw a legal framework for cryptocurrencies within the next three years. 

Today, the government of Ukraine released a press release with more information about the future plans of legalizing cryptocurrencies. The purpose of the upcoming regulation is to provide clear conditions to govern activities in the digital asset space and to create a clear stand on cryptocurrencies towards Ukrainian citizens. The government has also realized that the local crypto industry is growing and, therefore, wants to capitalize on it.

Despite the massive growth of the cryptocurrency market in Ukraine, the government has no clear regulation yet. Therefore, the press release also noted that in the absence of a proper regulatory environment:

“The state, in turn, lacks taxes and foreign exchange earnings. It has no opportunity to carry out financial monitoring in this area due to a lack of statistical information. As a result, foreign investments and opportunities for creating new high-paying jobs are lost.”

The government of Ukraine has documented two stages to move the legalization forward. The first stage is slotted for the remainder of 2018 and 2019 and the second stage will run from 2020 – 2021.

In regards to the first stage, the Ukrainian government will look at providing a legal definition of cryptocurrencies; the recognition of cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitate the trading of virtual currencies to fiat currencies (or vice versa); and analysis and monitoring of trends and problems in the crypto market. This will be used to develop proposals for the development of the regulation.

In the second stage, the Ukrainian government will look at the recognition of cryptocurrency exchanges and the “development of special legislative acts on the regulation” of crypto assets and smart contracts.

Overall, it seems that Ukraine is taking a very positive stand towards cryptocurrencies and the blockchain space. And for good reason, Ukraine was among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest number of cryptocurrency users in 2017. The Ukrainian cryptocurrency industry is estimated to be worth around $100 million.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.