Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation believes that crypto payments will soon be allowed in Ukraine in the same way as payments in US dollars.
Although crypto is not recognized as a legal tender, a government official bill in Ukraine allows payments to be made in various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).
Oleksandr Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, believes that “payment using cryptocurrencies is perfectly legal” in Ukraine through payment intermediaries thus initiating crypto-to-fiat conversions.
“Ukraine’s draft bill on virtual assets makes it clear that cryptocurrencies are not legally allowed in the country and only cryptocurrency purchases are allowed,” the official said in an interview with local financial publication Minfin on Friday.
However, the bill also stated that those local payment processors can still provide services to convert crypto to fiat to initiate payments received from crypto:
“Today, the law in Ukraine does not allow you to pay in dollars, but you can easily buy with a dollar card. Currencies are changed instantly when you make payment.
Bonyakov said the upcoming bill would officially legalize the cryptocurrency trading and reporting process. We hope there will be a full market for the services of intermediaries to pay for goods through cryptocurrencies, their storage, and exchange. This expands the possibilities of their use, ”he added.
As previously reported the Ministry of Digital Transformation recommended that in late June a second reading approves an updated draft bill on “virtual assets”. Local e-bank Monobank has revealed plans to launch a debit card with bitcoin trading later.
The news came in after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly signed another law on digital currency. The law will allow Ukraine to officially issue the Central Bank’s digital currency digital hryvnia to the Central Bank of Ukraine.
