After the parliament overwhelmingly adopted a new law on digital assets, Ukraine began to legalize bitcoins.
So far, the bill on virtual assets is still waiting for the signature of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The legislation, initially developed in September 2020, provides greater protection for investors and businesses from fraud. The Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, told the Kyiv Post that more residents would invest in bitcoins when the cryptocurrency became legal. Ukraine is the last of the countries that began to integrate bitcoin into the economy.
On September 8, the Ukrainian law on bitcoins received the approval of 276 members of parliament, which is almost 100%. The law should not cause unnecessary shock, given the recent trip of President Zelensky to Silicon Valley, where he met with investors and venture capitalists for cooperation, talking about the digital economy of Ukraine.
Before the adoption of this law, Ukrainians could trade on cryptocurrency exchanges. At the same time, the enterprises, including trading platforms, were regarded by the authorities as suspicious. According to the Kyiv Post: the cryptocurrency business was the object of unjustified raids. The equipment was confiscated by the law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, who doubted the reliability of digital assets.
The new law provides greater regulatory clarity. However, Ukraine is building its course and acts differently than El Salvador. Ukrainians will not be allowed to use bitcoin as a legal means of payment. This role is assigned to the local fiat currency - the hryvnia.
Ukraine is paving the way for investors and businesses to use cryptocurrencies by 2022 with greater protection against fraud, the first step of which is the draft law. The crypto business will need to get a permit, and it will also have to pay taxes in Ukraine. Lawmakers should now give the green light to other auxiliary laws and make changes to the Tax Code and the Civil Code.
The cryptocurrency community is getting excited as the world is becoming more and more cryptocurrency-friendly. However, the Ukrainian law has done little to increase the price of bitcoin, which remains below the psychologically important level of $ 50,000 for a week.
