Ukraine is hoping its new digital asset regulations will attract foreign
crypto exchanges to set up shop in the Eastern European nation.
The Ukrainian Parliament has adopted legislation regulating foriegn
and domestic cryptocurrency exchanges operating from within the country.
On
Sept. 8, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the draft law “On Virtual
Assets,” legally recognizing cryptocurrency in the country for the first
time. The legislation is based on the existing standards developed by
the intergovernmental policy-making organization, Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF).
The
Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation will be tasked with
overseeing the implementation of the new virtual asset regulation and
guiding the industry’s growth, in adherence with “international
standards.
Anastasia Bratko of the Ministry of Digital
Transformation said the law allows companies to launch virtual asset
markets in Ukraine and enables banks to “open accounts for crypto
companies.
“Ukrainians will also be able to declare their income
in virtual assets,” she said, adding that the law “guarantees judicial
protection of the rights to virtual asset owners.”
An
announcement from the ministry emphasized that “the country will receive
additional tax revenues to the budget, which will be paid by crypto
companies,” adding:
“The adopted norms establish rules
for service providers related to the circulation of virtual assets and
contribute to the market’s de-shadowing.”
Virtual asset service providers
(VASPs) “must have an impeccable business reputation” and will be
required to disclose their ownership structure to identify their
ultimate beneficial owners. Internal anti-money launder measures must
also be maintained by VASPs.
Deputy Minister of Digital
Transformation of Ukraine, Oleksander Bornyakov, highlighted provisions
contained in the legislation to attract “foreign exchange to the
Ukrainian market,” adding:
“It will become a powerful
incentive for the further development of the crypto-sphere in Ukraine.
Banks will open accounts for them and conduct transactions with a new
class of assets. I am sure that society, business and the state will
benefit from the legalization of the new sector of the economy.”
Related: Ukrainian ministry considering digital currency pilot for staff salaries
Last
month, Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and the head of
the country’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, revealed that his
ministry was exploring using a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to
make salary payments in an early pilot of the technology.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law enabling the country’s central bank to issue a CBDC in July.
source link : https://cointelegraph.com/news/ukraine-passes-legislation-to-recognize-and-regulate-crypto
