Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed the virtual assets bill legalising cryptocurrencies. The bill was adopted by the parliament last month. The bill will allow foreign and Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchanges to operate legally and will also allow banks to open accounts for crypto companies.
The decision arrives as the country has received millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency donations from individuals and groups to support the country's conflict against Russia.
Virtual assets will be regulated by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, alongside the National Bank of Ukraine, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine said in its statement.
Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said in a Telegram post that the law would “bring the crypto sector out of the shadows”.
“With the beginning of the war, cryptocurrencies became a powerful tool for attracting additional funding to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Fedorov added.
Recently, the Ukrainian government has associated with FTX exchange to convert crypto contributions seeking aid to Ukraine’s war effort into fiat currency.
Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine on IT industry development Alex Bornyakov tweeted, “We believe that the crypto industry offers new economic opportunities.”
Bornyakov retweeted a post soliciting crypto donations and said, “We can see how powerful crypto could be, saving lives of civilians and soldiers in Ukraine.”