Rada approves bill on virtual assets accepting president remarks

Ukraine’s parliament voted again on Feb. 17 in favor
of bill #3637 On Virtual Assets, which determines and sets a regulatory
framework on such assets, their circulation and their exchange in Ukraine. The
bill was first approved in September,
but later was vetoed by the president  who
opposed the creation of a special government body to regulate virtual assets.
The updated bill foresees that currency-backed assets will be regulated by the
central bank and security-backed assets will be regulated by the securities
commission.

The bill specifies that virtual assets are not a means
of payment in Ukraine and that such assets cannot be exchanged for goods and
services. Instead, they can be exchanged for Ukrainian currency (and other
currencies, based on the central bank’s approval) or other virtual assets.

Alexander Paraschiy: It is very
likely that the updated bill will come into law, thus creating new segments in
Ukraine’s financial markets. The contribution of such a segment to Ukraine’s
economy is hard to estimate now, while we expect the positives will outpace the
potential risks related to the circulation of virtual assets.