Ukraine is the latest country to legalize bitcoin as the cryptocurrency slowly goes gl
Published Thu, Sept 9 th , 2021 MacKenzie Sigalos
Ukraine is the fifth country in as many weeks to ________some ground rules for the cryptocurrency market, a sign that
governments around the world are realizing that bitcoin is here to stay. In a nearly unanimous vote, the Ukrainian Parliament
adopted a law that legalizes and regulates cryptocurrency. The bill was set in motion in 2020 – and heads to the desk of President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Until today, crypto in Ukraine has existed in a legal gray area.
[5] Locals were allowed to buy and exchange virtual currencies, but companies and exchanges dealing in crypto were often under
close watch by law enforcement. According to the Kyiv Post, authorities have trended toward taking a combative stance when it
comes to virtual cash, regarding it as a "scam," raiding crypto-related businesses, and "often confiscating expensive equipment
without any grounds."
In August, for example, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) blocked a network of what it called "clandestine cryptocurrency
[10] exchanges" running in the capital city Kyiv. The SBU claimed these exchanges were facilitating money laundering and providing
anonymity of transactions.
The new legislation also ____certain protections against fraud for those who own bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and in a
first for Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada unicameral parliament, lawmakers have taken a stab at defining core terminology in the world
of crypto. If signed by the president, virtual assets, digital wallets and private keys are terms that will be enshrined in Ukrainian
[15] law.
Unlike El Salvador’s move to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, Ukraine's crypto law does not facilitate the rollout of bitcoin as a form
of payment and does not put it on an equal footing with the hryvnia, the country's national currency. However, Thursday's vote
by the former nuclear power is part of a wider push by Kyiv to lean into bitcoin.
By 2022, the country plans to open the cryptocurrency market to businesses and investors, according to the Kyiv Post. Top state
[20] officials have also been touting their crypto street cred to investors and venture capital funds in Silicon Valley. On an official state
visit to the U.S. last month, Zelenskyy spoke of Ukraine's budding "legal innovative market for virtual assets" as a selling point
for investment, and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said the country was modernizing its payment market
so that its National Bank would be able to issue digital currency.
(Retrieved and adapted from: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2021/09/08/ukraine-legalizes-bitcoin-andcryptocurrencies.html?_source=instagram%7Cmain. Access on September 14th, 2021)
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