Ukraine Becomes Newest Country to Legalize Bitcoin

As cryptocurrency continues to get popularity across the world, the country of Ukraine has decided to legalize it.

In an almost unanimous vote, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted a law that legalizes and regulates the digital asset.

The bill, which was set in motion last year, now heads to the desk of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Previously Ukranians had been 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 developed a combative stance when it comes to the digital currency, regarding it as a “scam,” raiding crypto-related businesses, and “often confiscating expensive equipment without any grounds.”

Last month the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) blocked a network of what it called “clandestine cryptocurrency exchanges” running in the capital city Kyiv. The SBU claimed these exchanges were facilitating money laundering and providing anonymity of transactions.

By 2022, Ukraine aims to open the cryptocurrency market to businesses and investors, according to the Kyiv Post. Top state officials have also been touting their crypto street cred to investors and venture capital funds in Silicon Valley.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said the country was modernizing its payment market so that its National Bank would be able to to issue digital currency.
Jeremy Rubin, the CEO of bitcoin R&D lab Judica, has said that Ukraine’s new law and political promises such as these don’t amount to much.

“Ukraine’s improved legal status for bitcoin is a laudable symbolic measure that we progress towards a world that respects individual rights universally,” said Rubin. He added, “But it is only symbolic — bitcoin seeks neither permission nor forgiveness in its mission to protect persecuted communities from unjust governments.”

This week, El Salvador became the first country to both adopt bitcoin as legal tender and hold it on its balance sheet.
Panama appears to be next on the list with a draft of its own cryptocurrency law.