Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill legalizing cryptocurrency into law in the middle of a frenzy of digital asset donations to pay the country’s defense against a Russian invasion.
According to a statement issued Wednesday by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the law specifies the legal status, classification, ownership, and regulators of virtual assets, as well as registration requirements for crypto service providers.
The market will be supervised by Ukraine’s National Commission on Securities and the Stock Market. In a tweet, the digital ministry announced that exchanges would be permitted to operate legally and that banks would open accounts for them.
The state body is tasked with “shaping and pursuing a policy in the field of virtual assets; determining the order of circulation of virtual assets; issuing permits to virtual asset service providers; and carrying out supervision and financial monitoring in this area,” according to a Feb. 17 government announcement.
Over the past three weeks, Ukraine has received at least $100 million in bitcoin donations from those who want to help pay for its defense and humanitarian operations.
Following Zelensky’s rejection of an earlier version passed in September 2021, the bill cruised through parliament on February 17th.
The Ministry of Finance is working on revisions to the country’s tax and civil legislation in order to completely open the market for virtual assets, according to the statement.
