Ukraine Parliament Passes Measure to Regulate Cryptocurrencies

The Ukrainian Parliament passed a measure on Wednesday that would legalize and regulate all virtual assets, including cryptocurrencies.

• The Ukraine bill was introduced in the parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, in December. It now needs to be signed by the country’s president.
• Last month, Ukraine’s law-enforcement authority and main government security agency, Security Service of Ukraine, blocked a network of what it called “clandestine cryptocurrency exchanges” running in the capital city of Kyiv.
• Passage of the bill adds to signs of growing adoption of cryptocurrencies around the world, Ulrik Lykke, executive director at the $50 million digital-asset investment firm ARK36, told CoinDesk in a Zoom interview on Thursday. For instance, the bill’s passage came one day after El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect, making the crypto legal tender.
• Since earlier this year, Ukrainian legislators have been working together on a package of laws that would write crypto into the country’s legal system, open the banks for crypto startups and offer a simple procedure for tax reporting.

UPDATE (Sept. 9, 17:23 UTC): Updated with details in the fourth bullet point.