Ukrainians can now legally buy and sell bitcoin or Ethereum. This legalization is no coincidence: Ukraine has received millions of crypto donations since the start of the war.
Ukraine has legalized the crypto sector — @ZelenskyyUa signed a law. From now on foreign and Ukrainian cryptocurrencies exchanges will operate legally and banks will open accounts for crypto companies. It is an important step towards the development of the VA market in Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/lqqO1J9r1k
— Міністерство цифрової трансформації України (@mintsyfra) March 16, 2022
Ukraine has officially legalized cryptocurrencies. “From now on, Ukrainian and foreign cryptocurrency sales platforms can operate legally, and banks can open accounts for crypto businesses,” Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation wrote on Twitter on March 16. 2022. “This is an important step forward for the development of the market in Ukraine. »
Cryptocurrencies matter in the context of war
The law legalizing crypto-currencies was passed on February 17, almost a month ago, by Ukrainian parliamentarians, but it has only just come into effect.
This “Digital Assets Law” provides a whole list of measures, but it mainly regulates Ukrainians and Ukrainian companies that buy, sell and exchange cryptocurrencies. They could do it before the signing of the law, but the latter specifies the conditions under which they can do it. It also imposes the conditions for the purchase of these assets by setting certain criteria for sales platforms, and it places the supervision of the crypto market under the authority of the Ukrainian Control Commission.
The law passed just a few days before the start of the Russian invasion, will also make it possible to legally recover the very many donations in crypto-currencies that the country has received. Since the start of the fighting on February 24, the government has indeed set up an official site for donations in bitcoin or Ethereum.
In all, the country had received more than 100 million euros in cryptocurrency donations as of March 9, 2022, according to Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation Alex Bornyakov, a sum that has certainly increased since then. The law will allow the various state bodies to recover the money in an official and supervised manner.
This is the first time that cryptocurrency donations will officially help a country’s war effort. Of the 100 million euros received, 60 million were used to buy non-lethal equipment, such as gasoline, food, and bulletproof vests for the soldiers.
