Ukraine is about to be the next country after El Salvador to legalize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after the Ukrainian Parliament passed a bill on Wednesday, September 8. The draft on virtual assets is still awaiting President Volodymyr Zelensky’s signature.
The bill was originally created in 2020 and it is going to provide greater protection for investors and businesses alike against fraud. The countries minister for Digital transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, told the Kyiv Post that more local citizens would invest in Bitcoin if it became legal and safer. Ukraine is one of the nations making moves to integrate crypto into their economy. In the last few weeks, Cuba and Panama have also started proposing plans to legalize Bitcoin in their country.
A tweet from @Blockworks indicated that:
“Ukraine’s Bitcoin law received a nod from 276 members of parliament on Sept. 8, which was close to 100% support. the law shouldn’t come as too much of a shock considering President Zelenskyy’s recent trip to Silicon Valley, where he met with investors and venture capitalists to tout Ukraine’s digital economy with a view towards cooperation”
With the new law, there is going to be greater regulatory clarity, but Ukraine is charting its own course and doing things differently than El Salvador. Ukrainians will not be allowed to use Bitcoin as legal tender. Only the local fiat currency will continue to act as a legal tender.
What Ukraine is doing will pave way for businesses and investors to use cryptocurrencies by 2022 with greater protection from fraud, the first step is the draft law. Crypto businesses will be allowed to operate in the country but they will be subjected to a permit and will also have to comply with paying taxes in the country. Lawmakers must now green light other supporting laws as well as make tweaks to the tax code and civil code.
The world is increasingly becoming crypto-friendly and the crypto community is emboldened by this action. The latest action in Ukraine did little to no good to the current price of bitcoin which remains down from its $50,000 price of last week.
