Ukraine will legalize cryptocurrency and blockchain technology by the end of 2019

Until the end of 2019, cryptocurrencies in Ukraine can receive legal status. This was announced by Alexander Bornyakov, the newly appointed deputy minister of digital transformation.

It is Bornyakov who will be responsible in the new Ministry of Digital Transformation for the implementation of legislative and regulatory initiatives regarding electronic residence, crypto assets, intellectual property, the status of crypto assets and taxation.

The deputy minister has solid experience in IT. He is a co-founder of the online advertising company Adtelligent Clisky (an online platform for advertisers), Intersog (an outsourcing company registered in the USA with offices in Odessa and Kiev), a managing partner of the Odessa startup incubator WannaBiz.

In an interview with the Ukrainian edition of LIGA.net, Bornyakov commented on the process of legalizing cryptocurrencies in the country:

“To begin with, crypto is not prohibited in Ukraine. When they say "legalization" – this is not quite the right word. But there is such a thing as a definition of legal status. So that the SBU does not go and doesn’t scare people, so that the people who do this understand that they are acting within the framework of the law. Plus, it’s a kind of signal to everyone who does this abroad. ”

Recall that on September 27 at the presentation of the State in a Smartphone brand, ministry leaders first announced plans to legalize cryptocurrencies. The head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Mikhail Fedorov, stressed that cryptocurrencies are now not prohibited in Ukraine, but they do not have an official status either.

“People who do this (cryptocurrency) should leave the gray zone and start paying taxes,” the minister said.

According to Bornyakov, a bill on the status of cryptocurrencies will be submitted and adopted in the coming months:

“We want to be reviewed and accepted before the end of the year.”

The Blockchain technology will not pass by the MinDigits. Bornyakov reported:

“In parallel, we want to introduce a law on public registries – to introduce a section related to the blockchain. That is, we first determine the legal status of cryptocurrencies as the technology itself. Then we make changes that blockchain registries are possible in principle. Now they cannot be made by law. Now they should be in one place. It is necessary to change that they can be not in one place and distributed. But you need to register how. This is a complex technical process. Then, from the new year, everything else can gradually be launched. ”

The deputy minister noted that the process of digital transformation of Ukraine is just beginning:

“At the moment, the ministry itself has several people (pictured). Only last week was the position taken. It is impossible to do something without a structure. There is still no team that will directly deal with these things. By the end of October, we must fully launch as a ministry. ”

Publication date 10/11/2019
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