Ukraine actively develops cryptocurrency legislation

The parliament of Ukraine has parties with very different views and known for its discussions, vibrant in comparison to other countries from the former Soviet Union (excluding Baltic states). Two draft laws on cryptocurrency has already been proposed by two different political parties.

The first one was proposed by the People’s Front party on 6 October 2017. They view cryptocurrency as a software code that can be regarded as property; crypto exchanges are defined as organizations that convert cryptocurrency to electronic money, fiat currency and securities. While describing miners and mining, the law authors tell that it can be both individuals and legal entities which support the integrity of the blockchain system for awards in cryptocurrency. The National Bank of Ukraine is proposed to become a regulator of the sphere, although the latter has stated it will not work with the crypto space.

The second law was prepared and proposed by the Radical Party headed by eccentric Oleg Lyashko. It was published just 4 days later after the first one was introduced. In this draft, cryptocurrency is a convertible financial asset, digital currency exchanges are financial institutions (which might mean they are going to have to register, as all organizations recognized as financial institutions have to do this in Ukraine), miners are regarded as entrepreneurs. The second law better describes the cryptocurrency market, the media states, but is far from ideal as well.

While both laws have received a great deal of criticism, experts say the whole process demonstrates that Ukraine might adopt cryptocurrency legislation much sooner that many of its neighbors, as thought thrives on conflict and discussion.