A bill to create a crypto reserve in Ukraine may be submitted to Parliament next week, while the legislative initiative on virtual assets is facing a long approval process. This was stated by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, in an interview with Minfin.
According to the MP, the document on the crypto reserve is at the final stage of preparation:
“We give the opportunity, if the regulator decides to do so, to add virtual assets to our reserves. The regulator will determine which ones — if they want to keep them in bitcoins, please.”
He also confirmed that Danylo Hetmantsev, the head of the relevant Committee, who had previously denied the possibility of launching crypto reserves in Ukraine, was not involved in the project.
Earlier, Zheleznyak confirmed plans to create a state crypto reserve in a conversation with Incrypted.
In addition, he noted that despite the blocking of the draft law “On Virtual Assets” by the President’s Office, which Zheleznyak mentioned earlier, the team developing the document will continue to work on it.
“I would like to have this draft law passed before the new year, but I’m afraid that even technically it will take a long time,” Zheleznyak admitted.
He also noted that both draft laws — on the crypto reserve and virtual assets — can be passed by the Parliament separately, as “there is no correlation between these two draft laws.”
When it comes to market regulation, Ukraine is guided by the European model. Although in 2021-2022 it was planned to create a global crypto hub with favorable conditions, the vector has now been changed to stricter standards close to the requirements of the European Union.
However, according to Zhelezniak, the law tries to find a balance between the positions of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, and the NBU:
“Where we can bypass certain MiCA provisions, we do so.”
Regarding the taxation of cryptocurrencies, the MP admitted that the current rates (18% personal income tax, 5% military duty) may seem excessive. However, this applies not only to the digital asset market:
“I am also dissatisfied with them. But this is a general problem with the level of taxation in the country.”
At the same time, Zheleznyak admitted that it is impossible to control the crypto market completely.
“It is unrealistic. It does not work in any country in the world. Therefore, this taxation option is for those who want to work legally, in a white way,” he emphasized.
Earlier, we wrote about the reaction of business to the updated draft law, which you can read about in a separate article:
