Ukraine's central bank is refusing to back the country's cryptocurrency legalization bill in its current form, warning that provisions on foreign-issued tokens and trading platform licensing could erode monetary sovereignty and hand regulators excessive power over who gets to operate in the market.
The National Bank of Ukraine said in a November 4 statement that draft law No. 10225-d, now headed for a second reading in parliament, leaves unresolved several issues raised during negotiations with lawmakers, regulators and industry participants. The bank said it backs crypto regulation built on the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, known as MiCA, and on International Monetary Fund recommendations, but argued the text as drafted lacks essential safeguards.
"The development of this market should not create threats to monetary sovereignty, price and financial stability, and economic security of Ukraine," the central bank said.
At the heart of the objection is the treatment of foreign tokens. The NBU contends that some assets issued abroad could function as electronic money even though they are not subject to comparable supervision in their home jurisdictions. Allowing them to circulate in Ukraine, the bank warned, could interfere with the transmission of monetary policy and put the country's payment infrastructure at risk. It wants authority to vet foreign tokens before they reach the Ukrainian market and to restrict their circulation when necessary, mirroring the powers it holds over domestically issued assets.
The regulator also flagged what it called unequal treatment: simplified admission procedures for overseas issuers could let them sidestep requirements imposed on Ukrainian companies, potentially leaving part of the market outside effective state oversight. The NBU's preferred fix is a single set of admission requirements that closes the arbitrage gap between foreign and domestic virtual assets.
A second flashpoint is licensing. The central bank said it had initially supported allowing an unlimited number of crypto trading platform operators, provided they met regulatory standards. It later accepted a compromise floated by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission that would have limited the first wave to three legal entities chosen through a competitive process. The latest draft, according to the NBU, drops that cap and leaves the number of operators permitted during the first five years entirely to the securities commission's discretion, a setup the bank says lacks adequate protection against anticompetitive behavior and potential corruption.
The process itself drew criticism. Although the NBU took part in the working group that developed the legislation, it said the final review was "not sufficiently transparent." The bank received the committee-recommended text only late on November 3, leaving scant time to study the changes before the November 4 meeting, where Deputy Governor Oleksii Shaban presented the objections. The NBU said the format of that discussion prevented a detailed examination of its concerns.
Despite those objections, the parliamentary finance committee recommended that lawmakers approve the bill at second reading and in full. The securities commission has backed moving forward, arguing that formal regulation would bring existing crypto activity under state supervision and set clearer requirements for market participants.
The legislation has been years in the making. The Verkhovna Rada passed it at first reading in September 2025 by a vote of 246 to 31, according to crypto.news. The framework covers taxation of crypto transactions and regulatory requirements for virtual asset service providers. An earlier proposal from the securities regulator would have taxed individual crypto income at 23%, combining an 18% personal income tax with a 5% military levy; the updated bill instead introduces a preferential 5% rate on qualifying crypto profits through the end of 2028 and exempts crypto-to-crypto trades from taxation. The latest draft is slated to take effect on July 1, 2027.
Note: Tax and timeline details as described in the current draft and prior proposals.
Ukraine's attempts to legislate crypto have stalled before. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a virtual assets law in March 2022 after rejecting an earlier version, but it never took effect because it depended on accompanying changes to the tax code. Lawmakers have since floated letting the central bank hold crypto in its reserves, and authorities moved $8.3 million in seized crypto in June amid talk of a strategic reserve.
The standoff leaves Ukraine's effort to build a comprehensive legal and tax framework for digital assets in limbo, with the central bank pressing parliament to rework the disputed provisions together with the institutions and industry representatives involved in drafting the bill. For market participants, the practical question is whether the second reading proceeds unchanged, preserving the securities commission's broad discretion over licensing, or whether lawmakers reopen the text to satisfy the NBU's demands.
