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Zelenskyy legalizes crypto in Ukraine

The country's parliament had passed the bill shortly before the outbreak of war.

Zelenskyy legalizes crypto in Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law making crypto legal in the country.

Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday signed a law making crypto legal in the embattled nation.

The bill, which had been approved by the Ukrainian parliament last month, clears the way for “a legal market for virtual assets” in the country, according to a statement from Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation.

“From now on foreign and Ukrainian cryptocurrencies exchanges will operate legally and banks will open accounts for crypto companies,” the ministry announced in a tweet.

The move underscores the growing role of crypto in the Ukraine war. The Russian invasion led to a worldwide campaign to support Ukraine through crypto donations. The country has reportedly received $100 million in crypto donations since the war began.

The new law doesn't make crypto legal tender but does provide a regulatory structure for digital assets. The country's Ministry of Finance is working on tax regulations and other rules for crypto, according to the government's statement on the law.

Benjamin Pimentel

Benjamin Pimentel ( @benpimentel) covers crypto and fintech from San Francisco. He has reported on many of the biggest tech stories over the past 20 years for the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch and Business Insider, from the dot-com crash, the rise of cloud computing, social networking and AI to the impact of the Great Recession and the COVID crisis on Silicon Valley and beyond. He can be reached at bpimentel@protocol.com or via Google Voice at (925) 307-9342.

ukrainecrypto regulationcryptocurrency
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