Ukraine’s central bank warns crypto bill opens the door to monopoly and corruption

The National Bank of Ukraine said it cannot support Draft Law No. 10225-d. 

The bill in question is meant to legalize and tax the country’s crypto market, but now the bank is warning that the text recommended for a second reading threatens monetary sovereignty and leaves the door open to monopoly and corruption in how trading platforms get licensed.

Why is the National Bank of Ukraine refusing to legalize crypto?

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has published its objection to the revised Bill 10225-d just one day after it was cleared by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy for a second reading. 

The NBU is not against crypto rules. It helped write the bill with lawmakers, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), government agencies and international partners. It says it supports rules based on the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA) and on IMF advice.

The bank’s first complaint is that it received the final text the evening before the committee vote was supposed to happen. It also says that several compromises that had been agreed on earlier were missing from the text. 

Deputy Governor Oleksii Shaban raised concerns at the meeting, but the bank says there was no room for real debate, so it went public.

The NBU said that the fact that the bill would let tokens issued abroad enter Ukraine, even if they work like electronic money, is risky because it allows even tokens that are not properly supervised where they come from into the country. The NBU wants the power to assess these tokens and limit their use, the same way it can with tokens issued in Ukraine.

The second risk the bank pointed out is unfair rules that allow easier entry for foreign assets. The bank says it could let them avoid rules that Ukrainian assets must follow and create parts of the market that the state does not oversee.

The third risk is licensing. As it stands, NSSMC is allowed to decide how many platform operators can work in the first five years. The NBU says this breaks an earlier deal to allow only three companies, which would be chosen through open competition. It says the open-ended power invites monopoly and corruption.

What would the crypto law do?

Bill 10225-d is meant to fill a gap left since 2022. That year, Ukraine passed the Virtual Assets Law No. 2074-IX, but it never took effect because it needed tax rules. 

The new bill sets those tax rules. For instance, once it takes effect, profits from virtual asset deals would face an 18% personal income tax plus a 5% military levy. Swapping one token for another would not be taxed.

A lower 5% rate is proposed for holdings bought before 2027, available through 2028, and profits up to one minimum monthly wage would be exempt. If the bill passes its remaining readings, it would take effect on July 1, 2027.