The head of the Ministry of Digital Affairs of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, announced that the draft law "On virtual assets in the near future" will be considered in the second reading.
"We will be one of the few countries in the world that have done this. And this will be progress, because today, according to one of the main ratings assessing society's adaptation to cryptocurrencies, we are in first place in the world," he said in an interview with Hromadske.
Fedrov noted that the large amount of cryptocurrency in the hands of Ukrainians is a problem, since "there is no legal field, there is no law, cryptocurrency is not legalized."
"It needs to be legalized very quickly. Yesterday there was a meeting with the National Bank - they still had some questions, but we came to an agreement. I hope that within the next month we will be able to submit the draft law for the second reading, adopt it, and then all transactions with bitcoin will be transparent," the minister said.
According to Fedorov, a "transparent legal coordinate system in which it is possible to work" will be created in Ukraine.
"That is, in fact, it legalizes the possibility of buying something with cryptocurrency, exchanging it for money, and the like," he noted.
At the end of May, Deputy Minister for Digital Transformation Oleksandr Bornyakov explained the details of the draft law and how it should affect the economic situation in Ukraine.
According to the draft law, some aspects of crypto assets will be controlled by the National Bank, part by the Ministry of Digital, and part by the Securities Commission. At the same time, in the law, cryptocurrency is defined as an intangible asset, an intangible good.
As for taxes, if an individual receives a fortune in bitcoins, it will be necessary to pay an income rate of 18 percent. If we are talking about business, then this is a profit tax, which is also 18 percent.
"There is a proposal to make a grace period for the first five years. This will make it possible to tax income in virtual assets at a rate of five percent. This will allow us to develop this direction for the country and for the people, and then return to standard rates," Bornyakov emphasized.
After the adoption of the law, Ukrainian banks will be able to open accounts for citizens and businesses in cryptocurrency. But it will be impossible to pay with cryptocurrency, since the hryvnia is the only means of payment in Ukraine.
"It will be very similar to gold or the dollar and the euro. That is, you cannot pay for coffee with cryptocurrency, but you can store it in deposit accounts and make payments under the conditions of conversion into hryvnia," said Bornyakov.
The deputy minister noted that their goal is to create favorable conditions for international business.
"To establish companies here, register them, get bank accounts in Ukrainian banks and work for the whole world with Ukrainian jurisdiction. Our goal is to create the best conditions in the world so that we are the best jurisdiction," he emphasized.
