The head of the NBU, Andriy Pyshny, spoke about the prospects for regulating cryptocurrencies and banking services without licenses. In particular, he emphasized that any financial or payment services provided within the National Bank's area of responsibility must undergo the appropriate authorization and licensing procedure. Working within the mandate of the National Bank, any market participant must go through all necessary licensing procedures, obtain licensing approvals, and comply with the legislation, including consumer protection laws.
They also touched upon the issues of one of the companies whose services the National Bank recognized as having signs of financial activities that require licensing. "This is not a unique case. We are carefully analyzing other cases that we record during supervisory activities. Currently, about ten companies and services are under consideration. The National Bank conducts an in-depth review of each of these cases, going through a certain process defined by our regulatory procedures and legal acts for analysis and decision-making," says the head of the NBU.
He emphasized that financial services cannot be provided without proper authorization and outside of the prudential mandate. "This is an illegal action, and the National Bank will assess such cases accordingly. We are developing this competency and forming the proper practice," says Pyshny.
When asked about the prospects of crypto assets and their integration into the legislative framework, Pyshny replied: "Here, everything is both complicated and simple at the same time." In his opinion, it is very important that when the status of virtual assets is regulated, regulators can exercise the powers that will be granted to them. "For this, it will be important to create sufficient space and possibly a certain transitional period," says Pyshny.
At the same time, he did not comment on the issue of taxation of virtual assets, as this is beyond the mandate of the National Bank.
The head of the NBU outlined the 'red lines' of his institution:
Virtual assets cannot serve as a means of payment and cannot in any way enhance the effectiveness of our monetary instruments;
There should be no transfer of monetary powers and weighing of the National Bank's capabilities regarding the legalization of virtual assets.
The second important aspect is that virtual assets should not become a tool to bypass the restrictions set by the National Bank, which were introduced during martial law to balance the monetary market and ensure a sufficient level of gold and foreign exchange reserves.
According to the official, it is important to provide regulators with a sufficiently high level of authority to appropriately respond and apply measures for violations of consumer rights in the virtual asset market. To have a sufficient level of competence for regulation and the necessary technical solutions for monitoring market participants with virtual assets.
The legalization of virtual assets should not affect the effectiveness of financial monitoring. "It should not fuel the shadow sector," says Pyshny.
In his opinion, the ideal solution would be if the legalization of virtual assets allows for the de-shadowing of the market. A resource like cryptocurrencies needs to be returned to economic circulation, but legalization should not undermine the National Bank's ability to be effective in implementing its mandate for price stability. "Because of this, we say that the 'red line' for us will be the following - only the hryvnia is a legal means of payment on the territory of Ukraine," summarizes Pyshny.
By the way, the head of the parliamentary committee on finance, taxation, and customs policy, Danylo Hetmantsev, reported that the Verkhovna Rada does not plan to adopt the bill on the creation of a crypto reserve in Ukraine (No. 13356), submitted to the Verkhovna Rada by Hetmantsev's deputy in the committee, Yaroslav Zheleznyak.
"We have communicated with the head of the National Bank regarding this matter and do not support such steps, given the high volatility of crypto assets. It seems to me that the authors of this bill also did not expect applause for this document from the National Bank. There are no hints that we will adopt it today," said the MP.