The initial plan was to start the pilot phase in 2024 but the government now wants do that in 2023.
The first blockchain transactions with the digital hryvnia have been already conducted, according to insights from minister Mykhailo Fedorov offered to RBC-Ukraine cited by Bitcoin.com. The minister continued to explain that he was recently presented with an electronic hryvnia based on the Stellar product.
In January, 2021, the department chose the Stellar Development Foundation as a partner in the building of the country’s virtual assets ecosystem, including infrastructure for the Ukrainian central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) presented a ‘draft e-hryvnia concept’ to members of the crypto industry, banks, and other financial institutions in November 2022. In January of this year, Bitcoin.com relayed that Tascombank carried out tests with the currency on the Stellar network.
The plan to introduce the CBDC is included in the central bank’s Strategy 2025. Mykhailo Fedorov, who also serves as Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, reportedly was also one of the chief voices that insisted it’s necessary to speed up the development of the electronic hryvnia through a letter sent to the NBU.
The plans come from an ambition that was prevalent through multiple recent legislative and infrastructure initiatives for Ukraine to become ‘the best crypto jurisdiction in the world’ despite the ongoing war with Russia.
During the early stages of Russia’s military invasion, donations through cryptocurrency were ‘critically helpful to Ukraine,’ the country’s Fedorov told journalists in Davos, Switzerland, according to a Bitcoin.com announcement in January 2022.
A law on Virtual Assets was passed by the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, in mid-February 2022. However, for this legislation to come into full force, amendments to the Tax Code are also needed.
Furthermore, in June of 2022, the Blockchain Association of Ukraine launched a project aimed at using NFTs to save the cultural ‘DNA’ of the Ukrainian people. What it basically means is that parts of Ukraine's historical and cultural heritage will be translated into NFTs. The move is said to also contribute to a sort of indexation of artifacts in order to prevent corrupt government officials from illicit appropriation during the uncertain time of the Russian war.
Overall, crypto adoption efforts are supported from all sides in the country, with The United Nations debuting a programme in December 2022 to aid people displaced by Russia’s war in Ukraine with cryptocurrency.
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