Member of the Verkhovna Rada: Legalization of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine is postponed

The deputy stated, referring to his own sources, that Zelensky has suspended the consideration of the document indefinitely — the project has disappeared from the legislative agenda of the Verkhovna Rada after a meeting at the President's Office.

"For those who are following the bill on the legalization of cryptocurrencies in Ukraine, I have bad news — it will not be available in the near future. Its consideration has been blocked," wrote Zheleznyak on his Telegram channel.

The parliamentarian is convinced that the chairman of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission of Ukraine (НКЦБФР) Ruslan Magomedov influenced Zelensky — through the head of the President's Office Andrey Yermak.

Magomedov insisted that the bill does not meet the requirements of the EU Regulation on Crypto-assets (MiCA), as the regulator will not be able to define tokenized securities. Magomedov fears that the discrepancy in regulations among different countries could hinder Ukraine's integration with the EU. He stated that the bill has not yet been approved by the Council for Financial Stability of Ukraine and "foreign partners."

The bill contains provisions allowing virtual asset service providers to operate in the country without a license. Magomedov believes this will create a loophole that Russian financial institutions registered in other countries may exploit.

Zheleznyak claims that Magomedov's remarks on the draft law were substantial enough for a withdrawal, and the NKTSBFR could have been the only involved state body demanding strict actions from Zelensky. The Ministry of Finance, the State Financial Monitoring Service of Ukraine (GFSMU), and the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) also had their own grievances regarding the draft law, but the agencies were ready to submit them as amendments for the second reading of the document, without blocking the legislative process.

Zheleznyak is confident that the lack of regulation of cryptocurrencies harms the state, which could collect taxes from cryptocurrency transactions, and the crypto market, which is developing too slowly. The member of the Verkhovna Rada promised to fight for the adoption of the bill.

Earlier, the chairman of the Committee on Financial, Tax and Customs Policy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Daniil Hetmantsev, promised that cryptocurrencies would be legalized in the first half of 2025. In April, the Ukrainian financial regulator proposed to impose a military tax of 5% on crypto traders.