Ambassadors of the Group of Seven (G7) countries accredited to Ukraine have published a statement taking note of the National Bank of Ukraine's (NBU) position regarding the draft law on virtual asset circulation. RBC-Ukraine reports this, citing a statement by the G7 Ambassadors' Support Group in Ukraine on the X social network. The statement comes amid an ongoing discussion in parliament surrounding document No. 10225-d, which is designed to regulate the country's virtual asset market and which the regulator has refused to support in its current wording.
G7 Position: NBU Independence is a Condition for Economic Resilience
«The G7 group takes note of the NBU's position regarding the draft law on virtual asset circulation. Ensuring financial stability, transparency, and the independence of the NBU remains extremely important for Ukraine's economic resilience and the effectiveness of international support,» the ambassadors' support group said in a statement. Thus, international partners have effectively cemented the regulator's status as a key institution upon whose independence, in their assessment, not only internal macroeconomic dynamics depend, but also the effectiveness of the entire system of international financial support for Ukraine.
Context: The Dispute Surrounding Draft Law No. 10225-d
The National Bank stated that it cannot support the document in its current version due to risks to monetary sovereignty, financial stability, and market competition. At the same time, the regulator emphasized that it supports the regulation of the virtual asset market based on the European MiCA approach, international standards, and recommendations of the International Monetary Fund, and insists that the development of this market must not create threats to Ukraine's monetary sovereignty, price and financial stability, and economic security. According to the NBU's assessment, the process of drafting the document was insufficiently transparent: the final version, recommended by the relevant Verkhovna Rada committee for the second reading, was received by the regulator only late in the evening on the eve of the meeting, and, according to the National Bank, it failed to take into account a number of fundamental agreements reached during the work. NBU Deputy Governor Oleksii Shaban voiced the regulator's remarks at the committee meeting, but, according to him, the discussion format did not allow for a full professional discussion.
Three Risks Highlighted by the Regulator
The National Bank highlighted three main risks that, in the regulator's opinion, the current version of the draft law contains. The first is the uncontrolled admission of foreign tokens: according to the NBU's assessment, the document allows foreign tokens to enter the Ukrainian market that can effectively perform the functions of electronic money but are not subject to proper regulation and supervision in their countries of emission, posing a threat to monetary sovereignty, monetary policy transmission, payment infrastructure, and financial stability. The second risk is regulatory gaps and unequal requirements: simplified admission of foreign virtual assets should not allow circumvention of requirements established for similar Ukrainian assets, otherwise part of the market may remain outside proper state supervision. The third risk concerns potential market monopolization and corruption abuses during the authorization of participants by the National Securities and Stock Market Commission.
Compromises and Remaining Disagreements
The NBU participated in the drafting of the bill within a working group involving MPs, the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), market representatives, government agencies, and international partners, and during this time the parties managed to achieve a number of compromises. In particular, the regulator's initial position assumed the absence of quantitative restrictions for trading platform operators provided they met established requirements, but for the sake of compromise, the NBU agreed to the NSSMC's proposal to limit the initial number of such operators to three legal entities determined by competitive selection. At the same time, according to the National Bank, the final version does not establish a clear number of operators that will be able to operate during the first five years, leaving the determination of this issue to the discretion of the NSSMC without proper anti-monopoly safeguards. This is why the regulator insists on the need to obtain the authority to assess the risks of foreign assets and, if necessary, restrict their circulation, as well as to ensure clear and transparent rules for the authorization of market participants.
What's Next
The National Bank emphasizes that the development of the virtual asset market and the protection of monetary and financial stability do not contradict each other; however, the sustainable development of this sector requires clear rules, proper regulation, and effective risk control. The NBU stated that it has made significant efforts to find compromises and build a balanced model. The G7 statement, which took note of the regulator's position, strengthens the NBU's arguments in the parliamentary process and indicates that the issue of central bank independence and the quality of crypto market regulation has gone beyond an internal dispute, becoming a matter of direct attention from international donors.
