National Bank of Ukraine opposes crypto legalization bill over sovereignty concerns

Ukraine's central bank says Bill 10225-d could let foreign tokens act like money without enough oversight Ukraine’s crypto legalization effort has hit a familiar obstacle: the central bank. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has declined to back Bill No. 10225-d in its current form, warning that the proposed rules could put the country’s financial system at risk. The timing is awkward. The NBU helped draft the bill. Now it is publicly withholding support. What the central bank is worried about The NBU’s core objection centers on foreign tokens. The bank fears they could function as electronic money inside Ukraine without enough regulatory oversight. Electronic money is digital value people use to pay for things, like a balance in a payment app. If tokens issued abroad start filling that role at scale, a central bank loses some grip on the money circulating in its own economy. The NBU frames this as a threat to Ukraine’s monetary sovereignty and economic security. The second concern is licensing. The bill leaves the number of crypto trading platforms up to the discretion of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), the country’s securities regulator. The NBU argue...