National Bank of Ukraine opposes virtual asset bill over foreign token oversight and market concentration risks

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has said it cannot support the current version of Draft Law No. 10225-d on virtual assets, citing gaps in foreign token oversight and risks of market monopolization and corruption in authorizations. The objections follow earlier Financial Stability Council discussions on virtual asset regulation. The NBU supports a framework based on the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) approach, international standards and International Monetary Fund recommendations, with safeguards for monetary sovereignty and financial stability. The draft would admit foreign tokens that effectively function as electronic money without being subject to relevant regulation and supervision in their issuing countries. The NBU wants authority to assess these tokens’ risks and, where necessary, restrict their circulation, as it can for domestic tokens. Admission rules should also prevent foreign assets from bypassing requirements applied to comparable Ukrainian assets, avoiding regulatory arbitrage and market segments outside adequate oversight. For trading platform operators, the NBU initially favored allowing all applicants meeting the requirements, but accepted a compromise initially limiting entry to three legal entities selected competitively. The final text instead leaves the number permitted during the first five years to the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, without a clear limit or adequate antitrust safeguards. The NBU wants transparent authorization rules and called on lawmakers to revise the bill, which the relevant parliamentary committee has recommended for approval at second reading.