At the instigation of President Zelensky, Ukraine has been opening up to the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency market for several months now. Recently, Ukrainian board member Vladimir Pachesny claimed to own 124 BTC and 500 shares in Tesla.
The relationship between Ukraine and Bitcoin
The goal of the forward-looking government is to turn the country into an Eastern European giant of crypto assets. Thus, on September 8, parliament approved a measure leading to the legal use of virtual currencies.
The measure also includes a partially regulated definition of cryptocurrencies themselves. Until recently, the use of Bitcoin and similar currencies in Ukraine was seen as an illegal act due to the high percentage of scams in connection with digital finance.
However, data shows that cryptocurrencies are widespread in the country. The Singaporean company Triple-A made a recent estimate that reported a net 12.7% of the population is likely to use and own Bitcoin.
According to many experts, this openness towards cryptocurrencies can also be linked to the relationship between Bukele, the current President of the State of El Salvador and the current Ukrainian President.
It was only two months ago that representatives of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government were received by Bukele with a view to signing a mutual agreement to implement a plan to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Ukraine lends itself well to the practical implementation of mining because of its diversified energy sources. There are many entities currently managing profits and implementing initiatives related to Bitcoin and the blockchain world.
However, the statistics and reports made public that stem from the analysis of the assets of private individuals in the country bring conflicting data. One Ukrainian official, for instance, was found to have $8 million in cryptocurrencies.
Ukraine: annual income in cryptocurrencies
This news also mirrors another issue related to the regulation of digital assets. There are several officials in the country who have had problems with their double annual tax returns.
In September, for example, one council member claimed to have lost as many as 42 BTC because they were in a hardware wallet in a car that had been stolen from him. And of course it is not known whether this is true, as it is difficult to prove ownership of these cryptocurrencies.
Investments in cryptocurrencies have become a hot topic among Ukrainian politicians who have invested in this field in recent years.
Vladimir Pachesny, as well as other officials, have come to the headlines precisely because of their investments in cryptocurrencies dating as far back as 2013. Pachesny is neither the first cryptocurrency investor among officials in Ukraine.
An April report revealed that government representatives owned 46,351 BTC worth $2.6 billion.
The issue has long been on the table of the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC), which has made it known that it will verify all the numbers.
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