By seeking financial data from regional virtual asset companies, the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has lately taken efforts to tighten controls on the bitcoin industry. The NBU required that financial records and other criteria be submitted within seven days by at least four cryptocurrency businesses, including Kuna, CoinPay, Geo Pay, and Qmall. Digital asset executives are concerned about these new regulations because they see them as possibly “crippling” for the sector.
The NBU’s request for financial information was first reported on a number of Ukrainian telegraph news outlets. Additionally, the bank required these companies to give trade data, including operating volumes and the movement of all cryptoassets. The bitcoin community is more skeptical now that the motives behind this decision are unclear.
The distributed document’s legitimacy was certified by Michael Chobanyan, CEO of Kuna, a well-known digital asset market in Ukraine. His discussion of the NBU’s “predatory actions” caused it to depart from the country’s business-to-customer model as he voiced his worries. Chobanyan further disclosed that exchanges in Ukraine have been affected by prior searches and investigations conducted by the NBU and other regulatory agencies, with more searches and investigations expected in the future.
Concerns regarding the possible effect on the expansion of web3 enterprises in the nation have been raised by the rising regulatory monitoring by Ukrainian authorities. The trading volumes of the exchange significantly decreased by 90% in only a few months after Kuna abandoned the business-customer model. Despite these legislative obstacles, Ukrainian markets nonetheless have a lot of promise.
Since Russia’s invasion, Ukraine has seen an increase in bitcoin contributions totaling $225 million. Some see the nation as an attractive location for blockchain-related enterprises despite the onerous laws. Chobanyan thinks that Kuna will be forced to expand into a strong European brand rather than being a niche player in the Ukrainian market as a result of the recent changes in that country. Moving forward, the emphasis will be on Europe and the business-to-business sector in an effort to provide beneficial services in a more hospitable regulatory environment.
