National Bank extends transition period for e-hryvnia

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) says it has extended the transition period for the launch of the country's digital national currency, e-hryvnia, until June 15, 2021.

Read alsoUkraine's National Bank exploring possibility of issuing e-hryvniaThis is stipulated in NBU resolution No. 28 dated April 5, 2021, which comes into force on April 6, 2021, the regulator said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.

The move was initiated due to the fact that amid the lockdown "market participants need more time for software development and configuration, and the finalization of updated rules for the use of electronic money."

The NBU recalled that last autumn, it updated the regulation of the e-money market and harmonized it with the legislation of Ukraine and the EU.

Key changes:

• Need to identify e-money users;
• Setting new limits for e-money transactions;
• Toughening requirements for banks that issue e-money related to the control over commercial agents' activities;
• Increasing protection of e-money users' rights.

E-hryvnia: Background

• In late 2016, the National Bank launched a research project to implement the e-hryvnia, a blockchain-based national currency, which could minimize transaction costs in money transfers from one participant in Ukraine's payment market to another, which could be carried out almost instantly.
• Earlier, e-hryvnias in the equivalent of UAH 50,000 (US$1,790), which have now been redeemed already, were put into circulation as part of testing transactions between electronic wallets.
• On February 21, 2020, NBU Governor Yakiv Smolii said the National Bank had a proven technological model of digital hryvnia issuance, but had not yet made a final decision in this regard.