Ukraine’s national cryptocurrency will allow international transactions

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has presented the concept of a digital hryvnia (CBDC). According to the state regulator, it will «complement cash and non-cash money» and will have all the functions of the national currency.

The NBU sets the following goals for the digital hryvnia:

• The use of e-hryvnia should be accessible and convenient for all Ukrainians. This includes companies, individuals, and government agencies.
• The NBU is working on various options for using the e-hryvnia. Each option will be programmed into a separate option through smart contracts.
• Over time, separate CBDCs may appear for social payments, government lending, etc.
• The e-hryvnia will be available for international settlements and cross-border payments.

The NBU’s goal is to reduce budget expenditures on monitoring the targeted use of funds. The agency believes that digital money will help strengthen Ukraine’s monetary sovereignty and enhance the regulator’s ability to maintain exchange rate stability.

«The development and introduction of e-hryvnia may be the next step in the evolution of Ukraine’s payment infrastructure. The asset will contribute to the digitalization of the economy, further spread of non-cash payments, reduce their cost, increase their transparency, and increase confidence in the national currency in general. This will strengthen the NBU’sability to maintain price and financial stability as a key to sustainable economic growth,» said Oleksiy Shaban, Deputy Governor of the NBU.

As a reminder, a group of American banks and financial institutions have launched a test platform for issuing the digital dollar, the Regulated Liability Network (RLN), which operates on the basis of the blockchain. HBSC, Mastercard, Wells Fargo, BNY Mellon, Citi, TD Bank, and SWIFT have created a platform for the creation of a national cryptocurrency in the United States. And David Chaum, an American computer scientist, cryptographer, and developer of the anonymous cryptographic electronic money eCash, is working on launching a confidential CBDC project.