Ukraine’s securities regulator says the country’s virtual asset framework is close to completion, with the National Securities and Stock Market Commission positioned to become the main supervisor of the crypto market once the law is adopted. According to NSSMC head Oleksii Semeniuk, the draft is about 90% ready and the core divisions of responsibility have largely been agreed.
The proposal would give the NSSMC primary authority over virtual assets, while leaving the National Bank of Ukraine with reserved powers tied to money circulation. Semeniuk said the market already exists in practice, and that the state’s task is to build a legal structure that can regulate activity, introduce taxation, and move trading out of the shadows without ignoring wartime and currency-control constraints.
Core framework largely agreed
Semeniuk said the broad architecture of the bill is already settled. That includes the distribution of powers between regulators, a MiCA-style approach to classifying virtual assets, and licensing and prudential rules for service providers. Requirements under discussion include capital standards, customer identification, financial monitoring, and segregation of client assets.
He also said the NSSMC has reorganized internally to focus more heavily on supervision, shifting resources from administrative functions toward regulatory work. The commission has also built ties with foreign counterparts including Germany’s BaFin and Japan’s Financial Services Agency, and holds observer status at ESMA, steps intended to support cross-border coordination as the market formalizes.
Where Ukraine may differ from MiCA
The regulator’s stated goal is long-term compatibility with the EU’s MiCA regime, but Semeniuk said Ukraine cannot simply copy the European model in full at launch. The main differences are expected in transitional and practical measures shaped by martial law and existing currency restrictions.
That could mean a narrower set of permitted entities and operations during the first stage of implementation. Stablecoins are also treated cautiously because of their connection to monetary policy. In this view, the first step is to launch a workable baseline for the domestic market and then move closer to full European alignment as conditions allow.
Taxes, exchanges, and grey-market activity
Taxation is being designed alongside regulation rather than as a separate issue. Semeniuk said the basic concept is that tax liability would arise when assets are converted into fiat, with the tax base focused on profit rather than turnover. A preferential transition period is also planned for assets acquired before the law takes effect, although rates and technical details have not yet been finalized.
He said exchanges would not be pushed out of the market after legalization, but brought into a licensing system. In practice, that would mean legal operation under compliance rules instead of a ban. The expectation described by the regulator is that the cash segment would contract if operating lawfully becomes less risky and less costly than staying in the informal market.
Open questions and the next step
Despite the progress claimed by the NSSMC, several parts of the bill are still unresolved. Semeniuk identified tax specifics, justice-related provisions, rules for seizure, and transition periods among the remaining open issues.
The treatment of activities such as mining and staking also depends on how risk and custody are defined. Mining is viewed as an economic activity outside financial regulation, while staking may fall under regulation when a provider holds client assets and promises yield; non-custodial staking, by contrast, would remain outside that perimeter.
For seized crypto assets, the state still faces custody and valuation challenges. Semeniuk said ARMA would handle seized property, while the NSSMC’s role would be to ensure state standards are robust enough to avoid losses and match the expectations already common in the private market.
Source: incrypted.com