Source: Coindesk
Ukraine’s oldest commercial bank Tascombank will be launching a pilot on the Stellar blockchain network for digital currency in Ukraine.
On December 14, Tascombank announced their jumpstart on cryptocurrency with Stellar as blockchain provider to put under scrutiny the private digital version of Ukraine’s sovereign currency hryvnia.
Backed by the Ministry of Digital Transformation, the pilot will be overseen by the country’s central bank and will be released through the Bitt’s digital currency management system (DCMS). It will be set up under the nation’s existing e-money law.
This forthcoming test will be utilized to assess the efficacy of the digital currency in peer-to-peer and merchant payments, and programmable payroll for government employees.
The trial will “serve as a technological basis for the issuance of electronic money, and is the next key step to advance innovation of payment and financial infrastructure in Ukraine,” said Oleksandr Bornyakov, Digital Transformation Deputy Minister.
The ministry predicts that crypto-friendly regulations will bring an advanced range of financial services to Ukraine. “With the rapidly growing impact of virtual assets on our everyday life and economic landscape, it is essential to utilize the advantages of blockchain technology and new related products as part of the bank’s long-term market strategy,” agreed Volodymyr Dubey, Tascombank chairman.
Since 2016, the National Bank of Ukraine has been pondering on the issuance of a central bank digital currency. Subsequently, the chief monetary authority of Ukraine established trial runs of the e-hryvnia as blockchain-based payments.
In previous months, Ukraine has conducted analysis in the use of digital currencies supported by a central bank as well, like different countries around the world.
The announcement of the signed deal between Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation and Stellar Development Foundation came in January. The deal includes supervising the Stellar blockchain and XLM cryptocurrency to bring a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to development.
The Ukrainian government established a law regulating payment methods that is considered the future of CBDC in July. Weeks passed and the Ukrainian president Dubey approved a bill that rendered the go signal for NBU to issue its own digital currency.
With the world adopting the new payment methods, Ukraine is looking forward to adapting and advancing digital currency.
