NBU names four reasons against including cryptocurrency in reserves

The National Bank does not support the idea of including virtual assets in Ukraine's foreign exchange reserves and considers it premature. This was stated by First Deputy Governor of the NBU Serhiy Nikolaychuk said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

According to him, consultations with the NBU on the draft law №13356 were not conducted prior to its submission to the Rada.

"Second, we believe that such changes would be premature. We do not plan to include virtual assets in international reserves," Nikolaychuk said.

The NBU's first deputy governor named four reasons why crypto is not suitable for reserves.

First, the vast majority of cryptocurrencies remain high-risk assets, while the key principle of international reserve management is safety. Sharp drops and surges in the exchange rate value of virtual assets will have a negative impact on the total amount of reserves.

Secondly, there is no clear understanding of the nature and classification of virtual assets in the world, and, accordingly, no sufficiently unified legislative regulation of transactions with them.

Third, such changes could undermine Ukraine's European integration process. The European Central Bank considers it unacceptable to include crypto assets in the reserves of EU central banks.

Fourth, such changes would not meet the requirements of the Technical Memorandum under the Extended Fund Facility program with the IMF

• The head of the Rada's tax committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, said earlier that the parliament does not plan to adopt a draft law on the creation of a crypto reserve in Ukraine (No. 13356)because the NBU is against it.