Ukraine taps Stellar to develop digital asset infrastructure, including CBDC framework

Published at: Jan. 4, 2021

The Stellar Development Foundation has signed an agreement with the Ukrainian government to facilitate the creation of a digital asset ecosystem, including a framework for a central bank digital currency, or CBDC. 

Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation announced Monday that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Stellar Development Foundation. The MOU outlines Ukraine's strategy for developing digital assets and CBDC infrastructure. This includes providing support to projects specializing in digital assets, implementing and regulating stablecoin circulation, and promoting the development of a CBDC. 

A press release from the Stellar Development Foundation on Monday confirmed that the agreement was signed on Dec. 28. 

Oleksandr Bornyakov, deputy minister of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, told Cointelegraph that facilitating a national cryptocurrency doesn't mean that Stellar will develop the Ukrainian CBDC. Rather, the Stellar partnership is expected to "enable quality decision-making regarding development of the virtual assets ecosystem in Ukraine."

When asked about Ukraine's potential to lead cryptocurrency and blockchain development in Europe and the world, Bornyakov said his ministry is integrating best practices from Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Malta, Liechtenstein and the United States. 

He elaborated:

"Crypto companies, blockchain startups and financial institutions — all of them seek a legally protected environment for conducting business. And the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine is working on building a legal framework that will offer a transparent and stable regulatory environment for blockchain and crypto companies."

Bornyakov said that the National Bank of Ukraine has been researching CBDCs since 2017. Ukraine, like many other countries, is exploring the utility of a CBDC, as well as its potential impact on everything from monetary policy and financial stability to consumer adoption.

There have been some rumblings that Ukraine is prepared to lead Eastern Europe’s crypto race, with the Ministry of Digital Transformation pushing for clearer regulations on digital assets.

In September, Chainanalysis gave Ukraine the top spot in its global ranking on cryptocurrency adoption. Ukraine scored especially high on measures of on-chain value received and total on-chain retail value.

Stellar's Lumen (XLM) is currently ranked 13th in global market capitalization for all cryptocurrencies. The Stellar Foundation's core principles include creating more equitable access to the global financial system via open-source, peer-to-peer technology. 

Tags
Adoption
Regulation
Cbdc
Stellar
Ukraine
Related Posts
Ukraine is prepared to lead Eastern Europe’s crypto space
Ukraine is ranked as the world’s leader in the Global Crypto Adoption Index 2020, according to a research published by Chainalysis earlier this fall. Despite this, cryptocurrencies still remain a gray area in the economy. Since 2014, Ukrainian authorities have been trying to implement crypto legislation that would transform the country into a competitive jurisdiction for running crypto-related businesses, but the efforts did not yield any results. Finally, just a few months ago, the Ukranian government presented a new bill on digital assets to legitimize the sector — and this time, the attempt may well be successful. The fintech strategy …
Adoption / Nov. 15, 2020
Brazil could have CBDC in two years, says central bank president
The president of Banco Central — Brazil’s central bank — has announced Brazilians could expect to see a central bank digital currency before 2023. According to a Sept. 2 report from news outlet Correio Braziliense, Brazil could be ready for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in 2022. Roberto Campos Neto, the president of Banco Central, stated that the country’s central bank had already undertaken measures to modernize the Brazilian financial system which has made a CBDC the natural outcome. The president cited the country’s PIX instant payment system and open banking among those measures. The central bank plans to …
Adoption / Sept. 4, 2020
The Bahamas launches world’s first CBDC, the ‘Sand Dollar’
The Central Bank of the Bahamas has announced the country’s “Sand Dollar” — a state-backed virtual currency — is now available nationwide. According to an Oct. 20 Facebook post from Project Sand Dollar, the central bank digital currency (CBDC) became available to all 393,000 residents of The Bahamas from roughly 10:00 PM UTC. This makes The Bahamas the first country in the world to officially roll out a CBDC. China is currently testing a pilot program for its digital yuan with a $1.5 million giveaway, and Cambodia’s “Bakong” digital currency is expected to become operational in the coming months following …
Adoption / Oct. 21, 2020
WEF 2022: Blockchain community breaks stereotypes at Davos
On the second day of the Global Blockchain Business Council's (GBBC) Blockchain Central Davos 2022, Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderated a panel discussion focusing on the current direction of the financial industry. Panelists included co-founder and CEO of Soramitsu Makoto Takemiya; fintech expert at Oesterreichische Nationalbank Johannes Duong; and chief operating officer (COO) of theStellar Development Foundation Jason Chlipala. The panel tackled various issues such as educating the mainstream about blockchain, how blockchain companies are breaking stereotypes at the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2022 and current market issues surrounding central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins. The common perception …
Adoption / May 24, 2022
Bank of Israel experiments with central bank digital currency smart contracts and privacy
On Monday, the Bank of Israel released the results of a lab experiment that examined user privacy and the use of smart contracts in payments. This was the central bank’s first technological experiment with a central bank digital currency (CBDC). The first stage of the experiment modeled the sale of a car within a two-tier system with an intermediary payment service provider. The bank said that the service provider completed Know Your Customer (KYC)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks and provided the necessary blockchain addresses. A nonfungible token (NFT) was issued to show ownership of the car in the absence of a …
Adoption / June 21, 2022