The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine has seized $1.5 million worth of cryptocurrency from Yuriy Shchigol, Ukraine’s former head of the State Special Communications Service, according to local news outlet RBC.
Ukraine officials get training on crypto and virtual assets investigation
Officials from Ukraine were trained in tracing crypto transactions over different blockchains using specialized analytics software.
Revolutionizing whitelist marketplace for Web3: WhiteList Zone partners with Cointelegraph Accelerator
The whitelist marketplace WhiteList Zone onboarded over 50 projects that collectively submitted more than 8,000 whitelists.
Tether freezes $873K USDT linked to terrorist activity in Ukraine, Israel
The stablecoin issuer freezes addresses containing $873,000 USDT linked to illicit activity in Israel and Ukraine.
Ukraine rolls out AI regulation roadmap
The roadmap is based on a bottom-up approach that suggests providing businesses with tools to prepare for future requirements before adopting any laws.
Ukrainian government reports $81M tax loss from unregulated crypto exchanges since 2013
A crypto bill signed into law in 2022 paved the way for the Ukrainian government to amend its tax code, but local exchanges still largely operate outside this framework.
Ukraine demands local crypto businesses to provide financials
Trading volumes on the Ukrainian crypto exchange Kuna have shrunk 90% since March 2023 due to government policies, the CEO said.
Ukraine Has Raised $225M in Crypto to Fight Russian Invasion, but Donations Have Stagnated Over the Last Year: Crystal
Ukraine attracted over $225 million from supporters around the world, while Russian military fundraisers only scored several millions.
IRS, Chainalysis and Ukraine Targeting Russian Crypto Sanctions Evaders Jointly
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service and crypto investigations company Chainalysis are working with Ukraine to target Russian oligarchs using crypto to evade sanctions.
Crypto Exchange Binance Is Back in Russia, Lifts Restrictions on Russian Users: Report
Users in Russia report they once again can use locally issued Mastercard and Visa cards to deposit money on the crypto exchange more than a year following a wartime prohibition on such transactions.
Ukraine plans to adopt EU’s new cryptocurrency regulations
Immediately after passing the European Parliament, Ukrainian authorities announced plans to adopt the EU’s MiCA regulations on crypto assets.
In the Ukraine War, Stellar Aid Assist Is Using Crypto to Give Mass Aid
The Stellar Development Foundation designed a payment app that leverages stablecoins for fast and cheap transfer and is user-friendly for trauma and disaster victims. That’s why Stellar Aid Assist is one of CoinDesk’s Projects to Watch 2023.
Bear markets are for filming: The Bitcoin Film Festival in Warsaw
Lights, camera, Bitcoin: A Bitcoin Film Festival in Poland brought the Bitcoin revolution to the big screen.
This Ukrainian Startup Is Looking to Automate Crypto Crime Reporting Using Smart Contracts, AI
HAPI Labs has launched a platform for reporting of scam- and crime-related addresses in partnership with Ukraine’s cyber police.
Ukraine’s central bank sees both promises and threats in Bitcoin
The central bank of Ukraine sees crypto as a threat to macro-financial stability and a promising opportunity for better payments at the same time.
Russia-Ukraine war: How both sides of the conflict have used crypto to win
While tens of millions worth of crypto were donated to Ukraine in the last year, pro-Kremlin groups have also leveraged digital currencies to buy military supplies and spread propaganda.
Binance recommends P2P as Ukraine suspends hryvnia use on crypto exchanges
Following the temporary suspension from Ukraine’s central bank, crypto exchanges like Binance and Kuna made official announcements informing investors about the inconvenience.
War had no impact on Ukraine’s regulatory approach to crypto, Kyiv lawmaker says
The adoption of crypto law in Ukraine has been slowed down mainly due to the need to adapt it to tax and civil codes, an official told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview.
Ukraine-based blockchain firm reports company ‘stronger’ one year into war
Russian military forces invaded areas of Ukraine in February 2022, and workers at businesses including Everstake have faced life in shelters and the constant threat of shelling.
Stellar (XLM) Poised To Rally? Ukrainian Bank Reveals Successful E-Money Pilot
The Stellar (XLM) price remains in a long-term downtrend. After seeing an all-time high of nearly $0.81 on May 10, 2021, XLM’s price has fallen massively. Currently, XLM is 90.6% down from its ATH. Since October 2021, Stellar has also been in a descending trend channel.
At press time, XLM was trading at $0.0822. Thus, the price is showing initial signs of strength and could make a first attempt to break through the upper line of the trend channel at $0.10. What would probably be needed is a clear move that catapults the XLM price toward the next important resistance level at around $0.13.
Should this succeed, the XLM bulls could target the next resistance zone around $0.23.
Bullish News Pushing Stellar Out Of The Bearish Trend?
A potential catalyst for a breakout out of the bearish trend was provided yesterday by the Stellar Foundation. It shared in a tweet that TASCOMBANK, one of Ukraine’s oldest commercial banks, published the results of its e-money pilot project on the Stellar network.
Remarkably, TASCOMBANK is one of the leading Ukrainian commercial banks, which is regarded as a system bank. It operates in many areas of banking, including consumer and corporate lending, factoring, e-commerce, and trade finance.
The report on the project, which was launched in December 2021, informs the National Bank of Ukraine and the Ministry of Digital Transformation about the benefits of issuing e-money on the Stellar blockchain, highlighting the advantages.
Transparency, accountability, and low transaction costs were among the many cited benefits of blockchain in a report by @tascombank.
During their Pilot, one of Ukraine's oldest banks cited the future of e-currency on Stellar as "promising"https://t.co/SSGkUdONNi
— Stellar (@StellarOrg) January 12, 2023
As stated in a Stellar Foundation blog post, TASCOMBANK praises the blockchain’s transparency, security, and confidentiality of customer data, low transaction costs, instant payment functionality, and high throughput “at each stage of development, from conducting operations to testing”
The goal of the project was to test the issuance of e-money, focusing on peer-to-peer and merchant payments, as well as payroll. Sergii Kholod, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of TASCOMBANK, commented:
As part of a pilot project we explored a new way of issuing and managing electronic money which could be a new generation means of payment for the citizens and organizations of Ukraine, their employees and clients, government institutions, and international organizations.
Speaking about the pilot project, Oleksii Shaban, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, said that there are “still many hypotheses” that need to be investigated in the pilot project. However, he expressed that the pilot results are an important basis for use at commercial and central banks.
Oleksandr Bornyakov, the Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, also revealed that his ministry and TASCOMBANK are currently examining “the approaches to further rollout of blockchain-based payment instruments.”