To deter the use of Ukraine’s national currency, the hryvnia, on crypto exchanges, the Central Bank of Ukraine has prohibited crypto transactions through bank cards. In addition, Kuna, the country’s main exchange, and Binance have also announced the suspension of crypto exchanges with bank cards denominated in Ukrainian hryvnia.
With Ukraine’s temporary ban on hryvnia on cryptocurrency platforms, Ukrainian residents face a crucial challenge in withdrawing or transferring funds to other exchanges.
Binance, the biggest cryptocurrency exchange globally, has recommended that its users consider peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange services as an alternative option. With P2P trading, there is no need for intermediaries like banks to facilitate transactions between users. This action allows investors to continue their trading activities without any interruptions.
Binance Encourages the Use of its P2P Exchange
While communicating with the Binance community, they confirmed that fiat channels such as bank card deposits, withdrawals, and other payment services are temporarily unavailable for crypto exchanges in Ukraine. Therefore, we recommend utilizing Binance’s P2P service as a seamless alternative to continue your trading activities without inconvenience.
The founder of Kuna exchange, Michael Chobanian, acknowledged that regulatory measures were causing inconvenience. However, he also affirmed that these activities would not influence the Bitcoin environment.
He further stated that they were exploring potential solutions to the situation, as the entire market for Ukrainian crypto/card UAH was at risk of being shut down.
In a statement regarding the matter, Michael Chobanian commented that the limitations on non-cash hryvnia exchanges were likely a portion of the regulatory body’s continued attempts to address the issue of money laundering and tax evasion, which are often associated with online gambling platforms.
Illegal Channels Launder 54B in Hryvnia
The exchange’s founder also referred to statements made by Ukrainian lawmaker Oleksiy Zhmerenetsky, who claimed that the annual amount of money laundered through illegal gambling accumulated to fifty-four billion hryvnias is equivalent to approximately 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.
The news of the ban on hryvnia usage for crypto exchanges comes as a shock, especially since cryptocurrency has been a useful tool for Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion.
According to reports from Elliptic, a blockchain intelligence firm, since February 2022, Ukraine has raised more than 212 million dollars in crypto for humanitarian and defense purposes. Notably, seventy million dollars of these charitable assets have been transferred directly to government-based wallets.
According to Chobanian, the issues related to depositing and withdrawing hryvnia began in September 2022 because of negative regulatory measures. Furthermore, since December, the sanctions implemented by Ukraine’s National Bank have become even more stringent.
