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The reports are that citing the reason that it wants to protect consumers’ rights, the National Bank of Ukraine stressed that the international spread payments using Bitcoin are illegal. According to the bank this Bitcoin is being used for illegal activities, including money laundering of crime or financing terrorism and this must not continue.

The government says that the virtual currency Bitcoin cannot be used in Ukraine as a means of payment any longer. According to the regulator which has to ensure real value, virtual currencies are “money substitutes” it has been observing the activities that were being carried out in the Bitcoin ecosystem and concluded finally to clamp down.

An official representative said, “In order to protect consumers’ rights and security of the money transfer National Bank recommends that you use the services of only those payment systems, settlement systems, which are included in the register of payment systems, settlement systems, participants in these systems and service providers payment infrastructure.”

A Ukrainian User in Reddit Contradicts the News

Posting his comment in /r/Bitcoin, this user says that as he can read National Bank of Ukraine website and their original posting, there is nothing like they have banned Bitcoin. According to him they stated that Bitcoin is not regulated by them or anybody and they cannot guarantee safety of funds or operations.

The user further clarifies that the National Bank of Ukraine stated that Bitcoin is often used for illegal activities and pointed out that only legal currency for payment for goods and services inside Ukraine is Hryvnia (UAH). According to them it always was that way; therefore, none can slap anything on price tag in the shop except UAH.

The National Bank of Ukraine also determined that the sale logic is applicable for other officially documented prices or contracts. The organization asks citizens to be vigilant for scams when using Bitcoin. Essentially, the Government bank is saying that if the users lose their money transacting Bitcoin, they are warned beforehand.

At the same time the National Bank of Ukraine has urged the citizens to use the national currency than Bitcoin for their business records and official prices and tax records. Essentially, the warning is typical that has been used by various other governments like India, China, Russia, etc. around the world that consider Bitcoin a challenge for their national currencies.


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