Ukrainian Securities Commission Head Wants Cryptocurrencies Legalized

Ukraine’s securities commission may begin speaking about cryptocurrencies at the next Financial Stability Council meeting in Kyiv in terms of their legalization.

Timur Khromaev, chairman of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC), said about as much in a Facebook (NASDAQ: ) post.

“Today, at the #IOSCO conference, we will speak about cryptocurrencies and ICOs, and several conclusions are already being drawn,” he began.

His list of conclusions shows that he isn’t necessarily against the idea of allowing Ukrainians to participate freely in the market.

“The cryptocurrency industry has been actively developing over the past three years, and through its activity has begun developing standards, rules and issues related to the conduct of business. The point of no return has already passed, and the cryptocurrency remains intact, becoming an integral part of economic and financial relations. Therefore, its status, activities, and implications need to be adopted by law and standardized by financial regulators,” he wrote.

His second conclusion is that cryptocurrency assets and activities must be judged using the “old” rules, which rely on “principles and substance.” New regulations, Khromaev said, should “[take] into account the very dynamic development of this industry.”

[latest-reviews-subscription]

The chairman also considers that international standards on cryptocurrency are lacking, perhaps due to the absence of consensus among nations on whether these digital coins are securities or currencies in their own right. For this reason, his third conclusion is that Ukraine should determine regulations at the national level.

“Taking this into account, I consider it very timely to consider, during the next meeting of the Financial Stability Council, the recognition of some crypto units as financial instruments, to create approaches to recognition of their activities and to initiate appropriate legal proceedings,” Khromaev concluded.

Ukraine’s government has long attempted to answer the “cryptocurrency question” after it formed a working group on the space’s regulation in January. With Khromaev leading the discussion in front of the Financial Stability Council, the country might make some headway in this department.