Russian sources are spreading information that the National Bank of Ukraine has allegedly declared cryptocurrency illegal, and PrivatBank, in turn, has allegedly banned transactions with it.

However, in reality, the propagandists manipulated the information, writes the StopFake project. The original source of the manipulative message was a scandalous publication that is under sanctions by the National Security and Defense Council for the constant dissemination of fakes and Russian propaganda narratives.

In an interview with the Interfax agency, the head of the NBU Andriш Pyshnyi did say that the hryvnia was and remains the only legal means of payment in Ukraine. At the same time, the country has a parallel cryptocurrency market that requires regulation and bringing out of the shadows:

“Are we working on this challenge? Yes, we are. Several technical missions of the IMF took place, the purpose of which was to deeply study various experiences and develop comprehensive proposals for legislative regulation of the virtual asset market that would take into account the European experience and requirements for financial monitoring”, Pyshnyi said.

That is, the head of the NBU did not announce any bans on the use of cryptocurrency - he only said that the status of this instrument in Ukraine has not yet been determined, but the NBU is working on this issue. Moreover, according to Pyshnyi himself, the goal of the National Bank is not to displace cryptocurrency, but to “create the most transparent and understandable rules of the game in this market”.

Earlier, PrivatBank did restrict the withdrawal of hryvnia to cryptocurrency exchanges. However, this decision was made at the beginning of a full-scale invasion based on the Law of Ukraine “On the Prevention and Counteraction of Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction”. At the same time, this restriction only concerned international transactions and does not prevent clients from using cryptocurrency within Ukraine.

A little earlier we analyzed a Russian fake, supposedly the VISA payment system was returning to Russian territory.