Semeniuk: Ukraine is among the world leaders in the use of cryptoassets; now this market needs rules

Ukraine is already one of the most active crypto markets in the world. According to Chainalysis’s Global Crypto Adoption Index 2025, Ukraine ranks 8th in the world in terms of crypto asset use, and 1st in the world when adjusted for population.

According to Chainalysis, the volume of crypto transactions related to Ukraine reached approximately USD 206.3 billion, and the market grew by about 52% over the course of the year.

Therefore, the state’s task today is not to create a virtual asset market from scratch, but to set clear rules for the market that Ukrainians are already actively using and to create conditions under which this activity will occur within the Ukrainian legal framework.

Oleksii Semeniuk, Chairman of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission, made this statement during an online discussion organized by Incrypted, which included representatives from the government, parliament, the crypto industry, and the legal community.

“When a country ranks first in the world in terms of crypto activity per capita, we can no longer speak of virtual assets as a niche phenomenon. The market exists, Ukrainians are using it, and businesses are creating products. The question is this: where are these businesses legally based, where do they pay taxes, and how well are Ukrainian users protected? This is precisely what the legislation must address,” said Oleksii Semeniuk.

According to him, legalization should give Ukrainians the opportunity to use the services of authorized providers of virtual asset-related services, and provide businesses with a clear mechanism for operating legally in Ukraine.

Specifically, this refers to services for buying, selling, and exchanging virtual assets, as well as their storage, staking, and other products that, once a legal framework is established, will be able to develop according to rules set by the government.

“For people, the outcome of the reform needs to be very clear: they need to understand who is providing them with a service, whether that company is authorized, what rules it is required to follow, and where to complain if their rights are violated. Currently, a significant portion of these relationships effectively falls outside the scope of the Ukrainian regulatory framework,” the Commission Chairman emphasized.

From crypto assets to the tokenization of the real economy

Semeniuk identified the tokenization of real-world and financial assets — RWA (Real World Assets) — as a separate area of development.
This involves the use of distributed ledger technology to represent rights to real assets or financial instruments in digital form. In the future, such technologies could be used to create new models for raising capital and developing investment products.

“For me, the strategic goal is much broader than simply legalizing cryptocurrencies. We’re talking about the possibility of integrating virtual asset technologies with the traditional financial market. Tokenization, RWAs, and new investment products are already part of the global evolution of the financial system. Ukraine shouldn’t be catching up with this process in five years from now — it should be creating the legal infrastructure for it right away,” Semeniuk noted.

The next step: banks and the payment infrastructure

One of the key issues remains the interaction between a legal virtual asset market and the banking system.

According to the Chairman of the NSSMC, legislation alone cannot automatically resolve all issues related to the banking and payment infrastructure. At the same time, without a clearly defined legal status for the market, such interaction is virtually impossible.

“If there is no legal framework, there is no real basis for cooperation. Legislation creates road laws, but the financial and payment ‘rails’ require collaboration among regulators, banks, and market participants,” he explained.

During the discussion, market representatives also cited understandable taxation, access to banking infrastructure, and predictable authorization rules as key conditions for the development of the legal sector.

Semeniuk emphasized that, when creating a regulatory framework, Ukraine needs to strike a balance between protecting users and ensuring the competitiveness of the Ukrainian jurisdiction.

“We’re not competing for this business in a vacuum. A company can choose a jurisdiction where the rules are clearer and simpler. Therefore, our task is not to over-regulate the market, but to ensure that it is profitable to operate legally in Ukraine. Excessive leniency creates risks for people. Excessive regulation drives businesses abroad. We need a market where it is possible to operate legally, invest, and launch products — while also remaining protected,” the Chairman of the NSSMC concluded.