According to recent reports, within 12 months, Ukrainians spent hundreds of millions of US dollars to acquire cryptocurrency.
The authors of documents issued by major international development banks have registered a surge in cryptographic activity in war-torn countries.
Ukrainian brand “Heavy Crypto User”
Since Russia began its invasion more than three years ago, cryptocurrencies have become popular in Ukraine, especially as a result of the fiat restrictions imposed by financial authorities under martial law.
According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Eastern European countries are leaders in terms of national encryption in the region they operate, the Ukrainian National Report (UNN) website and Russian TASS news agency reported.
In its latest regional economic outlook report issued in September, banks assessed the exposure of these economies to cryptocurrency, highlighting rapid market growth and a significant increase in trading volume.
The survey is as follows, quoting data from July 2023 to July 2024.
“Ukraine appeared as another haven user of crypto, receiving $106 billion in crypto inflows over that period, spending $882 million worth of Ukrainian Flybnia on Bitcoin purchases.”
The authors believe that large-scale cryptography activity is primarily due to institutional transfers ranging from $1 million to $10 million and professional transfers ranging from $10 million to $1 million.
Nigeria is also among the leading crypto adopters
Nigeria is the only representative of the EBRD region of the top 10 crypto employers, according to figures raised from blockchain analytics firm Chain Orisis.
During the same period, it received a cryptocurrency worth $59 billion. African powers lag behind Eastern European countries in terms of share of the population that owns cryptocurrency. It exceeds 5% each and over 10% each.
“Nigeria, Ukraine and Churkier stand out for the highest rates of cryptocurrency adoption,” EBRD noted in the report. Turkey ranked 11th in its publication by Chain Orisis in last year's edition of the Global Crypto Adoption Index.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is a multilateral development investment bank that helps build market economies in many countries, using public funds to fund private projects.
Founded in 1991, the bank initially focused on providing support to businesses in the former Eastern Bloc countries, but eventually began funding development initiatives elsewhere, maintaining a presence in more than two dozen countries.
In addition to the economy where there is a loan, the London-based EBRD has a diverse group with over 70 members across regions ranging from North America to Australia, including the US, its largest shareholders and the European Union.
The Ukrainian government moves to regulate Bitcoin
Despite its important cryptocurrency activities, Ukraine is still legalizing cryptocurrencies and does not comprehensively regulate operations in its jurisdiction.
Kiev authorities first attempted to do so in early 2022, but the full-scale Russian invasion that began in February of that year slowed the legislative process.
The use of cryptocurrency rose sharply in the next few years, particularly after the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) imposed restrictions on financial transactions to prevent capital flights.
A new draft law that allows crypto investments and determines taxation was later introduced to Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament. The Tax Committee recommended that it be adopted in April 2025.
In the first week of September, lawmakers approved the “on virtual assets” bill in their first reading, with a significant majority, as reported by Cryptopolitan.
Members of Ukrainian fintech industry hope that legalization of crypto activity will attract foreign investment and increase the budgetary revenues of their country.
