The National Bank of Ukraine Does Not Intend to Add Cryptocurrency to the Reserve Assets

• The National Bank of Ukraine has called cryptocurrencies too risky to be kept in reserves.
• There is no unified classification and regulation of virtual assets in the world, Serhiy Mykolaychuk noted.
• The ECB also opposes the use of crypto-assets by central banks of EU countries.

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The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) is not considering adding digital assets to the list of the country’s reserves and considers such initiatives untimely. This was announced by the first deputy head of the NBU, Serhiy Mykolaychuk, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

The National Bank emphasized that the vast majority of cryptocurrencies remain an extremely volatile instrument. According to its representative, this contradicts the basic principle of reserves management — ensuring their stability and safety.

The deputy head of the NBU believes that in international practice there is still no clear classification of digital assets and unified legal regulation of transactions with them. Although some countries are experimenting with their inclusion in reserves, such examples are isolated and are rather an exception than a trend, emphasized Mykolaychuk.

The NBU representative also pointed out that the position of the European Central Bank remains tough. According to his conclusion, crypto-assets are not suitable for reserves of central banks of EU countries.

In addition, the representative of the regulator reminded that such changes do not meet the requirements of the Technical Memorandum under the Extended Funding Program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

It should be noted that on June 10, 2025, in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered the bill №13356, providing for the possibility of storing cryptocurrencies in the reserves of the NBU. However, as Mykolaichuk noted, the National Bank did not participate in consultations on this initiative.

In August, the head of the parliamentary committee on finance, tax and customs policy, Daniil Hetmantsev, said that the parliament does not intend to consider the mentioned document.

According to him, after discussion with the head of the National Bank it became clear that due to the high volatility of crypto-assets do not plan to support the initiative.