Ukraine’s largest savings bank halts Bitcoin purchases with hryvnia: report

As the Ukrainian Government Moves to Legalize Bitcoin (BTC) Amid the ongoing attacks by the Russian military, some of the largest local banks have reportedly banned their customers from buying BTC with the national currency.

PrivatBank, the largest commercial bank in Ukraine, has temporarily banned its customers from buying Bitcoin with its national currency, the hryvnia (UAH), industry publication Forklog reported on Thursday.

Citing a spokesperson for PrivatBank, the report notes that PrivatBank’s latest restrictions are in accordance with an order issued by the National Bank of Ukraine. The restrictions will reportedly apply during the current period of martial law in the country.

The statement came shortly after Binance’s Ukrainian division reported on PrivatBank’s cryptocurrency restrictions on Wednesday.

“We would like to inform you that PrivatBank will not support operations with UAH on all crypto exchanges from March 2022,” Binance Ukraine announced in a post on Facebook.

Binance also advised its clients to use its peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange service, noting that other banks may make a similar decision at any time.

According to the bank’s official website, PrivatBank has: taken multiple steps to maintain financial stability under martial law, provide credit holidays and increase withdrawal limits. PrivatBank has not responded to Coin-Crypto’s request for comment.

The first reports of PrivatBank’s crypto-related restrictions surfaced in late February, with some users claiming that banks were blocking user accounts associated with P2P crypto exchanges such as LocalBitcoins.

Related: Ukraine Finds Unlikely Ally in Efforts to Block Russian Access to Crypto: The Central Bank of Russia

On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law to create a legal framework for the country to operate a regulated crypto market. The Ukrainian government was actively working on the adoption of regulations, and the Ukrainian parliament approved the legislation in a second reading in mid-February.

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