Ukraine may be moving to officially recognize crypto currencies as financial “instruments”

Ukraine may be moving to officially recognize crypto currencies as financial “instruments” – putting tokens on the same financial footing as stocks and bonds, Cryptonews reports. Timur Khromaev, head of the National Commission for Securities and Stock Market, is quoted by Segodnya news site as saying that crypto currencies “are more like financial instruments such as shares or bonds, rather than a means of payment. They are a means of accumulating [funds]. We plan to legally recognize crypto currencies as such – and allow people to invest and use them.” A few weeks ago, Oleg Churiy, deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, spoke of regulatory role for Khromae’s Commission, suggesting a Japanese model where a financial regulator issues operating licenses to local crypto currency exchanges and polices their operations.