Ukraine has become the first country in the world to pass a new cryptocurrency-related law. The native fiat currency in Ukraine is known as hryvnia, which is also the standard legal tender. However, the Verkhovna Rada or the parliamentary body has recently passed a CBDC related law into the region. As a result, the new Central Bank Digital Currency would be treated as a parallel legal tender in Ukraine.

At present, the CBCD in question is still in the development phase. However, the political and commercial leadership of the nation seem to be eager to add the digital hryvnia to their state as soon as possible. In addition, there are several other countries, including China and many EU members, who are working on their personalized versions of digital fiats. However, no other country has moved on to pass a CBDC related law and make it an official currency already.

The Prototype for Ukraine’s New CBDC has been Deployed on Stellar Lumens Blockchain

Stellar Lumens is a blockchain project centered on the digital representation of all current variants of paper money. The Ukraine Central Bank has decided to select this ecosystem for testing the prototypes of their CBDC. As more and more nations are waking up to the advantages of a digitized economy, the concept of CBDC is becoming more popular. 

However, Ukraine took the shot and went on to go down in history as the first country in the world to add it to the law. The Payment Services law amendment makes a fleeting annotation to the new CBDC and paves the way for its mainstream adoption. Ukraine has been conducting the CBDC test since 2018, and as soon as the digital hryvnia is officially launched, it would become a monetary equivalent of paper money in Ukraine.

More European Nations are Trying to Come up with CBDC Variants

Ukraine is not the only European nation working on a CBDC project. Countries like France, Sweden, and European Union all have piloted similar projects. The new version of the currency would allow the citizens of these nations to have advantages like more secure accounts, faster transactions, payment accessibility, lower remittance rates, and lower transactions charges.

At present, China is leading the charge in terms of CBDC technological development. Under these circumstances, many countries feel that they need to move faster. As a result, institutions like the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) have come forward to reflect on the topic of CBDCs. It is estimated that by the end of the decade, a significant amount of nations would become full-fledged digital economies.