The National Bank of Ukraine does not support the idea of including virtual assets (VA) in international reserves and considers such a decision premature, said Serhiy Nikolaychuk, First Deputy Chairman of the NBU, in an interview with the Interfax-Ukraine agency.
“The vast majority of cryptocurrencies remain a high-risk asset, while the key principle of managing international reserves is safety. Sharp drops and surges in the exchange rate of VA will negatively affect the total volume of reserves,” he stressed.
According to Nikolaychuk, currently there is no clear and unambiguous understanding of the essence and classification of VA in the world, as well as there is no unified legislative regulation of operations with them. He noted that although some countries include such assets in reserves, this is rather an exception. The NBU representative emphasized that the inclusion of crypto-assets in reserves could undermine the process of Ukraine’s European integration.
“The European Central Bank has a fairly clear position – it considers it unacceptable to include crypto assets in the reserves of central banks of EU countries. Reserves must be liquid, safe and secure,” Nikolaychuk noted.
He also recalled that such changes would not meet the requirements of the Technical Memorandum within the framework of the Extended Fund Facility with the IMF.
As reported, on June 10, 2025, the people’s deputies registered draft law No. 13356, which provides for the inclusion of VA by the National Bank in gold and foreign exchange reserves. However, Nikolaychuk stated that no consultations were held with the NBU regarding this draft law.
