Today, Director of the Payment Systems Department Nataliia Lapko and Director of the Retail Payments Department Serhii Shatskyi have taken part in the second International exhibition and conference Bitcoin Conference Kiev.
In her speech, Nataliia Lapko pointed out that there has been a surge in interest in the use of cryptocurrencies recently.
She said and in late August representatives from the National Bank of Ukraine had participated in the International forum on retail payments that was held in Istanbul upon the initiative of the World Bank and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures of the Bank for International Settlements.
The forum participants pointed out that until now the international financial institutions and central banks had not worked out a concerted stance on the use of cryptocurrencies. At the same time, the participants underlined that the use of cryptocurrencies should be subject to close monitoring by the regulators. According to a World Bank representative, the monitoring of their development should fall within the competence of the central bank’s subdivisions that are entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the payment and settlement systems.
“The National Bank of Ukraine keeps a close eye on the launch of innovative products in the payments market and policies pursued by the central banks and public institutions of other countries to adopt the rules and regulations governing the use of cryptocurrencies in the European and global context,” stressed Nataliia Lapko.
Serhii Shatskyi briefed the conference participants on the innovations in the area of retail payments and unveiled plans by the regulator to expand cashless payments in Ukraine.
He underlined that while working on the expansion of the Ukrainian national payment system’s capacity, the National Bank of Ukraine pays much heed to new technology and state-of-the-art approaches. “Whether we succeed in promoting our national payment system efficiently in the market hinges, among other things, on the deployment of innovative solutions. We are aware of the fact the payment system offering basic functionality is able to meet the market's expectations only for a short period of time, whereas the future lies with state-of-the-art technologies”.
According to Serhii Shatskyi, turning the idea of a cashless economy into reality is a top priority for Ukraine, especially that the Comprehensive Program for the Development of Ukraine’s Financial Sector up to 2020 provides for further development of cashless circulation and retail cashless e-payments and the first steps are being taken in this direction.
Today, we have heard a lot of interesting information about the Bitcoin operation, and the advantages of using cryptocurrencies. The regulator welcomes all the initiatives that contribute to the development of cashless payments in Ukraine and is open for discussions of all new developments in this area,” stressed Serhii Shatskyi.
For reference
The use of blockchain technology, how Bitcoin works and how these technologies can influence Ukraine’s financial system were high on the agenda of the second International exhibition and conference Bitcoin Conference Kiev.
The conference was held in a two-level format:"Beginner” and “Expert”. In the course of the event, the conference participants had an opportunity to talk with developers and experts in the field of cryptocurrency, representatives of bitcon-business in Ukraine, representatives from the National Bank of Ukraine and the NBU Government Securities Depository.