New regulations have been made by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) in reaction to the country's economy's shifting fundamentals as a result of a protracted armed war with Russia. On Thursday, the monetary authority put new restrictions on banking activities using the national fiat currency and depreciated the Ukrainian hryvnia by 25% against the strong dollar.
Banks can only sell non-cash foreign currency to their customers in accordance with the new regulations for private individuals, which went into effect on July 21, provided the sums are deposited for a duration of at least three months with no provision for contract termination.
The previous weekly withdrawal cap of 12,500 hryvnia ($340) has been replaced with the previous cap of 50,000 hryvnia. The fee for peer-to-peer transfers from Ukrainian bank-issued cards to other countries has been reduced from 100,000 hryvnia ($2,700) to 30,000 hryvnia ($800). Additionally, the monthly cap on cross-border payments made with hryvnia cards has been established at 100,000.
Kirill Shevchenko, governor of the NBU, reaffirmed that all measures put in place since the start of the conflict are short-term and enable the economy to survive. However, they have a significant impact on Ukrainians, particularly the millions of people who were compelled to flee and are still unable to do so.
According to Mikhail Chobanyan, the creator of the Ukrainian cryptocurrency exchange Kuna, the most recent NBU limitations may spark a boom in interest in cryptocurrencies among Ukrainians. "We anticipate a rise in cryptocurrency use and turnover. 100,000 hryvnias is nothing in Europe, the businessman continued.
Chobanyan further pointed out that the new restrictions will make it harder for volunteers to carry out their duties because most of the aid is obtained using cards from Ukrainian banks that are held by private individuals. Chobanyan, who characterized the central bank's strategy as aggressive and warned that Ukrainian banks and the state budget will suffer, stated, "Now we will entirely move these flows to cryptocurrency."
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