The Nationwide Financial institution of Ukraine (NBU) continues taking measures to stop capital outflows amid martial regulation by implementing main restrictions on cryptocurrency purchases.

The Ukrainian central financial institution formally announced Thursday a set of restrictions on cross-border operations, prohibiting people from shopping for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) with the nationwide fiat foreign money, the hryvnia (UAH).

Ukrainians are actually allowed to purchase Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies solely with overseas foreign money, with complete month-to-month purchases restricted to 100,000 UAH ($3,300). The related restrict additionally applies to worldwide peer-to-peer transactions.

Based on the announcement, the NBU has deemed crypto purchases as “quasi money transactions” alongside operations like digital pockets deposits, overseas alternate transactions and journey funds. By adopting restrictions on such transactions, the central financial institution goals to stop the “unproductive outflow of capital” from the nation amid martial regulation.

“The related adjustments will assist enhance the overseas alternate market, which is a obligatory prerequisite for relieving restrictions sooner or later, in addition to decreasing stress on Ukraine’s worldwide reserves,” the NBU wrote.

The central financial institution admitted that the necessity for worldwide transactions has massively elevated amid martial regulation, with thousands and thousands of residents being compelled to go away Ukraine. Nevertheless, the NBU can’t afford “unproductive capital outflows,” which embody investing in cryptocurrencies, the announcement notes, including:

“Quasi money transactions […] are primarily carried out to bypass the present restrictions of the Nationwide Financial institution, specifically for investing overseas, which is prohibited below martial regulation. Due to this fact, the related transactions needs to be interpreted as resulting in unproductive capital outflows.”

Based on the NBU, the Ukrainian authorities adopted the related adjustments as a part of the NBU board decision from April 20, 2022, which entered into drive on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s largest financial savings financial institution halts Bitcoin buys with hryvnia — Report

Some Ukrainian banks have adopted such restrictions already, in response to a number of sources. PrivatBank, the most important industrial financial institution in Ukraine, reportedly prohibited its clients from buying BTC with UAH in mid-March.

The restrictions apparently elevate eyebrows because the Ukrainian authorities has been actively working to legalize cryptocurrencies amid martial regulation. In March,Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a regulation to ascertain a authorized framework for the nation to function a regulated crypto market.