MEMBERS OF THE VIRTUAL ASSETS MARKET IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article conducts a study of virtual asset market participants in Ukraine. The development of advanced digital financial technologies does not leave the governments of many countries to put them under state supervision. Thus, the Deputy Prime Minister-Minister of Digital Transformation in an interview noted the following regarding the Law of Ukraine "On Virtual Assets": the new law is an additional opportunity for business development in our country. Foreign and Ukrainian crypto companies will be able to work legally, and Ukrainians will receive convenient and secure access to the global virtual asset market. Market participants will receive legal protection and the opportunity to make decisions on the basis of open consultations with state authorities. There will be a transparent mechanism for investing in a new class of assets. The Parliament of Ukraine adopted on 17.02.2022 the Law of Ukraine "On Virtual Assets" No. 2074-IX (hereinafter referred to as the Law 2074). Which was signed by the President of Ukraine on 15.03.2022, after the changes were taken into account, according to his previously submitted proposals. In addition, the Parliament of Ukraine on 13.03.2022 registered the draft law No. 7150 "On Amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine on Taxation of Transactions with Virtual Assets". The purpose of the article is to conduct a study of the full range of market participants of virtual assets, with their classification and identification of characteristic features, as well as to establish the rights and obligations of such participants, in the context of the Law of Ukraine "On Virtual Assets". The study identified a number of problematic and controversial aspects of the Law 2074. Among the service providers in the Law 2074 are not specified, the so-called "miners" engaged in the "extraction" of cryptocurrencies. Since the Law 2074 put such activity beyond its scope, determining that the turnover of a virtual asset begins from the moment of its creation and is carried out until the termination of the turnover of the virtual asset (paragraph 2 of Article 5 of the Law 2074). The interpretation of paragraph 4 of paragraph 1 of Article 9 of the Law 2074 on the right to open and use accounts in banks for settlements on transactions with virtual assets is not clear , since legal entities already have the right to open bank accounts And it is controversial, from the point of view of practical application, the presentation of certain provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 9 of the Law, which is not unambiguous in the interpretation of such expressions: "indirectly controlled", "or acting in their interests", "which owns ... indirectly (through other physical ... person)", – that is, evaluative, and can lead (induce) to negative corruption consequences in the issuance of permits.