Ukraine’s oldest commercial bank TASCOMBANK announced on Monday that it has launched the pilot program to issue electronic hryvnia, the digital version of Ukrainian currency hryvnia. The pilot program will be overseen by the National Bank of Ukraine and powered by the Ministry of Digital Transformation (MDT).
The bank has partnered with global fintech platform Bitt to utilize its digital currency management system (DCMS) and Stellar blockchain to handle digital currency transactions. As per the announcement, the companies will test the electronic currency for peer-to-peer transactions, merchant payments, and employee payroll at IT solutions company Diia.
“With the rapidly growing impact of virtual assets on our everyday life and economic landscape, it is essential to utilize the advantages of blockchain technology and new related products as a part of the bank’s long-term market strategy,” TASCOMBANK Chairman of the Board, Volodymyr Dubey, said in the press release:
Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Oleksandr Bornyakov, noted:
“This pilot project will serve as a technological basis for the issuance of electronic money, and is the next key step to advance innovation of payment and financial infrastructure in Ukraine.”
Ukraine was one of the first countries to explore the advantages of blockchain technology and CBDCs. The government partnered with the Stellar Development Foundation in January to develop electronic hryvnia to enable quicker and easier transactions. The pilot project is now set to commence in early 2022.
