The National Bank of Ukraine plans to conduct open testing of the electronic hryvnia in 2025. This means that anyone who wants to will be able to use the electronic form of the Ukrainian currency.
This is reported by«Ekonomichna Pravda» with reference to the National Bank's response.
The testing will be conducted to determine technological prospects and user needs. At the same time, the NBU notes that «there are a number of factors that may affect changing the timing» of the testing launch.
In particular, the National Bank explains, it is necessary to take into account the readiness of the financial market for the implementation of the e-hryvnia and to identify a technological partner.
What is the e-hryvnia?
E-hryvnia — This is an electronic form of the currency of Ukraine, which is being implemented by the National Bank. The first electronic hryvnias appeared at the end of 2018, but only employees of the National Bank could use them. In February 2020, the NBU announced that it was ready to issue an e-hryvnia, but first the institution sought to make sure that the issuance of electronic money would not disrupt the trend of a slow increase in prices in Ukraine. class=”text-start”>The National Bank is considering and developing the following possible options for using the e-hryvnia, which will determine its design and main characteristics:
- for retail non-cash payments with possible functionality of «programmable» money;
- for use in the sphere related’to’circulation of virtual assets;
- to ensure the possibility of making cross-border payments.
The key purpose of the e-hryvnia, in the regulator's opinion, — effectively perform all the functions of money, complementing the cash and non-cash forms of the hryvnia.