Co-founder of monobank predicts the return of the bitcoin card project in Ukraine
Date: 2024-12-12 Author: Oliver Abernathy Categories: BUSINESS
Ukrainian monobank is considering the possibility of resuming work on crypto cards, which were first announced in 2021. At that time, the project was planned to be implemented jointly with the WhiteBIT exchange, but the National Bank of Ukraine did not give it the green light. Co-founder of monobank Oleg Gorokhovsky spoke about the prospects of this direction in an interview with the YouTube channel "Bombardier".
According to Gorokhovsky, much will depend on the global political situation. He expressed hope that Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election will give impetus to the development of the crypto industry. This, in turn, may lead to a softening of the approach of Ukrainian regulators to cryptocurrencies.
"Our project was high-quality and promising. I believe that it has a chance to be implemented if the regulator changes its attitude and allows Ukrainians to freely use cryptocurrencies,” Gorokhovsky said.
He noted that the main goal of the bitcoin card project was to make cryptocurrencies more accessible and understandable to a wide audience in Ukraine.
“Ukrainians want to have access to modern technologies, and if the regulator supports this, we are ready to offer something unique and useful, as monobank always does,” he added.
At the same time, Gorokhovsky pointed out the current specifics of the perception of cryptocurrencies in the country. According to him, many see them as a way to bypass traditional financial restrictions, such as capital controls and anti-money laundering (AML) procedures. Nevertheless, he is confident that the cryptocurrency market will gradually be legalized.
“Cryptocurrencies can become the basis of an alternative payment system, which I really like. However, attempts to hide assets will become more difficult, and tax liabilities will inevitably increase,” he emphasized.
Gorokhovsky himself is a supporter of bitcoin and believes that cryptocurrencies deserve more attention.
However, monobank's attitude towards cryptocurrencies is ambiguous. In 2023, another co-founder of the bank, Mikhail Rogalsky, said that adding bitcoin as a payment option was not yet being considered due to the "questionable reputation" of this asset.
Interestingly, the day before Gorokhovsky's interview, on December 10, 2024, monobank signed a memorandum on tightening the limits on outgoing bank transfers. This decision reflects the bank's cautious approach to regulating financial transactions.
