Ukraine Is Preparing Legislation to Allow the State to Accumulate and Manage a Strategic Reserve of Bitcoin

Ukraine is preparing legislation that would allow the state to accumulate and manage a strategic reserve of Bitcoin, according to Member of Parliament Yaroslav Zhelezniak

A bill setting up a strategic reserve of Bitcoin is being prepared by Ukraine, according to Yaroslav Zhelezniak, first deputy chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy.

Speaking to the Ukraine news outlet Incrypted, Zhelezniak said a draft law “is at the stage of finalisation” and will be filed with parliament “in the near future,” confirming online reports that the government is planning to establish a Bitcoin reserve.

Members of parliament are still discussing the technicalities of the initiative, which is being advised on by global exchange Binance. Kirill Khomyakov, Binance’s regional head for Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa, said the company “supports Ukraine’s ambition to create a strategic crypto reserve.”

However, he noted that “the creation of such a reserve will require significant changes in legislation, which indicates that this process will not be quick. The effort should lead to greater clarity in the regulation of crypto assets in Ukraine.”

The initiative comes amid a wider battle over Ukraine’s long-delayed virtual-assets framework.

At the end of April, the same Rada committee unanimously approved a comprehensive draft law on virtual assets, setting the stage for a first reading in the coming weeks. But the bill was abruptly withdrawn at the request of the Presidential Office after objections from the National Securities and Stock Market Commission (NSSMC) and its chair, Ruslan Magomedov.

The NSSMC later issued an unusual disclaimer, stating it “has no relation to decisions regarding the possible suspension or blocking of the bill’s consideration in the Verkhovna Rada, as it is not authorised to make such decisions,” and it filed 80 amendments of its own.

Even without a formal reserve, Ukraine is de facto one of the world’s largest sovereign Bitcoin holders.

Public block-chain data collated by BitcoinTreasuries shows government-controlled wallets last night showed a combined balance of 46,351 BTC, which at current prices is worth about $4.8 billion and makes Ukraine the fourth-largest holder after the United States, China and the United Kingdom.

Most of that balance was presumably donated. Blockchain-analytics firm Elliptic estimates that pro-Ukrainian fund-raisers have received more than $212 million in crypto assets since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, including approximately $83 million sent directly to wallets advertised by the Ukrainian government. A separate crypto fund launched by Kyiv exchange Kuna and the Ministry of Digital Transformation reportedly raised more than $100 million in its first two months.

Non-governmental organisations such as the Come Back Alive Foundation have also drawn “several million dollars” more in Bitcoin and stablecoins to equip the armed forces.

Kyiv has also added to its crypto holdings through corruption-related seizures. In December 2023 the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine confiscated 6.9 BTC and $1.2 million in USDT from Yuriy Shchigol, former head of the State Special Communications Service, in an operation authorised by the Supreme Anti-Corruption Court.

Kyiv’s strategy echoes the move by the United States: on 6 March 2025 President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve that will initially warehouse all Bitcoin seized in federal criminal and civil cases and explore “budget-neutral” ways to acquire more.