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Ukraine becomes the third non-EU country to join the European blockchain partnership

Ukraine's ministry of digital transformation announced that Ukraine is joining the European Blockchain Partnership (EBP) as an observer

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Published: Jun 20, 2022 02:38:25 PM IST

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Ukraine is the third country outside of the European Union to join the European Blockchain Partnership, following Norway and Liechtenstein. It is a project developed by 27 member countries to provide cross-border public services.

Ukraine’s ultimate goal is to connect its digital economy with the EBP's other member countries and integrate it with the European Union (EU). Ukraine's expected participation in the EBP dates back to July 2021 when Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi and Konstantin Yarmolenko wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Zhmerenetskyi leads the parliamentary Blockchain4Ukraine group, while Yarmolenko is the CEO and founder of Ukraine's virtual assets.

Ukraine expressed its desire to join the EBP and the EBSI (European Blockchain Services Infrastructure) in the letter. However, it is worth noting that Von der Leyen only agreed to Ukraine joining the EBP as an observer. Yarmolenko revealed that Ukraine intends to run an EBSI test node pilot. It also intends to test cross-border use cases for public services using blockchain technology.

He emphasised that crypto donations during the Russia-Ukraine conflict “proved as important support”. He added, "Next step is full blockchain integration of Ukraine and the EU based on EBP/EBSI initiatives."

Ukraine hopes to become a full EBP member once the blockchain pilot use cases are completed with EBP as an observer. Yarmolenko went on to say that Ukraine is looking for more blockchain partnerships to provide citizens with cross-border public services such as verification of educational credentials/diplomas and identity credentials, as well as refugee/asylum registration and support.

While discussing the partnership, Yarmolenko stated that joining the EBP is a way to strengthen ties with the EU. He said, “I’d even call it blockchain integration with the EU.”

Zhmerenetskyi highlighted other advantages of the EU-wide blockchain collaboration. He claimed it would make Ukrainian driver's license valid in other parts of Europe if they became refugees there.

Mairead McGuinness of the European Commission recently emphasised the importance of “regulating all crypto-assets—whether they’re unbacked crypto-assets or so-called stable coins.” McGuinness is the Commissioner of Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union of the European Commission. She went on to say that regulation must apply to all crypto assets, including stablecoins. She also stated that she intends to discuss a proposal with the French government via Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA).

The writer is the founder at yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash