In 2024, 2,113 Ukrainian officials filed declarations that included cryptocurrencies. This is 2.2 times more than before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Overall, the number of such declarations increased by 10% compared to the previous year.
For comparison: in 2022, 1428 officials’ declarations included cryptocurrency assetsand in 2021, crypto assets were mentioned in 788 declarations.
Representatives of the National Police of Ukraine are particularly active in declaring cryptocurrencies: 322 documents, or 15% of all declarations in 2024. Judges (227 papers) and city council officials (119) are in second place. Among the representatives of the Armed Forces, 77 people declared digital assets. In another 38 cases, they were representatives of the NABU.
Among the «richest» regions in terms of crypto: Kyiv city and region ⫽ 582 and 185 officials, respectively, Kharkiv region ⫽ 172 civil servants, Dnipro region ⫽ 167, and Lviv region ⫽ 133.
The most popular cryptocurrencies listed in these declarations were the stablecoins Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (with tickers BTC, XBT), and Ethereum (ETH). The most bitcoins were declared by Oleh Bondarenko, chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy. He has 80 BTC on his account, which is equal to UAH 279.4 million as of April 1. It is very interesting that environmental activists criticize bitcoin, or rather the process of mining it, for causing damage to the environment.
The leader among ETH holders is MP Serhiy Maisel, who owns 200 tokens, which is about UAH 15.5 million.
But the record for the number of USDT belongs to Vitaliy Brovko, the head of a department at the Prosecutor General’s Office: 847,908 tokens, or about UAH 35 million.
Several former officials have indicated that they have lost access to their crypto assets. For example, in 2021, 380 bitcoins — a record amount among Ukrainian officials — were reported by Roman Saramaga, Deputy Head of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine. This is about UAH 1.33 billion in equivalent as of April 1. Ihor Osipov, a deputy of the Podil District Council of Odesa Oblast, had the most Ether – 1,800 tokens or more than UAH 140 million. However, in last year’s declaration, he stated that he had lost access to these assets.
The bills on regulating the digital asset market have not yet been signed in Ukraine. There are two of them under consideration: No. 10225 (from the NSSMC) and No. 10225-1 (from the Ministry of Digital Transformation) Businesses are ready for a 5% tax on cryptocurrency income. However, the government is still considering standard taxation: 18% personal income tax plus 5% military duty. The bills are expected to be signed in 2025-2026. At that time, the number of lost cryptocurrencies will probably increase.
Source: Opendatabot