The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has been conducting research on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) and working on creating its own digital form of hryvnia – the e-hryvnia.

The e-hryvnia is an electronic form of the currency of Ukraine issued by the NBU.

According to the regulator, the key purpose of the e-hryvnia is to effectively perform all functions of money and supplement cash and noncash forms of hryvnia.

The e-hryvnia should be easy to use and accessible to all population groups, legal entities, state authorities, banks, and nonbank payment service providers.

Devising and implementing the e-hryvnia in Ukraine will:

• develop the Ukrainian payment infrastructure
• digitalize the economy
• further promote and reduce the price of noncash payments
• improve transparency of settlements
• ensure confidence in the domestic currency in general.

E-hryvnia could have a positive impact on ensuring economic security of the country, strengthen monetary sovereignty of Ukraine and the NBU’s capability to maintain price and financial stability as foundation of stable economic growth.

At present, the NBU is considering and processing the following possible options for using the e-hryvnia that will shape its design and main features:

• the e-hryvnia for retail noncash payments with the options for “programmed” targeted money
• the e-hryvnia in the circulation of virtual assets
• the e-hryvnia for cross-border payments.

The following e-mail was provided for communication with the E-Hryvnia Project team and proposals on introducing the e-hryvnia: [email protected]