Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build out a “virtual assets ecosystem and national digital currency of Ukraine”, as reported by Coin Desk.
The National Bank of Ukraine has been researching the possibility of CBDC implementation since 2017, and the Stellar partnership will now be the basis of its virtual currency development, according to Digital Transformation and IT Deputy Minister Oleksandr Bornyakov.
Stellar, the cryptocurrency and non-profit organization launched in 2014 by Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb, was selected last month by German bank Bankhaus von der Heydt (BVDH) as the means to issue a euro stablecoin. German regulator BaFIN has also approved the issuance of tokenized bonds on Stellar.
Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon said the partnership with Ukraine’s government and other stakeholders to digitize the hryvnia will officially launch this month.
The National Bank of Ukraine mentioned the use of a “private version of the Stellar blockchain” as part of its E-hryvnia Pilot Project back in 2019.
Stellar’s consensus mechanism (SCP) gives issuers unique certainties they wouldn’t have on other public blockchains (like issuer-enforced finality), according to Stellar COO Jason Chlipala.