Ukrainian Government Requests Financial Data From Local Crypto Exchange

Kuna exchange founder and CEO, Michael Chobanyan, (photoL Twitter @ChobanianMike)

JAKARTA - The Central Bank of Ukraine (NBU) recently approached the local cryptocurrency industry with a new request to provide certain financial data.

NBU has demanded four local crypto companies, namely Kuna, CoinPay, GEO Pay, and Qmall, to provide financial reports for the first two quarters of 2023. NBU has requested that the crypto business provide financial data within seven days.

The founder and CEO of the Kuna exchange, Michael Chobanyan, shared the latest news about NBU's request on July 3, citing a document distributed by Ukraine's Telegram news channel, Politics of the Country.

Based on the document, NBU also demands that these crypto companies provide data on operational volume, as well as information about receipts and transfers of funds. NBU also requested that Ukrainian crypto companies issue statements on all accounts since early 2023.

Chobanyan then confirmed the news through his personal Telegram channel, hinting that the reasons behind NBU's latest actions were unclear.

"In Ukraine, there is no such information and never has been," Chobanyan said. He added that the search for information taught him that this had happened since 2015, before the launch of Kuna. He continued that the direction "of the so-called government" was clear.

"Over the past two weeks, the first wave of searches on the exchanges has occurred in Kiev and across Ukraine, which was triggered by the actions of NBU, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and Ukraine's Security Services. [...] There will be more searches and exchanges affected," Chobanyan said.

Chobanyan notified Cointelegraph that the Kuna exchange left the business-to-consumer market in Ukraine in March 2023 due to "gramor acts" by NBU.

"They are very consistent in killing my country's potential in the crypto and Web3 spaces," Chobanyan said. He noted that Kuna's stock volume had shrunk by 90% in recent months. Previously, Kuna lost about 60% of its business volume when they had to leave the Russian market after February 24, 2022, the CEO's story told Cointelegraph.

Although Ukrainian authorities are thought to be increasingly hostile to the crypto industry, Chobanyan is still seeing some advantages in the latest actions by the government.

"Now we are focusing on the European market and especially the b2b market," he said. He added that Kuna recently launched the crypto acquisition service, KunaPay. "I don't know if this is related to the fear that we will launch this service in Ukraine or not," Chobanyan said.

"I thank NBU for stimulating me to become a successful European company than a typical Ukrainian player," he added.