Introduction of the Central Bank’s Digital Currency in Ukraine: Analysis and Prospects

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze the prospects for the introduction of the central bank’s digital currency in the Ukrainian economy. The e-hryvnia can become an alternative to traditional payment transaction instruments, providing a simpler, more secure, and more reliable ability to make payments for services, goods, and various transactions. The article discusses the introduction of the e-hryvnia as a digital currency of the central bank in Ukraine. The issues related to the economic essence of the e-hryvnia are considered, the evolution of forms of money is studied, the main characteristics of the central bank’s digital currency are highlighted, the state of the payment infrastructure in Ukraine and the possibility of its use for the introduction of the e-hryvnia are evaluated. On the basis of the carried out analysis, the following conclusions are made regarding the prospects for the introduction of the e-hryvnia in Ukraine. The infrastructure for cashless payments in Ukraine is well developed. The country has a large number of means for transactions with payment cards, including payment terminals in retail and service networks. Neighboring Poland and Romania have a larger number of terminals per 100 people, while Ukraine has a larger share of cashless payments compared to these countries. And the volume of these non-cash transactions is constantly growing. This is due to the fact that Ukraine has a well-developed infrastructure for card-to-card payments, which does not require additional equipment for payment card transactions. A comparatively smaller number of funds for payment card transactions may not be considered an indicator of a less developed payment infrastructure. In Ukraine, there is an increase in the number of contactless cards and tokenized cards. Taking into account these factors, it can be concluded that the payment infrastructure is sufficiently developed for the introduction of a central bank’s digital currency, which will be the e-hryvnia. The introduction of the e-hryvnia in Ukraine is realistic and can have a positive impact on the development of the economy and financial system of Ukraine.

Keywords

• e-hryvnia
• central bank’s digital currency
• digital currency
• payment system
• digitalization
• hryvnia