Ukraine’s top financial regulator is floating the idea of taxing cryptocurrency as personal income, with possible carveouts for certain foreign asset-backed stablecoins, under a newly proposed taxation matrix published on Tuesday.

In a translated letter introducing the potential new approach, Ruslan Magomedov, head of Ukraine’s National Securities and Stock Market Commission, said that effective tax policy is a necessary step in preventing financial abuse and facilitating the “legal and responsible use of digital assets.”

“Establishing fair and understandable taxation rules is also a prerequisite for attracting investment and integrating the Ukrainian virtual asset market into the global financial market,” Magomedov added.

Under the NSSMC’s suggested tax scheme, certain crypto transactions — essentially those in which non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies are cashed out for fiat currency or exchanged for goods or services, and during which there were no financial losses from the transaction — would be taxed at Ukraine’s standard personal income tax rate of 18%, plus the additional 5% wartime levy that went into effect last December.

Crypto-to-crypto transactions would not be subject to taxation under the proposed tax matrix, which is in line with how several other European countries including Austria and France, as well as crypto-friendly jurisdictions like Singapore, handle crypto taxation.

Because Ukraine’s tax code exempts any income generated from transactions with foreign exchange values from being taxed, the NSSMC suggested “it makes sense to consider a preferential rate or exemption from taxation” for foreign asset-backed stablecoins and certain asset-referenced tokens (ARTs). The suggested preferential tax rate under the matrix could be either 5% or 9%.

The matrix also offered a variety of taxation options for other types of crypto transactions, including mining, which the NSSMC suggested could be considered a “business activity”; staking, which the regulator said could either be “considered as business captive income” or taxed only at the cash-out stage; as well as hard-forks and airdrops, which the regulator said could either be taxed as ordinary income or only at the cash-out stage.

Ukraine had previously introduced a draft law similarly amending the country’s tax code to cover cryptocurrency in 2023. A 2024 analysis from Swiss blockchain analytics firm Global Ledger found that Ukraine could stand to collect over $200 million in annual taxes from crypto transactions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky officially legalized the country’s cryptocurrency sector in 2022, determining the industry’s regulators and giving them the go-ahead to create specific regulations. The National Bank of Ukraine is currently working on a draft law based on the European Union’s (EU) Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation.

Ukraine has been a candidate for EU membership since 2022.

CoinDesk reached out to the NSSMC for a comment.

Staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are reviewing past crypto-related guidance to determine whether it still reflects the agency’s current priorities, according to a statement from acting chairman Mark Uyeda, posted on social media platform X.

Among several key documents, the SEC staff’s statement on funds registered under the Investment Company Act Investing in the bitcoin futures market is under review, according to the X post. Other documents include digital assets “investment contracts,” and custody frameworks. The reviews could result in more clarification for regulatory frameworks around the digital assets sector.

The request from Uyeda is related to Executive Order 14192, Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation and comes after a recommendation from Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E.

It is worth noting that the statement is coming from SEC staff and not from Commissioner Hester Peirce, making it less binding. However, it still shows the SEC’s willingness to ease pressure on the digital assets sector since the agency was taken over by President Donald Trump-appointed leadership.

The move is part of interim Chairman Mark Uyeda’s efforts to overhaul the regulator’s crypto position. That includes throwing out most of the prominent enforcement cases the agency had pursued against digital asset businesses.

Read more: U.S. SEC Staff Clarifies That Some Crypto Stablecoins Aren’t Securities

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has no business with certain stablecoins or their issuers, the regulator’s staff declared in the latest statement outlining the corners of the crypto sector for which it doesn’t have a legal interest.

Since the agency was taken over by President Donald Trump-appointed leadership and formed a Crypto Task Force to ease pressures on the digital assets space, its staff has issued a series of statements meant to clarify the crypto areas outside its jurisdiction — so far including memecoins and proof-of-work crypto mining. It’s now added certain stablecoins to that list. The SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance issued the Friday statement — not yet a binding rule, or even formal guidance — to declare such stablecoins “do not involve the offer and sale of securities.”

“Persons involved in the process of ‘minting’ (or creating) and redeeming Covered Stablecoins do not need to register those transactions with the Commission under the Securities Act or fall within one of the Securities Act’s exemptions from registration,” according to the statement.

It went on to clarify that such stablecoins — an arena dominated by Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC — “are marketed solely for use in commerce, as a means of making payments, transmitting money, and/or storing value, and not as investments.”

However, the stablecoins covered by this statement may not include Tether’s, because one of the footnotes says acceptable reserves “do not include precious metals or other crypto assets,” both of which are included in Tether’s reserves. And the statement says any tokens must be redeemable at any time for dollars, but Tether’s terms of service suggest minimum amounts or delays may be imposed.

Circle President Heath Tarbert posted a social-media comment that included a jab toward its competitors.

“The SEC just drew a clear line: Stablecoins backed one-for-one with high quality liquid assets —l ike USDC — are NOT securities,” Tarbert said. “This certainty does not extend to other digital assets just because they call themselves ‘stablecoins.'”

Congress has been moving forward on establishing a new set of U.S. standards for the issuance of such tokens. This week, the House Financial Services Committee advanced a stablecoin bill toward a vote of the overall House of Representatives. The Senate is building toward consideration of a similar bill that’s also been approved by committee there — in both cases by a wide, bipartisan vote.

While they’re the most sedate of crypto assets, stablecoins have been a colorful political topic in recent weeks, as the Trump-backed World Liberty Financial pitched its own stablecoin, and some congressional Democrats are concerned that Elon Musk will leverage his status as a tech giant to follow suit.

SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who is leading the agency’s task force, has said she feels the early, nonbinding moves to reverse crypto resistance at the SEC are important and should be done as rapidly as possible, even if they’re not yet official policy. She’s said non-fungible tokens (NFTS) may also be considered for such a statement.

Read More: SEC ‘Earnest’ About Finding Workable Crypto Policy, Commissioners Say at Roundtable

The SEC is set to have its second in a series of crypto summits next week. This one is set to focus on trading.

The agency may also soon be taken over by Trump’s pick for a permanent chairman if Paul Atkins is confirmed by the Senate. The Senate Banking Committee approved his nomination in a party-line vote this week.

Even before his arrival, interim Chairman Mark Uyeda has made dramatic moves to overhaul the regulator’s crypto position. That’s included throwing out most of the prominent enforcement cases the agency had pursued against digital assets businesses, though a few remain.

UPDATE (April 4, 2025, 20:52 UTC): Adds information on Tether’s token being potentially left out.
UPDATE (April 4, 2025, 21:22 UTC): Adds comment from Circle president.