Blockchain and fintech company Bitt and TASCOMBANK, one of Ukraine’s oldest commercial banks, have launched a pilot project to issue an electronic hryvnia on Stellar.
As part of the pilot, the cross-company team will test the electronic hryvnia on the use cases of programmable payroll for public employees at Diia, an IT solutions enterprise, as well as for peer-to-peer payments and merchant payments.
This project is being implemented under the supervision of the National Bank of Ukraine and with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation.
Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Oleksandr Bornyakov, noted, “This pilot project will serve as a technological basis for the issuance of electronic money, and is the next key step to advance innovation of payment and financial infrastructure in Ukraine.”
“Cooperation with Bitt to build on Stellar allows us to connect our core banking system with blockchain-based infrastructure, creating an ecosystem that includes a full range of banking products and operations with electronic currency on the Stellar blockchain. Electronic currency paves the way to more sophisticated products in the virtual assets field that we are excited to explore.”
– TASCOMBANK Chairman of the Board, Volodymyr Dubey
The objective of the project is to pilot the issuance of electronic money on an open blockchain with asset-control capabilities for issuers. TASCOMBANK will build and test the regulated electronic hryvnia on Stellar, and it will be deployed on Bitt’s Digital Currency Management System (DCMS).
Bitt’s market-proven DCMS encompasses a core monetary transaction network, a secure minting system, and a Digital Currency Operations Manager.
“Bitt is excited to work with a leading blockchain network like Stellar to leverage its many benefits, including greater flexibility that aligns with the electronic hryvnia’s specific needs. Bitt’s DCMS will equip TASCOMBANK with all of the technology required to securely mint, store, issue, distribute, and redeem the electronic hryvnia. In a country that has been quick to adopt a variety of digital currency technologies and applications, we see a bright future for the electronic hryvnia and many use cases that will bring value in Ukraine and beyond.”
– Brian Popelka, CEO of Bitt
Importantly, the regulated electronic hryvnia will be built under the current e-money legislation of Ukraine. The payment services law—which will govern the circulation of electronic money and future issuance of a digital currency under the authority of the National Bank of Ukraine—is anticipated to take effect in 2022.
“Stellar is an open network that was designed with asset issuance in mind and is uniquely suited to assets like the electronic hryvnia. It offers issuers, like TASCOMBANK, a suite of controls that they can configure for their asset control needs while maintaining the interoperability and flexibility of an open ledger. We are excited that TAS and Bitt have chosen the Stellar network for this pilot.”
– Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the SDF
