652 Ukrainian officials declare holding a total of 46,351 BTC

[iTradeChips]

Politicians, not just in Ukraine, but also on other places, has some premium access to information that makes them good in doing things their way. That also includes investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and traditional investments like Stock market. Well, lucky them because the common man don't have the luxury to get that information, not even a big wallet for them to use for investment. Just try to do your best to get the information on your own here in this forum.

[abel1337]

Politicians, not just in Ukraine, but also on other places, has some premium access to information that makes them good in doing things their way. That also includes investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and traditional investments like Stock market. Well, lucky them because the common man don't have the luxury to get that information, not even a big wallet for them to use for investment. Just try to do your best to get the information on your own here in this forum.

I think it's more of connections due to their position in the government, Give and take of information with the big names especially on business could happening. For normal people, Getting information thru big names would be hard to accumulate but if you are in a high position in the government you could do some ways. Ukraine officials could certainly share the same information about BTC and bagged up when it's not at its peak price. Though it will be hard to tell if they will use it on laundering or in illegal activities. Asking officials to drop public addresses to be verified by the public would be helpful but it wouldn't solve the actual speculations about them.

I'm pretty sure that their government wouldn't push to tax crypto 

[AmoreJaz]

Politicians, not just in Ukraine, but also on other places, has some premium access to information that makes them good in doing things their way. That also includes investing in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency and traditional investments like Stock market. Well, lucky them because the common man don't have the luxury to get that information, not even a big wallet for them to use for investment. Just try to do your best to get the information on your own here in this forum.

I think it's more of connections due to their position in the government, Give and take of information with the big names especially on business could happening. For normal people, Getting information thru big names would be hard to accumulate but if you are in a high position in the government you could do some ways. Ukraine officials could certainly share the same information about BTC and bagged up when it's not at its peak price. Though it will be hard to tell if they will use it on laundering or in illegal activities. Asking officials to drop public addresses to be verified by the public would be helpful but it wouldn't solve the actual speculations about them.

I'm pretty sure that their government wouldn't push to tax crypto 

i guess, this scenario is happening in most countries. if you are a politician, sometimes you are privilege to do a lot of things. anyway, i dont think they will give their btc addresses publicly, and if they will, they will just give one or two, and others are kept secret among relatives. lol
in time, for sure, we will be reading more politicians to be a BTC holder. i believe, a lot of them are already secretly buying. they can actually keep their illegal monies in crypto these days

[Shasha80]

To be honest, I was quite surprised that the 652 Ukrainian officials holding Bitcoin was very large, knowing that I thought it was possible that officials
from other countries might do the same. But maybe other countries didn't tell the public, state officials are very easy if they want to buy Bitcoin,
because they have a large income. At a Bitcoin price of $ 58k there are still plenty of officials who can buy Bitcoin.  The problem of ordinary people
like me is that it is very difficult to own 1 BTC at the current price.

[TheGreatPython]

It's been known for a long time that some Ukrainian members of Parliament and other officials invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but the full scale of it has never been known. It's possible that the figure is that big, if there are a lot of early investors, but it could also be like the minister said - an attempt to launder dirty money by presenting them as a profit from Bitcoin investment.

It's possible to buy some old coins that haven't been touched for years and their private key on OTC markets for some premium, transfer them to your own wallet, and then claim that you have owned them for years and even present a signature as a "proof".

Quite funny how people no longer trust government officials because of the bad eggs among them (that’s if not all of them are the bad eggs). If this is in my country there is nothing you’re saying to convince the people that they have no plans to launder money, because money laundering has become a norm for government officials, all of them that are going into politics are doing so because they have plans to laundering money, so it’s hard for people to now believe whatever they are going to say whether to cover up their acts or they are being honest, no one wants to believe them anymore. Anyway, how exactly do they plan on verifying whether these officials the coins they claim that the own?

[Sithara007]

Russian officials ordered to get rid of cryptocurrency by April 1 2021
More details: https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2021/01/22/rossiyskih-chinovnikov-obyazali-izbavitsya-ot-kriptovalyuty-do-1-aprelya
No one will actually get rid of cryptocurrencies, but will transfer them to their relatives.
When there is data on declaring cryptocurrencies in Russia, it'll make your hair curl

This is a very foolish decision. These officials can simply claim that the Bitcoin addresses are owned by their spouse or children. There is no 100% effective way to link a particular wallet with an individual. In short, the access to the coins will remain with the officials, but they will claim that these are in turn under the ownership of other people. Anyway, at least Russia is not stupid enough to "ban" the ownership of cryptocurrency like India.

[DigitalFox]

Russian officials ordered to get rid of cryptocurrency by April 1 2021
More details: https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2021/01/22/rossiyskih-chinovnikov-obyazali-izbavitsya-ot-kriptovalyuty-do-1-aprelya
No one will actually get rid of cryptocurrencies, but will transfer them to their relatives.
When there is data on declaring cryptocurrencies in Russia, it'll make your hair curl

This is a very foolish decision. These officials can simply claim that the Bitcoin addresses are owned by their spouse or children. There is no 100% effective way to link a particular wallet with an individual. In short, the access to the coins will remain with the officials, but they will claim that these are in turn under the ownership of other people. Anyway, at least Russia is not stupid enough to "ban" the ownership of cryptocurrency like India.

Looks like people who issued this order have no clue of the ways crypto works. They must keep thinking it's something similar to a bank account LOL

[DarkDays]

Source: https://t.me/zedigital/654

Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation said on Telegram that 652 Ukrainian officials declared holding a total of 46,351 BTC. He commented that either they are lying to launder their money, or there are more progressive investors in Ukraine than he thought.

The source is Telegram. Anyone these days can create a fake Telegram account and post whatever favours them.

I'm not exactly saying that there aren't holdings of BTC from these people (there probably are), all I'm pointing out is the source not being that reliable.

We know Ukranians are notorious for such behaviour, and it is possible that there are many who take advantage of crypto to funnel out their money but it is difficult to prove. I just wouldn't take this Telegram post as proof.

[lovesmayfamilis]

The source is Telegram. Anyone these days can create a fake Telegram account and post whatever favours them.

I'm not exactly saying that there aren't holdings of BTC from these people (there probably are), all I'm pointing out is the source not being that reliable.

We know Ukranians are notorious for such behaviour, and it is possible that there are many who take advantage of crypto to funnel out their money but it is difficult to prove. I just wouldn't take this Telegram post as proof.

I also always check the information coming from social networks and instant messengers. But this news went all over the Internet, so I don't think it's a fake. And knowing the political situation in Ukraine, such news is not surprising at all. The country has long been divided by oligarchs, and now also by officials who, as it turns out, may turn out to be richer than the first.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business/ukraines-civil-servants-report-owning-2-6-billion-of-bitcoin
https://www.investing.com/news/cryptocurrency-news/ukrainians-owns-over-45000-bitcoins-btc-2468997

[0t3p0t]

I've heard this news way back 2017 or 2018 about government officials hodling Bitcoin in undisclosed number and I know that those numbers we got today from Ukraine are not the only numbers since some of them maybe holding other privacy coins.

[mersal]

It's possible to buy some old coins that haven't been touched for years and their private key on OTC markets for some premium, transfer them to your own wallet, and then claim that you have owned them for years and even present a signature as a "proof".

Yes it is possible but they need to pay huge amount as tax to the government even if the officials managed to find such old coin with private keys for a premium price so I don't think those people will never do such a move. They can convert those bitcoins into third party accounts and get the money back onto their hands.

[zasad@]

Russian officials ordered to get rid of cryptocurrency by April 1 2021
More details: https://eadaily.com/ru/news/2021/01/22/rossiyskih-chinovnikov-obyazali-izbavitsya-ot-kriptovalyuty-do-1-aprelya
No one will actually get rid of cryptocurrencies, but will transfer them to their relatives.
When there is data on declaring cryptocurrencies in Russia, it'll make your hair curl

This is a very foolish decision. These officials can simply claim that the Bitcoin addresses are owned by their spouse or children. There is no 100% effective way to link a particular wallet with an individual. In short, the access to the coins will remain with the officials, but they will claim that these are in turn under the ownership of other people. Anyway, at least Russia is not stupid enough to "ban" the ownership of cryptocurrency like India.

You shouldn't use such terms as "stupid".
Having declared cryptocurrencies in Russia, officials or their relatives can legally use cryptocurrencies in other countries. They will have a document that proves that the crypto assets were obtained legally.
You can declare some of the cryptocurrencies or not declare it depends on your future plans.

[icopress]

Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation said on Telegram that 652 Ukrainian officials declared holding a total of 46,351 BTC. He commented that either they are lying to launder their money, or there are more progressive investors in Ukraine than he thought.

These data are based only on the verification of the electronic declaration of income, therefore, such a statement cannot be true. The political system of Ukraine has no checks and balances, officials just need to make a statement to make it true. No one will ever allow you to check the reality of this data, so for them this is a real opportunity to launder money without any consequences. Moreover, absolutely any amount, since I know that some of the officials included in their declaration the Bitcoins that they allegedly acquired 6 or 8 years ago. I am sure that the real amount of bitcoins in the possession of Ua officials is 10 times less, except for cases when officials invested their illegally obtained money in bitcoin so that in the event of an arrest, no one could confiscate these funds.

[zasad@]

It's been known for a long time that some Ukrainian members of Parliament and other officials invest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but the full scale of it has never been known. It's possible that the figure is that big, if there are a lot of early investors, but it could also be like the minister said - an attempt to launder dirty money by presenting them as a profit from Bitcoin investment.

It's possible to buy some old coins that haven't been touched for years and their private key on OTC markets for some premium, transfer them to your own wallet, and then claim that you have owned them for years and even present a signature as a "proof".

Quite funny how people no longer trust government officials because of the bad eggs among them (that’s if not all of them are the bad eggs). If this is in my country there is nothing you’re saying to convince the people that they have no plans to launder money, because money laundering has become a norm for government officials, all of them that are going into politics are doing so because they have plans to laundering money, so it’s hard for people to now believe whatever they are going to say whether to cover up their acts or they are being honest, no one wants to believe them anymore. Anyway, how exactly do they plan on verifying whether these officials the coins they claim that the own?

This is a very simple task. For starters, you can get Russian user data from major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance. If there are coins on the accounts and they were not declared, then they can check and find violations of the law.
Most people do not know how to trade on decentralized exchanges, so tax inspectors will have a lot of work.

[Argoo]

It may well be possible. In Ukraine, many are really interested in cryptocurrency and it can be a good way to launder the dirty money of officials, because profits from cryptocurrency in Ukraine are still not taxed. When the relevant law is introduced, it will not be necessary to prove the fact and the sources of the acquisition of the cryptocurrency, taking into account the fact that previously it always had little value, but it will simply be necessary to legalize it by paying a one-time tax.

[icopress]

When the relevant law is introduced [...]

Ukraine is a very peculiar country, a country in which every law was issued only for the purpose of earning the political elite. The Ukrainian political machine is a machine for earning money ... and ordinary citizens, in any way connected with the cryptocurrency, do not care about this law, since this is just another trick for luring money. The only way to attract the attention of the whole world is to give miners privileges on electricity, given the number of nuclear power plants that Ukraine has.

• Virtual assets in Ukraine: https://www.rada.gov.ua/en/news/News/200320.html ^{[Just read this nonsense]}

[sportclub2010]

Probably lying to launder money. It's not a small number of coins, don't imagine they'd be sophisticated enough to hide those wallets. Really easy way to suddenly introduce millions of dollars in a suitcase and say, "oh, I just sold all my bitcoin on some marketplace somewhere, thank you very much".

Your post is the most correct. Bull's-eye! In Ukraine, there was a case when a parliamentarian announced that he had won his millions in the lottery. And he won the jackpot several times in a row - "lucky". In Ukraine, officials know how to launder money stolen from the state.

[Quidat]

Probably lying to launder money. It's not a small number of coins, don't imagine they'd be sophisticated enough to hide those wallets. Really easy way to suddenly introduce millions of dollars in a suitcase and say, "oh, I just sold all my bitcoin on some marketplace somewhere, thank you very much".

Your post is the most correct. Bull's-eye! In Ukraine, there was a case when a parliamentarian announced that he had won his millions in the lottery. And he won the jackpot several times in a row - "lucky". In Ukraine, officials know how to launder money stolen from the state.

Are these things still a new thing or still surprising? No its not and majority of government around the globe would have the same intentions on how they can really benefit out nor launder money and since they do have the power or simply top of the chain in terms of governing rights then its no surprise
that most of them would really abuse this priveledge and make use into other means which is to corrupt or launder money.
Nothing surprising into those numbers and also i wont be surprised again to find more number in coins in next day news. 

[jesselui]

The fact that politicians are so rich is unsettling. That many bitcoins is way too much money. It seemed interesting to me. So there is theft in Ukraine.

[verita1]

Obviously the news is alarming, the anti-corruption system used in Ukraine did not stop these officials.

We honestly have a very big monster that is the corruption that makes the nations insecure, giving the privilege to the vicious circle that participates in it.

While investigating more about this case, I found out how the Ukrainian country handles the use of Cryptocurrencies.

Ukraine already has laws related to crypto including one that cryptocurrency transactions, like bank wires, are subject to anti-money laundering monitoring.

https://news.bitcoin.com/report-claims-ukrainian-officials-hold-over-2-6-billion-in-bitcoin/

What happened next with these officials I could not find anything related.