“Negative Precedent for the Entire Crypto Market”: NBU Partially Suspends Trustee in Ukraine
- The National Bank of Ukraine has concluded that the Trustee Plus service provides payment services without a license.
- The company considers the regulator’s claims partially unfounded and insists on the legality of its work through partners in the EU.
- The NBU’s decision “sets a negative precedent for the entire market, actually prohibiting P2P interaction between users,” Trustee emphasized.
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), after inspecting the activities of Trustee Global, said that the latter provides payment services in Ukraine without proper authorization. The regulator pointed to the transfer of funds without opening a bank account and execution of payment transactions with clients’ funds through the application.
The company is obliged to stop providing such services in Ukraine, the NBU said in a press release.
In response, Trustee CEO Vadym Grusha said that the National Bank has removed most of the claims, while the remaining ones concern only the P2P platform and transfers of euros between users. According to him, the decision sets a threatening precedent for the crypto market, but does not affect the security of customers’ assets.
On September 15, 2025, the NBU summarized the results of a nearly year-and-a-half-long audit. The regulator concluded that some of Trustee Plus’ P2P and euro transfer services contained signs of financial payment transactions and required a license. As a result, the National Bank demanded the company to partially suspend its operations until its activities are brought in line with Ukrainian legislation.
Trustee said that the regulator initially made claims on seven points, but five of them were removed. According to Grusha, the NBU unreasonably restricts P2P interactions between users and misinterprets the operation of euro balances.
He emphasized that customers’ assets are safe, and the service continues to operate in the EU within the framework of European legislation.
The company also recalled that back in spring it suspended the registration of users from Ukraine. For existing clients, the terms of service remain unchanged, and all transactions with crypto-assets are not challenged by the regulator.
Especially for Incrypted Vadim Grusha commented on the situation:
We will remind, in May 2025 it became known that Trustee Plus stopped opening accounts for Ukrainian users. The firm explained this by the lack of clear rules for regulating the industry and delays in considering the draft law on virtual assets.
Trustee representatives said that they decided to focus on the European direction, where there is a clear regulatory framework. At the same time, Ukrainians who are residents of the EU could continue to use the service without restrictions.
In July, some details of the situation emerged. In particular, Forbes Ukraine reported that the NBU’s interest in cryptocurrencies was one of the reasons for the suspension of Trustee’s services in Ukraine.
According to the media, the regulator feared the use of the company’s products to circumvent currency restrictions.
The company rejected suggestions of violations. Grusha stressed that the issuer of the cards is a licensed institution, and all transactions are conducted in euros and comply with EU norms. According to the head of the company, the cards do not contribute to the withdrawal of capital, but on the contrary provide an inflow of currency into the country when paying.
He also pointed out that it is the lack of regulation in Ukraine that allows the work of fintech services to be interpreted arbitrarily.
The head of the company believes that the situation around Trustee Plus reflects a broader context — the lack of a full-fledged regulatory framework in Ukraine to regulate the industry. The inspection of the largest service may become a signal to other players about the impossibility of providing services in the Ukrainian market, said the entrepreneur.
According to him, further pressure on crypto firms without the adoption of specialized legislation jeopardizes the integration of the industry into the financial system of Ukraine.
Incrypted requested comments from the NBU representatives, but the regulator had not responded to the request at the time of writing.
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