The Pechersky District Court of Kyiv has authorized the Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) to sell more than 8.3 million USDT worth approximately UAH 372 million, as current legislation effectively does not allow the agency to manage such assets in any other way, said Pavlo Velykorechanin, an expert of the Verkhovna Rada Anti-Corruption Committee and former deputy head of ARMA, in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
The decision to change the method of managing the seized virtual assets was adopted by the Pechersky District Court on August 14, 2026. The funds belonged to an organized transnational group of hackers and are stored on the WhiteBIT exchange.
According to Velykorechanin, after the USDT is sold, the proceeds may be placed in a deposit account. This approach makes it possible to reduce the state’s risks associated with possible changes in the value of virtual assets.
He noted that since 2025, ARMA has had the right to open a virtual asset wallet and accounts on specialized cryptocurrency platforms for the sale of cryptocurrency transferred to the agency. However, Ukraine still lacks a full-fledged mechanism for the conventional management of such assets.
In his opinion, a legally viable option remains the sale of crypto assets on market terms, followed by placing the proceeds on deposit or using them to purchase military bonds.
Velykorechanin also noted that in a number of countries, seized cryptocurrency is either held until a court decision is made or converted into traditional currency to reduce volatility risks. At the same time, the international practice studied by Europol practically does not provide for transferring cryptocurrency to an external manager in order to increase its value.
