An official from the Ukraine government said that the United States cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is seeking a collaboration with them. The plan is to develop the Ukrainian cryptocurrency industry. Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation, Alexander Bornyakov, said that Bittrex contacted them.

According to Ukraine's recent statement of understanding with Binance, the collaboration will be around setting up legislation about cryptocurrency use and trading. After they announced it, they heard from Bittrex and Coinbase.

However, Bittrex said that it did not contact the Ukrainian government. Their spokesperson said that they wanted to confirm that nobody has been in contact with any official from the Ukraine. They added that Bittrex is committed to fostering innovation around blockchain technology throughout the world. They just have not reached out to anyone in Ukraine for forming an alliance.

Nobody from Coinbase confirmed or denied what Bornyakov said about their activities. It is unsure why the Ukrainian official would claim that the nation received a request for partnership if they did not actually receive one. It was previously reported that Ukraine and Binance are making a working group with a focus on new virtual assets and currencies for a market in Ukraine.

The CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, stated that legalizing cryptocurrencies and setting up progressive legislation could help grow the Ukrainian economy. It could also attract more development and partnerships between private firms and the Ukrainian government. Blockchain firms and cryptocurrency exchanges are now more willing to work with governments on setting up regulations for the industry. By the end of 2017, there were 12 entities in Washington, D.C. lobbying about cryptocurrency issues. At the close of 2018, that number had almost tripled to 33. In May 2019, there were 40 firms lobbying around cryptocurrency issues.

Lobbyists have different goals across their different firms. A search of the Lobbying Disclosure Act's database shows that the biggest issues are around taxing cryptocurrency, standardizing concepts and setting up anti-money laundering positions. A few of the industry leaders include the Digital Currency Group and Polychain Capital. Coinbase reportedly set up the first lobbying group for the blockchain industry.