Belarus forms task force to crack down on illegal crypto transactions

Belarus is creating a working group to do away with illegal transactions with cryptocurrency, the country’s monetary authority announced.

The new body will target unlicensed coin payments and cross-border transfers, the regulator said, noting it continues to support the legal crypto market.

Belarus sets out to curb unauthorized crypto transactions

The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB), the main financial regulator in the former Soviet state, is forming a task force to combat illegal cryptocurrency transactions.

The decision comes after a meeting with representatives of Belarusian banks and government-approved crypto companies, chaired by Deputy Governor Alexander Egorov.

Preventing unauthorized payment transactions and transfers of illicit funds abroad through crypto platforms licensed to operate in Belarus was the main topic of their discussions.

The participants came to the conclusion that comprehensive solutions are needed to effectively combat existing schemes in the shadow economy, RBC reported on Tuesday.

Quoted by the Russian business news outlet, the deputy chairman of the NBRB Board emphasized:

“The crypto market is growing, and the National Bank supports its further development, so approaches to solving the problem with fraud must be developed through joint efforts.”

During the meeting, which took place on Monday, the Belarusian bankers and fintech experts identified ways to deal with illegal crypto circulation. The establishment of a dedicated working group was one of the agreed measures, the monetary authority said in a statement.

Crackdown comes amid efforts to update regulations

Belarus was among the first nations in Eastern Europe to regulate crypto operations. It did that with a presidential decree “On the Development of the Digital Economy,” signed by the country’s long-time head of state, Alexander Lukashenko, in 2017. The document legalized mining and trading.

Under Lukashenko’s order, which came into force the following year, companies working with “digital tokens” were required to register at the Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP) hub. Its special legal regime provides various benefits and tax exemptions to businesses from various sectors of the IT industry.

In September 2024, the financial authorities in Minsk prohibited private individuals as well as individual entrepreneurs registered as residents of the HTP from buying and selling cryptocurrencies on non-Belarusian exchanges.

The ban, imposed amid concerns over capital flight from the country, was allegedly going to also prevent the export of “funds stolen from citizens’ bank accounts” via their exchange for cryptocurrency on foreign crypto trading platforms.

Cryptocurrencies have enjoyed growing popularity with Belarusian citizens and businesses whose access to traditional financial channels, especially in foreign trade, has been severely limited by sanctions similar to those imposed on Russia, of which their nation is a close ally.

In September of this year, Lukashenko himself announced that cross-border Belarusian crypto payments amounted to a record $1.7 billion in the first seven months of 2025, while also quoting estimates suggesting their volume may reach $3 billion by the end of December. He also admitted:

“Today, cryptocurrency-based transactions are more active than ever, and their role in facilitating payments is growing.”

As if to prove his words, one of the largest online retailers in the region, Russia’s e-commerce giant Wildberries, launched crypto payments in Belarus last month, using the services of Whitebird, an HTP-registered local exchange.

Days before making that statement, the president had ordered government officials to speed up the update of the country’s crypto rules as reported by Cryptopolitan, highlighting that the industry was developing faster than the legislative framework.

In August, Governor of the NBRB Roman Golovchenko unveiled the regulator had already drafted amendments that will allow Belarus to secure “breakthrough results in the usage of cryptocurrencies.”

The central bank’s chief executive indicated that the authorities in Minsk are aiming at expanding the regulated domestic crypto market, describing the matter as “very important.”

While more reluctant than Belarus to allow cryptocurrencies to circulate in its economy, neighboring Russia has been quite actively employing coins to circumvent sanctions in international settlements.

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