Belarus lifts ‘inappropriate ads’ blackout of crypto exchange websites

The Belarusian government has restored online access to some of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges, previously restricted due to their advertising practices.

Reports that crypto trading platforms such as Bybit and Bitget are once again available in the country come days after their websites were added to a list of banned internet resources.

Belarusians regain control over their crypto assets on foreign exchanges

Residents of Belarus, who recently lost access to their accounts on major international exchanges for digital currencies, can reach their assets again.

Some of the world’s largest coin trading venues, blocked by the nation’s Ministry of Information earlier this week, are now accessible, local media reported.

Bybit, Bitget and other platforms have been removed from the database of banned pages, the Belarusian business news portal Banki24 noticed first and shared the news on Telegram.

BingX and OKX were also among those previously added to the register, Tochka.by noted in a report, quoting the post. Late on Friday, the news outlet announced:

“These sites are no longer on the blacklist of BelGIE. The exchanges did indeed reopen in Belarus on the evening of December 12.”

BelGIE, or the Republican Unitary Enterprise for Supervision of Telecommunications, serves as the country’s telecom watchdog, which maintains the list of prohibited websites.

The positive development is good news for Belarusian traders as attempts to access their accounts via VPN may result in account suspensions by the exchanges themselves, Onliner.by warned.

‘Improper advertising’ cited as the main reason for the blocking

Access to the cryptocurrency exchanges was restricted on Wednesday, as reported by Cryptopolitan, initially without any proper explanation.

On Thursday, the Information Ministry published a short notice indicating it acted on a request from the Minsk City Executive Committee, the capital city’s main governing body.

The announcement cited the presence of “inappropriate advertising” on their websites as the main reason for the move. It also revealed that weex.com and gate.com had been blocked as well.

According to a report by RBC, Kucoin and MEXC were also temporarily inaccessible. The Russian economic news source noted, however, that Binance and KuCoin remained available.

The department remarked that it could provide more details only to the owners of the affected internet resources, noting it would restore access once the violations were eliminated.

The platforms are among the world’s biggest crypto trading sites. Bybit, for example, is the leading crypto exchange in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

CIS is the regional organization formed after the dissolution of the USSR to facilitate cooperation between its former republics. Nine of them, including Belarus, are still members of the Eurasian format.

Belarus leads the bunch in terms of crypto regulation

Belarus is an established leader among peers in its region when it comes to building a comprehensive regulatory framework for activities and transactions related to cryptocurrencies.

The Eastern European nation defined its legal status with a presidential decree “On the Development of the Digital Economy” signed by its long-term leader, Alexander Lukashenko, in 2017 and enforced the following year.

Its citizens can buy and sell what the document calls “digital tokens” on regulated platforms that have obtained the status of residents of the High-Tech Park (HTP) in Minsk. The latter provides a special legal regime and benefits for business in the IT sector, including the crypto industry.

It should be noted that in 2024, the authorities banned ordinary Belarusians, including those registered as individual entrepreneurs, from trading on non-domestic exchanges, amid concerns about capital flight from the sanctioned nation.

In September, Lukashenko called on officials and government institutions to update the rules, highlighting the increasing relevance of cryptocurrencies, particularly in payments under financial restrictions imposed by the West.

Russia, Belarus’s closest ally and the economic powerhouse of CIS, which has been the main target of international sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, has only recently started to seriously consider legalizing its crypto market. Officials in Moscow have now indicated they are going to introduce the necessary legislation in 2026.

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