Belarus Bans Transfer of Cryptocurrencies Among Individuals, Here’s Why

In a recent development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus announced that it’s working on a bill to ban the transfer of cryptocurrencies among individuals. The department noted that the move will help fight the withdrawal of money earned through criminal means.

This means that the P2P transfers in Belarus would no longer be valid and crypto transfers could be only done through exchanges. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus made the official announcement on a page on the social network VKontakte.

Since the beginning of this year, law enforcement units dedicated to fighting cybercrime have taken action against 27 individuals involved in offering illegal services for exchanging cryptocurrencies. These individuals made nearly 22 million rubles through illegal activities.

Such services are popular among criminals who want to convert and cash out stolen funds or transfer money to other criminals involved in illegal activities. The message reads:

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs is working on legislative innovations that prohibit transactions for the exchange of cryptocurrency between individuals. For transparency and control, citizens will be allowed to carry out such financial transactions only through the HTP exchanges”. 

It further added that implementing a process similar to exchanging foreign currencies will make it difficult for criminals to withdraw illegally obtained money. As a result, operating in the field of information technology will become unprofitable for fraudsters in Belarus.

Belarus and Crypto

Belarus has been one of the early participants in the crypto space welcoming the use of digital assets. So far it has held some crypto-friendly laws to support the nation’s crypto landscape.

Earlier this year, the Belarusian government extended tax exemptions for businesses working in crypto. The government said that these exemptions shall remain in place until January 2025.