The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on legal amendments prohibiting peer-to-peer transactions in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
On July 2, the ministry issued an official announcement on Telegram about new legislation that would ban P2P crypto exchange for individuals.
The authority cited a high cybercrime rate in Belarus, stating that local prosecutors have suppressed the activity of 27 citizens providing illegal crypto exchange services since January 2023. Their total illegal revenues amounted to nearly 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).
The ministry argued that crypto P2P services are in demand among fraudsters who cash out and convert stolen funds and transfer money to organizers or participants in criminal schemes.
To eliminate such illicit activity, the ministry will prohibit individuals from P2P and will only allow them to exchange crypto via exchanges registered with Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP).
The authority also noted that it plans to implement a practice similar to the procedure for exchanging foreign currencies, which will make it impossible to withdraw money obtained from illegal activity.
Under such conditions, it will simply become unprofitable for information technology fraudsters to operate in Belarus,” the ministry wrote.
In response to the news from Belarus, many cryptocurrency enthusiasts have questioned the government’s ability to ban P2P cryptocurrency trading.
