Belarus Wants to Ban Peer-to-Peer Bitcoin Transactions
The country's government announced it is working on legislation to make it illegal to perform peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions.
- "Belarus plans to issue legislation banning peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto transactions to reduce fraud, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a Sunday Telegram post."
- "Citizens of the east European country will be allowed to conduct transactions only through exchanges based in the Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP) "for the sake of transparency and control.
P2P services are “in demand among fraudsters who cash out and convert stolen funds and transfer money to organizers or participants in criminal schemes,” the ministry said.
- The ministry added that it identified 27 people who provide illegal exchange services since January 2023. Their total illegal revenues amounted to nearly 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).
- "The introduction of a practice similar to the procedure for exchanging foreign currencies will make it impossible to withdraw money obtained through criminal means. In such conditions, it will simply be unprofitable for IT fraudsters to operate in Belarus," the statement read.
