Belarus urges banks that adopt crypto as penalties bite the economy

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko reportedly pushed the country’s banks to expand how they used crypto, admitted that the sanctions were greatly affecting the economy.

Lukashenko told Belarus’ Central and Commercial Banks leaders at a meeting that needed to expand the use of digital tokens reported on Tuesday.

“For the past five years, the national economy, and with it the Belarus banking sector, has faced the unmistakable challenges,” Lukashenko said. “The government and the National Bank have been given corresponding instructions. Now, take action.”

Lukashenko’s latest push came up day after his told lawmakers To create transparent policies for the country’s cryptocurrency market on Friday, such as the country’s economy declined Due to the underlying exports under the extensive penalties of the EU and the US for supporting Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Due to their unknown and decentralized nature, cryptocurrencies have been used in other methods to help countries, especially Russia and North Korea, evade penalties and conduct a trade.

Payments by Belarus’s crypto exchanges can top $ 3 billion

The total number of Crypto users In Belarus is expected to exceed more than 855,000 people by 2026, from a population of 9.1 million, while user penetration is expected to increase to 9.57% According to On the online data statist platform.

Lukashenko claims all exchanges operating in the country, such as Binance, OKX and Kucoin, are monitored possibly doubled by external payments by the end of the year.

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

“In the seven months of this year, the volume of external payments through cryptocurrency exchanges costs $ 1.7 billion. According to expert estimates, it could have reached $ 3 billion by the end of the year.”

In September last year, Lukashenko signed a law that prohibits individuals from buying and selling crypto outside of Belarusian exchange.

Another push for digital payment systems

Lukashenko also told the banking leaders to increase the adoption of digital payment systems, after making a “start with the QR codes,” and to launch an instant payment system by the end of the year.