Belarus wants to ban peer-to-peer crypto transactions

Partner offers
The Block may may earn a commission if you use our partner offers, at no extra cost to you.

Quick Take

  • Belarus wants to ban P2P crypto transactions in an effort to combat crime.

Belarus is working on legislation that would ban peer-to-peer crypto transactions in an effort to combat crime.

P2P crypto services are in demand among fraudsters, Alexander Ringevich, deputy chief of a crime division within Belarus's Ministry of Internal Affairs, said in a statement Sunday. Fraudsters are using P2P crypto services to cash out and convert stolen funds, as well as to transfer money to participants of criminal activities, Ringevich said.

Since 2023, the ministry of internal affairs has halted activities of 27 individuals who were providing "illegal" crypto exchange services, with illicit income amounting to nearly 22 million rubles ($8.4 million), according to Ringevich.

To prevent such incidents, the ministry is looking to restrict crypto P2P services, meaning only crypto transactions via registered exchanges will be allowed.

Belarus legalized crypto transactions in 2017, according to Freeman Law. Subsequently, in November 2018, the Supervisory Council of the Hi-Tech Park approved additional guidance for the relegation of token-related activities.


© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

AUTHOR

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.

See More
Connect on

Editor

To contact the editor of this story: Nathan Crooks at [email protected]

WHO WE ARE

The Block is a news provider that strives to be the first and final word on digital assets news, research, and data.

+ Follow us on Google News
Connect with the block on