According to Cointelegraph, the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on legal amendments. They are expected to restrict peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Sources revealed that since January 2023, Belarus has been facing a high cybercrime rate and the local prosecutors have subdued the activity of 27 citizens providing “illegal crypto exchange services”. It is believed that their total illegal revenues amounted to about 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million), Cointelegraph added.
Reportedly, to avoid such illegal activities, “The MFA is working on legislative innovations prohibiting cryptocurrency exchange transactions between individuals. For transparency and control, citizens will be allowed to conduct such financial transactions only through the HTP exchanges,” Cointelegraph highlighted.
Furthermore, the Belarusian ministry also mentioned that it plans to include a practice inspired by the procedure for exchanging foreign currencies, making it “impossible to withdraw money obtained from illegal activity,” Cointelegraph concluded.
(With insights from Cointelegraph)