Belarus considers P2P crypto ban after years of friendly legislation
Belarus is drafting legislation that will outlaw crypto transfers between individuals, known as peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions, in a bid to crack down on criminal operations in the nation. On Sunday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus announced the ambitious plans on social media. “Since the beginning of the year, employees of the cybercrime counteraction units have stopped the activities of 27 citizens providing illegal services for the exchange of cryptocurrencies,” the ministry posted on Russian social platform VKontakte. “Their total illegal income amounted to almost 22 million rubles” — equivalent to $8 million at press time. According to the ministry, the legislation will “make it impossible to withdraw money obtained by criminal means” and therefore will make it unprofitable for these fraudsters to operate in Belarus. However, P2P transactions will still be allowed through crypto exchanges registered with Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP) — a tax regime in Belarus tha...