Belarus is pushing to define clear crypto regulations in order to keep up with the ongoing global exploration of the digital assets sector. The Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has now asked national banks to ramp up crypto uses to tackle sanction woes that have negatively impacted its economy.
Lukashenko recently met with the top banking officials of the country to discuss a roadmap for banks to figure out the usecases of digital assets, the country’s state-owned news agency Belta reported this week. Senior officials from the Belarus National Bank were also part of this meeting.
Addressing the need to adopt alternate settlement methods, Lukashenko acknowledged that the role of crypto in processing transactions has grown significantly in recent times.
“In the seven months of this year, the volume of external payments through cryptocurrency exchanges amounted to $1.7 billion. According to expert estimates, it may reach $3 billion by the end of the year,” he noted.
In July this year, Belarus found itself on the receiving end of fresh sanctions from the European Union. The EU imposed these sanctions citing the “2020 fraudulent elections, human rights abuses, and Belarus’ complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine”.
Lukashenko has noted that owing to the sanctions, the national economy has faced massive damages in the last five years. Data by the World Bank shows that the GDP of Belarus was worth $75.96 billion last year. In addition, the inflation rate in the country has also shown a steady rise to hit 7.40 percent in July from 7.30 percent in June this year — adding to the economic crunch.
By tapping into the digital tokens space, the Belarusian President is looking to dodge the sanctions and eliminate international intermediaries from being involved in facilitating international settlements. As per the Belta report, Lukashenko believes that crypto assets and smart contracts could improve the national financial ecosystem by enabling automated execution of transactions and giving citizens more control over their finances.
“The government and the National Bank have been given corresponding instructions. Now, act,” he told the banks.
Lukashenko has reportedly refreshed instructions to his government officials to fast-track the finalizing of comprehensive crypto regulations. The exact timeline of by when these rules would be framed remain unclear for now.