Belarus has launched a authorized framework for so-called “cryptobanks,” formally integrating digital asset exercise into the nation’s regulated banking system below direct state oversight.
On Friday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 19, defining how crypto banks could function and what circumstances they have to meet to enter the market.
The decree positions cryptobanks as joint-stock corporations approved to mix token-based operations with conventional banking, funds and associated monetary companies. Reasonably than making a parallel sector for crypto, the framework ties digital asset exercise to current monetary oversight mechanisms and infrastructure.
Beneath the principles, cryptobanks should receive resident standing within the nation’s Hello-Tech Park, a state-backed know-how zone. As well as, cryptobanks have to be entered right into a devoted register maintained by the nation’s central financial institution.
JUST IN: Belarus has signed a decree giving crypto banks authorized standing. pic.twitter.com/IolJNNCTJr
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 16, 2026
Cryptobanks to function below twin oversight
In keeping with the decree, cryptobanks are required to adjust to guidelines utilized to non-bank credit score and monetary establishments. They need to additionally implement choices issued by the Hello-Tech Park’s supervisory board.
The layered method topics crypto-related banking exercise to each monetary and technological oversight.
In keeping with the federal government, this twin regulation method will let cryptobanks supply modern merchandise that mix standard banking companies with efficiencies contributed by token-based transactions.
In observe, this enables supply of crypto companies by way of licensed entities already embedded within the monetary system. The framework narrows participation to corporations prepared to function throughout the nation’s regulatory parameters.
The president’s workplace mentioned the decree is meant to strengthen Belarus’s picture as a monetary IT hub.
On the similar time, the framework reinforces a long-running coverage method that allows crypto solely inside clearly outlined, state-approved channels.
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Belarus’s managed crypto technique
The cryptobank decree builds on years of incremental coverage indicators. On Sept. 5, 2025, Lukashenko publicly instructed lawmakers to create “clear and clear guidelines” for the crypto market. The president emphasised the necessity for state management mechanisms together with innovation.
The message was bolstered simply days later, when the president urged native banks to increase their use of crypto-based funds.
On Sept. 10, Lukashenko cited financial stress from worldwide sanctions and the rising use of digital tokens in cross-border transactions as among the the explanation why there was an pressing want for banks to get into crypto.
On the similar time, Belarus steadily moved to get rid of unregulated crypto exercise throughout the nation.
On Dec. 12, authorities blocked entry to a number of main offshore crypto exchanges, citing promoting violations and signaling a broader crackdown on the digital asset “grey market.”
Journal: How crypto legal guidelines modified in 2025 — and the way they’ll change in 2026
