Belarus could see its first crypto bank within six months
16.01.2026
MINSK (
BelTA) – The first crypto bank may appear in Belarus in six months, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus Aleksandr Yegorov said while commenting on the head of state’s Decree No.19 “On crypto banks and some issues of regulation in digital tokens,” BelTA has learned.
“The head of state has signed a decree on the authorization for crypto banks in Belarus. This was one of the most anticipated regulatory acts not only for the Belarusian fintech community but essentially for the global one as well, because this is a rather unique development for the global cryptocurrency market. We have set a period of six months to bring the legislation in line with this decree. And in parallel, we will certainly work with all potential investors, both domestic and foreign, so that almost immediately after the preparation of all legislation, we can see the first crypto banks in our country,” Aleksandr Yegorov said.
He also explained what this innovation means. “Prior to this decree and the authorization for crypto banks in Belarus, the two systems remained strictly separate. One system is the traditional banking system, where banks operate with fiat money, that is, ordinary money that we use every day. On the other hand, we had cryptocurrency exchanges, which had the opportunity to provide services for buying, selling, and exchanging cryptocurrencies, including for citizens. Now, within the framework of this decree, it is planned to create an institution such as a crypto bank, which will allow combining both the functions of a traditional bank and the functions of a cryptocurrency exchange, with the addition of additional functionality and additional opportunities for working with cryptocurrencies. What does this provide? Firstly, a single balance sheet, meaning there will be no distinction between fiat money and crypto money within this institution. Secondly, the decree provides that self-employed citizens will be able to receive their salaries in cryptocurrency, provided they receive it through a crypto bank,” noted the first deputy chairman of the Board of the National Bank. According to him, there are a number of other innovations that significantly expand the possibilities of using cryptocurrencies, but within the created framework of crypto banks.
Crypto banks will be subordinate to the National Bank. “This is a very important innovation, because the traditional supervisory approach will ensure the safety of funds, both fiat and crypto. The second important area is compliance with financial stability indicators and the stability of the institution itself. The National Bank will establish requirements, what standards crypto banks will need to comply with, so that everyone can be confident that the funds will be securely stored and at any time a citizen or legal entity will be able to use them,” Aleksandr Yegorov noted.
The National Bank expects that the creation of such an institution will give impetus to foreign direct investment into Belarus. “And this should give an additional impetus to the development of the IT sector in our country. New areas of work will appear, as well as highly qualified specialists. This also includes wages and growth in population income. Therefore, the decree will have a positive effect on two fronts: market development and the overall economy,” the first deputy chairman of the Board of the National Bank emphasized.
This decree was prepared by the National Bank jointly with the Secretariat of Belarus’ Hi-Tech Park, and the expert community was also involved. “Therefore, the document turned out to be comprehensive. It takes into account all aspects of both banking activities and activities related to cryptocurrencies. The crypto bank will have a dual license. One license is from the supervisory board of the Hi-Tech Park, and the second is from the National Bank, which will already allow operations, including with fiat money. The head of state clearly set the task and demanded that the regulatory act specify all the nuances that an investor must take into account when operating in Belarus, so that no additional questions arise later. All this was clearly spelled out in the draft decree, which is supported by the president,” Aleksandr Yegorov explained.
“We have examined international practices, but found that similar institutions were primarily established as experiments. We now have a comprehensive regulatory framework. Crucially, we will not treat cryptocurrency in a crypto bank as an isolated asset. It will be recognized as a legitimate currency, operable on the bank’s balance sheet alongside traditional fiat money. That is, citizens will be able to issue cards that will be linked exclusively to a crypto account. An enterprise will be able to hold funds in an account whose structure will be directly cryptocurrency. This is the innovation. The main thing is that accounting will be carried out according to the principles of bank accounting, according to the principles of the chart of accounts for banks. All transactions will be treated as standard banking operations,” the first deputy chairman of the Board of the National Bank emphasized.
In addition to the instruments currently available to crypto exchanges, the list of operations that a crypto bank will be able to perform will be expanded. “Examples include crypto-backed lending. For certain investors, this could be quite attractive. Take miners, for instance, who may not wish to immediately liquidate their bitcoins to settle obligations. This will allow them to pledge their bitcoins as security for loans and use the loan proceeds for settlements, all without having to liquidate their bitcoin holdings. Therefore, the functionality of crypto banks will be much broader in terms of crypto operations compared to the functionality of crypto exchanges. I think this will also be an additional incentive for the arrival of investors directly related to the crypto industry,” Aleksandr Yegorov concluded.
“The head of state has signed a decree on the authorization for crypto banks in Belarus. This was one of the most anticipated regulatory acts not only for the Belarusian fintech community but essentially for the global one as well, because this is a rather unique development for the global cryptocurrency market. We have set a period of six months to bring the legislation in line with this decree. And in parallel, we will certainly work with all potential investors, both domestic and foreign, so that almost immediately after the preparation of all legislation, we can see the first crypto banks in our country,” Aleksandr Yegorov said.
He also explained what this innovation means. “Prior to this decree and the authorization for crypto banks in Belarus, the two systems remained strictly separate. One system is the traditional banking system, where banks operate with fiat money, that is, ordinary money that we use every day. On the other hand, we had cryptocurrency exchanges, which had the opportunity to provide services for buying, selling, and exchanging cryptocurrencies, including for citizens. Now, within the framework of this decree, it is planned to create an institution such as a crypto bank, which will allow combining both the functions of a traditional bank and the functions of a cryptocurrency exchange, with the addition of additional functionality and additional opportunities for working with cryptocurrencies. What does this provide? Firstly, a single balance sheet, meaning there will be no distinction between fiat money and crypto money within this institution. Secondly, the decree provides that self-employed citizens will be able to receive their salaries in cryptocurrency, provided they receive it through a crypto bank,” noted the first deputy chairman of the Board of the National Bank. According to him, there are a number of other innovations that significantly expand the possibilities of using cryptocurrencies, but within the created framework of crypto banks.
Crypto banks will be subordinate to the National Bank. “This is a very important innovation, because the traditional supervisory approach will ensure the safety of funds, both fiat and crypto. The second important area is compliance with financial stability indicators and the stability of the institution itself. The National Bank will establish requirements, what standards crypto banks will need to comply with, so that everyone can be confident that the funds will be securely stored and at any time a citizen or legal entity will be able to use them,” Aleksandr Yegorov noted.
The National Bank expects that the creation of such an institution will give impetus to foreign direct investment into Belarus. “And this should give an additional impetus to the development of the IT sector in our country. New areas of work will appear, as well as highly qualified specialists. This also includes wages and growth in population income. Therefore, the decree will have a positive effect on two fronts: market development and the overall economy,” the first deputy chairman of the Board of the National Bank emphasized.
This decree was prepared by the National Bank jointly with the Secretariat of Belarus’ Hi-Tech Park, and the expert community was also involved. “Therefore, the document turned out to be comprehensive. It takes into account all aspects of both banking activities and activities related to cryptocurrencies. The crypto bank will have a dual license. One license is from the supervisory board of the Hi-Tech Park, and the second is from the National Bank, which will already allow operations, including with fiat money. The head of state clearly set the task and demanded that the regulatory act specify all the nuances that an investor must take into account when operating in Belarus, so that no additional questions arise later. All this was clearly spelled out in the draft decree, which is supported by the president,” Aleksandr Yegorov explained.
“We have examined international practices, but found that similar institutions were primarily established as experiments. We now have a comprehensive regulatory framework. Crucially, we will not treat cryptocurrency in a crypto bank as an isolated asset. It will be recognized as a legitimate currency, operable on the bank’s balance sheet alongside traditional fiat money. That is, citizens will be able to issue cards that will be linked exclusively to a crypto account. An enterprise will be able to hold funds in an account whose structure will be directly cryptocurrency. This is the innovation. The main thing is that accounting will be carried out according to the principles of bank accounting, according to the principles of the chart of accounts for banks. All transactions will be treated as standard banking operations,” the first deputy chairman of the Board of the National Bank emphasized.
In addition to the instruments currently available to crypto exchanges, the list of operations that a crypto bank will be able to perform will be expanded. “Examples include crypto-backed lending. For certain investors, this could be quite attractive. Take miners, for instance, who may not wish to immediately liquidate their bitcoins to settle obligations. This will allow them to pledge their bitcoins as security for loans and use the loan proceeds for settlements, all without having to liquidate their bitcoin holdings. Therefore, the functionality of crypto banks will be much broader in terms of crypto operations compared to the functionality of crypto exchanges. I think this will also be an additional incentive for the arrival of investors directly related to the crypto industry,” Aleksandr Yegorov concluded.