Belarus Wants to Prohibit P2P Crypto Transactions

The foreign ministry of Belarus is reportedly operating on legal modifications to ban peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers with the use of crypto assets such as Bitcoin. On the 2nd of July, the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a formal declaration on Telegram regarding the exclusive law that would prohibit individuals from exchanging P2P crypto assets such as Bitcoin.

Belarus Endeavors to Ban Peer-to-Peer Transfers with Cryptocurrency

In addition to this, the authority also referred to the high rates of cybercrime in Belarus. It also stated that the regional prosecutors have suppressed the operations of twenty-seven citizens offering illegitimate exchange services for crypto assets since the start of this year. The cumulative illegitimate revenues thereof equaled nearly 22M Belarusian rubles (approximately $8.7M).

The foreign ministry of the country argued that the P2P crypto services are being utilized by fraudsters to a great extent. As per the ministry, the respective malicious actors cash out as well as convert funds stolen from the non-suspecting people. Following that, they reportedly transact the funds to the members in criminal projects.

To dismiss such illegal operations, the ministry will ban people from using P2P services. Apart from that, it will just permit them to exchange cryptocurrency via exchanges that possess a registration under Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP), as mentioned by the regulator. It also stated that the MFA is operating on judicial innovations that ban crypto exchange transfers performed between individuals.

To enhance control and transparency, the residents will have permission to organize such financial transfers just via the HTP exchanges. The authority additionally brought to the front that it has a strategy to implement a practice analogous to the process of the exchange of foreign currencies. This will reportedly not allow the extraction of funds received from illegitimate operations.

Crypto Enthusiasts Raise Objections on Belarusian Authorities’ Ability Capability to Prohibit P2P Crypto Trading

Under such a situation, it will normally become unbeneficial for fraudsters within the information technology (IT) sector to continue their operations in Belarus, as noted by the ministry. While responding to the news related to Belarus, several crypto enthusiasts have raised objections to the capability of the government to prohibit P2P crypto trading.

The idea of peer-to-peer exchange has originally come from Bitcoin, as specified in the top crypto’s white paper by its anonymous creator called Satoshi Nakamoto. As per the proponents of Bitcoin such as Samson Mow (the chief executive officer of Jan3), prohibiting peer-to-peer does not count as a convenient task.

In the words of the executive, several consumers in China are continuously utilizing P2P channels for exchanging their crypto assets although the country prohibited the entirety of the crypto transfers for the clients back in the year 2021. Last year, Alexander Lukashenko (the President of Belarus) authorized the country’s official support for Bitcoin and other such crypto assets’ circulation.