Belarus Considers P2P Ban to Curb Cybercrime

9Belarus Considers P2P Ban To Curb CybercrimThe Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is drafting amendments to the law to prohibit peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions involving cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

The ministry issued an official announcement on Telegram on July 2 regarding new legislation that would prohibit P2P crypto exchanges for individuals.

The authority cited a high rate of cybercrime in Belarus, stating that 27 individuals supplying “illegal crypto exchange services” have been prosecuted since January 2023. Their illicit earnings totaled close to 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).

The ministry argued that crypto P2P services are “in demand among fraudsters who cash out and convert stolen funds and transfer money to the organizers or participants of criminal schemes.”

To eliminate such illegal activity, the ministry will prohibit individuals from exchanging cryptocurrencies P2P and will only permit them to do so through exchanges registered with Belarus Hi-Tech Park. The regulator said:

“The MFA is working on legislative innovations that prohibit crypto exchange transactions between individuals. For transparency and control, citizens will be allowed to conduct such financial transactions only through the HTP exchanges.”

The authority stated that it intends to implement a practice similar to the procedure for exchanging foreign currencies, which will make it “impossible to withdraw money obtained from illegal activity.”

“Under these circumstances, it will no longer be profitable for cybercriminals to operate in Belarus,” the ministry wrote. As a result of the news from Belarus, numerous crypto devotees have questioned the government’s ability to prohibit P2P cryptocurrency trading.

“Good luck enforcing it,” a crypto observer tweeted. IMF According to Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper, the original concept behind Bitcoin

was peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions.

According to Bitcoin advocates such as Samson Mow, CEO of Jan3, prohibiting P2P is difficult, if not impossible. The executive stated in June that many users in China continue to use P2P channels to exchange crypto despite the country’s 2021 prohibition on all crypto transactions.

The most recent news from Belarus is somewhat at odds with the laws Belarus has enacted in recent years.

In 2022, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree expressing the nation’s official support for the unrestricted circulation of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.