Check out the news at this link. I'm just sharing the key points here. So far, I’m not totally clear on what exactly these crypto banks will be, but from what I gathered, they’ll offer cryptocurrencies like bitcoin alongside some regular bank services. If that's the case, it's a great step forward. If more countries start to embrace bitcoin, we might see it hit $1 million one day.
These countries we see today are not really interested in bitcoin so far, instead, they are doing all these because of the regulation opportunities that can make them generate revenue from the crypto sectors and those that will be mostly affected are the exchanges and their users, miners have once been well dealt with, maybe we should be expecting breaking news like bitcoin adoption as a legal tender or government treasury investing in bitcoin and so on, then we will know that everything is only pointing to their support for bitcoin and how it could advance for better use by the people.
Alot is changing and most countries around the world have recent revenue laws review in 2025 which most of them included Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as digital assets and taxable and banks are interesting in taking direct buy sell order for digital assets such as Bitcoin. What is most targeted right now is taxation and I don't know if the government will be interested in other regulatory concerns, such as control which is what most cryptocurrency users are against.
These crypto banks will integrate blockchain technology with traditional banking systems. Customers now have several options to carry out a fiat or crypto transaction within a conventional bank. Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has been under severe sanctions from the US and some European countries. President Aleksandr Lukashenko believes that cryptos are essential in the country's quest for dedollarization and invasion of sanctions. Bitcoin is performing its function as a global currency that can be adopted by any country since it is decentralized. Bitcoin has no respect for political or economic alliances among nations.
The law will increase adoption and also give rise to more regulation.
During my early days when I started reading about Bitcoin, Bitcoiners used to boast of how Bitcoin anables you be your own bank. Now, the government is trying hard to change that narrative and alot of people seem to be cool with it. Can the government make Bitcoin legal, or ever allow people use bitcoin without heavy regulations? Reading the news, I can see how the emphasis is on strict regulations and compliance.
With the growth of the bitcoin and altcoin markets, the Belarusian government will certainly not waste this opportunity to reap more profits.
I don't fully understand the framework designed by the Belarusian government. However, in general, this framework allows banks to integrate their services with crypto, which means that banks can take advantage of cryptocurrency. Although this is positive news for the crypto market, the biggest beneficiaries here are the banks and, of course, the Belarusian government.
Totally right.
And you either agree to be on their comfortable leash, having your coins not in your custody, or you walk this path yourself, the choice is always ours.
Have you noticed the total amount of coins that exchanges are holding for people? Most people today do not learn. I told someone to list some wallets for me, he listed Binance among. The centralized exchanges are the ones that is making the most profits today. The centralized exchanges will not be really different from banks in terms of coin holding.
But yes that the best is to have the full control of your coins and which is by using noncustodial wallet. But the non centralized part of cryptocurrencies, people are too ignorant an lack knowledge about it.
I don't know what they will do differently but we have seen that crypto banks have mostly failed in the past and that sends the message that cryptocurrency was not meant to be kept in the bank or centralised but decentralised and kept at the P2P level. The role banks are supposed to play should be in the conversion from fiat to crypto and vice versa, beyond that level, cryptocurrency does not need being banked in centralised banks. We shall see how Belarus will do it that they will not Gail like the others.
This comes only a few weeks after the country has banned popular exchanges such as OKX and Bybit. They basically want state controlled crypto, so it's easier to investigate, freeze accounts and tax people. Or that's how I see it at least.
So they are legalizing cryptocurrency through integrating it to banking framework. If I am not mistaken, Belarus plans cryptocurrency and traditional bank merge, simply I think it means banks will offer cryptocurrency savings and investment now.
I think this is the government trying to control and monitor its people's cryptocurrency transactions. Although it sounds grand, it is just the government monitoring the people's wealth more probably to prevent them from tax evasion.
I do not know how to feel about this. A part of me feels excited about this news since it will lead to increased adoption, yet another part of me isn't comfortable because of the regulations around crypto. It feels like the government isn't just legalising crypto for the love they have for crypto and the crypto community in the country, but for what they stand to gain from controlling crypto through the traditional banks which is now given authority to carryout crypto transactions. I look forward to seeing how these new regulatory framework works well for Belarus.
Belarus are doing it due to the fact that they are sanctioned to hell and require money to move. These are not even real banks as we know them. They work under the High-Tech Park and are doubly controlled by the National Bank and the HTP authorities, which is only increasing the number of bureaucrats to keep an eye on your transactions. Never the cypherpunk dream, is it?
And people continue to say adoption is adoption as though it does not matter who adopts or why. That is lazy thinking since when Venezuela introduced the Petro everybody said the same thing and see what happened. Basically, state surveillance tool. Iran evades importation sanctions through crypto. North Korea hacks exchanges to finance weapons. Belarus is the one immediately following doing the same thing with better marketing.
It may increase the price, everything pumps sooner or later. However, when the majority of Bitcoin is stored in custodial reserves in the hands of totalitarian states, then what exactly do we achieve here besides repeating the same system with a few more steps? Maybe I am wrong though. Perhaps this does benefit ordinary Belarusians in the ruble... But I doubt it.
Yes, that's how I see it as well.
And before we forget, Belarusian since their independence in 1994, has been ruled by just one President, in his 7th term (unbelievable), dictator and control? Obviously. And with the introduction of this so called crypto banks, they will and can track everyone.
Monitor everything and see who's trying to stage and want to overthrow him. That's control and and can freeze accounts anytime.
I'm not surprised. Countries that were once against Bitcoin, are now opening their arms to it. This move by Belarus might benefit the government more than its citizens. I mean, only government officials will be able to use crypto banking services. But if opened to the general public, it could be huge.
Russia already reconsidered its crypto stance. Perhaps, that's the reason why Belaurus changed its mind. The more countries joining the crypto movement, the better. $1m per BTC is just the tip of the iceberg. I'd "hodl" on tight as this is going to be a wild ride.
At the end of the day you can choose to be your own bank and just ignore whatever service those centralized bank or government offered. That's the benefit of self custody. You always have choice.
It's only problem if government forces you to put your bitcoin in bank custody without any reason.
However, regardless of what the government is trying to do. They are trying to change that narrative or deeply interfere in the market, but the truth is they will never control Bitcoin. They will have no way of controlling your bitcoin unless you allow it, you remain your own bank.
Furthermore, it should be note that not everyone is attracted to bitcoin because of its decentralization and privacy. Mostly it is just for the profits it bring, so do not be surprised that many people even support government and bank intervention in the market.