Belarus Approves First Cryptocurrency Bank Amid Digital Asset Push

Belarus has taken another step in its push to bring cryptocurrency banks into the regulated system by approving the country's first cryptocurrency bank.

The move follows a legal framework for cryptocurrency banks established earlier this year, after President Alexander Lukashenko signed Decree No. 19 in January, titled 'On Certain Control Issues in the Field of Cryptocurrency Banks and Digital Tokens'. The decree laid out an institutional foundation for bitcoin and cryptocurrency banks.

The High-Tech Park said that the launch and registration of the country's first cryptocurrency bank began as a tangible outcome of discussions between the park and the national bank. The two entities will jointly oversee the supervisory framework, which is designed to manage cryptocurrency banks within the regulated system.

Dmitry Kalechits, the first deputy director of the secretariat of the High-Tech Park's supervisory board, said that introducing cryptocurrency banks could improve the flow of the financial ecosystem and lead foreign investment into Belarus.