Alexander Lukashenko, the President of Belarus, has instructed the country’s banks to expand adoption of cryptocurrencies as sanctions have significantly affected its economy.
The state-owned Belarusian Telegraph Agency said on Tuesday that Lukashenko informed the leaders of Belarus’ central and commercial banks in a meeting that the use of digital tokens has to grow. The President said that a market this big needs to be open, well-regulated, and under reasonable control.
“Over the past five years, the national economy, and with it the Belarusian banking sector, has faced unprecedented challenges. The government and the National Bank have been given corresponding instructions. Now, act,” said the President.
Lukashenko emphasized that the primary task for the National Bank and the entire system is maintaining price stability. On digital currencies, he said, using tokens in finance helps reduce the number of middlemen, make transactions happen automatically with smart contracts, and give users more control over their assets.
“Cryptocurrency-based transactions are more common than ever today, and their role in making payments easier is growing. In the first seven months of this year, cryptocurrency exchanges processed $1.7 billion in external payments. Experts say it could reach $3 billion by the end of the year,” he said.
Lukashenko’s current push comes just days after he instructed lawmakers to make the country’s cryptocurrency market laws clear. The country’s economy has suffered from declining exports as a result of widespread EU and US sanctions for supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Another Push for Crypto Adoption in Belarus
According to Statista, an online statistics source, the number of crypto users in Belarus is expected to reach over 855,000 by 2026, up from 9.1 million people. The percentage of users is also expected to rise to 9.57%.
Earlier in March, under President Lukashenko, the Mogilev region of the country started prepping for the cryptocurrency mining farms. This was followed by the announcement of plans to explore cryptocurrency mining, leveraging the country’s surplus electricity following U.S. President Donald Trump’s strategic reserve plan.
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