Belarus Banks Ordered to Adopt Crypto, Tokenization as Sanctions Squeeze Economy

In brief

  • President Lukashenko said tokenization can cut intermediaries, automate deals, and boost user control.
  • Belarus has seen $1.7 billion in crypto payments this year, with $3 billion projected, according to Lukashenko.
  • Russia-aligned states like Kyrgyzstan have shown similar sanction-driven patterns.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is urging the nation’s banks to ramp up their use of digital assets in a bid to blunt the impact of Western sanctions.

“Today, cryptocurrency-based transactions are more active than ever, and their role in facilitating payments is growing,” Lukashenko said in a meeting held on Tuesday with officials from the country’s National Bank, including heads of the country’s top commercial…

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