The COVID-19 pandemic has served both as an x-ray onto existing vulnerabilities in the global financial system, and as an accelerator for destabilizing tendencies, including higher sovereign and consumer debt in emerging markets. At an online meeting of the Central Bank Governors' Club, hosted this week by Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina, representatives were unanimous in their expectations of the far-reaching consequences of the current crisis. At the meeting, the 26 central bank representatives that convened from Central Asia, the Black Sea region, the Balkan countries and beyond, also noted the pandemic-induced expansion of e-commerce, as well as digital …

Ukraine-based crypto exchange Kuna.io is refusing to provide personal information about individuals who could potentially be labeled as dissidents by the government of Belarus. According to an Oct. 5 Facebook post from Belarus Solidary Foundation, or BYSOL, founder Andrej Stryzhak, Kuna has stated it will not comply with an official request sent on Sept. 30 by Belarus’ Department of Financial Investigations, or FDI, under the country’s Committee of State Control. The department requested personal information on Belarusians who had received funds through BYSOL, insinuating that they may have been involved in the country-wide protests sometime in the last two months. …

Amid the ongoing political unrest in Belarus, some local cryptocurrency-related companies are reportedly setting up backup offices in neighboring countries. Currency.com, a Minsk-headquartered crypto trading company, is reportedly planning to open an office in Lithuania to provide a safe place for its employees. According to a Sept. 8 report by local news agency TUT.BY, Currency.com is offering its Belarus-based employees to “take a sabbatical” in Vilnius amid the current election-fueled unrest. Currency.com CEO Jonathan Squires reportedly said that the company will maintain its offices in Minsk, while relocation is voluntary. “We expect that most employees who wish to relocate will …

A political crisis, mass detention of peaceful citizens and internet blocking in Belarus are hitting the country’s IT sector hard. Amid this social turmoil, some companies are moving their offices and servers abroad, others are using VPN services, while some are advising their customers to buy cryptocurrencies. What is happening in Belarus, a country that just a couple of years ago was considered to be a favorable jurisdiction for IT and cryptocurrency projects? And how is digital technology helping its people regain their social and economic freedom? A failed Silicon Valley? Belarus is home to numerous IT companies, many of …

Major encrypted messaging app provider Telegram has expressed support for the mass protests in Belarus against sitting President Alexander Lukashenko. On Aug. 25, the Telegram app introduced a new animated emoji to replace the national flag of Belarus with the white-red-white flag. Opposed to the official red and green flag of Belarus, the white-red-white flag is used as a symbol of the opposition to Lukashenko's regime. With the new feature, the emoji of Belarus’ national flag automatically turns to the animated opposition flag when a single symbol is typed in a message. Telegram’s latest gesture of support for the opposition …

Every Friday, Law Decoded delivers analysis on the week’s critical stories in the realms of policy, regulation and law. Editor’s note The political machinations of Eastern Europe have dominated recent headlines. Protests unprecedented since the fall of the Soviet Union have rocked Belarus for weeks. Outrage over the Aug. 8 election that has seen challenger Svetlana Tikhanovskaya flee the country has threatened the longtime dominion of Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, the so-called “last dictator in Europe.” Protestors are calling the 80% win for Lukashenko a fraud. The regime has tried to crack down with its traditional tactics of disinformation and …

As the massive protests in Belarus continue after a controversial election that saw President Alexander Lukashenko extend his mandate, questions arose about how Belarus could deal with potential U.S. and European Union sanctions and how cryptos such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) could help bypass them. An article published by Russian outlet, RBC, suggested that using cryptocurrencies could not be an effective option for the Belarussian government to beat financial sanctions that may be imposed by the EU and Washington on Minsk. According to The Guardian, the EU is moving forward with sanctions against Belarus. Valery Petrov, vice president …

Protests have erupted in Belarus following the re-election of the country’s authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko, who reportedly won against opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya in a landslide victory with more than 80% of the vote on Aug. 9. But officials both inside and outside of Belarus are condemning the election results as falsified. The notorious Belorussian president has filled his role since 1994, but he has most recently made a number of statements in favor of blockchain technology. Lukashenko legalized cryptocurrency and ICOs in Dec. 2017. In an April 2019 video of Lukashenko addressing a crowd, he proposed using excess energy …

On June 10, 12 Belarus' commercial and state-owned banks received permission from the national central bank to issue digital tokens. They will distribute these digital offerings through an upcoming pilot program. According to Sputnik Belarus, the country has adopted Decree No. 8, "On the development of the digital economy," giving the power to the Belarus National Bank to implement the banks' digital economy dynamics. The governmental framework creates the legal environment required for initial coin offerings, or ICOs, across Belarus. The pilot program will run from January 1, 2021, to January 1, 2024. Pilot program to take place in a …

Amid countries increasingly auctioning Bitcoin (BTC) seized in law enforcement actions, some jurisdictions are fighting for authorization to confiscate crypto. A state authority in Belarus wants lawmakers to authorize them to seize cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin from criminals. The Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, a centralized system of state law enforcement agencies, is purportedly planning to back a legal initiative that would grant them the authority to confiscate crypto. Belarus now has legal regulation that allows the Investigative Committee to seize crypto Ivan Noskevich, head of the Investigative Committee, publicly voiced the initiative in a March 9 interview with …

Belarus’ general prosecutor has raised concerns about the role cryptocurrency could be playing in tax evasion, local daily news outlet TUT.by reported on June 4. Speaking as Belarus hosted the International Prosecutors Association’s regional conference, Aleksandr Konyuk said the time had come for all attendants’ authorities to study cryptocurrency use. Belarus had become one of the first countries in the area to create formal legislation around bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies, declaring them legal in 2017. “The relevance of cybercrime is obvious,” he told the conference, which saw representation from Russia, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Kazakhstan and Latvia. Konyuk continued: “Multiple …

This article previously contained statements implying that Binance DEX itself — rather than its website — was geoblocking users. It has been updated for accuracy. The decentralized exchange (DEX) developed by major cryptocurrency exchange Binance will block website access to users based in 29 countries. The Binance DEX website informs potential users of the restriction via a message that appears when accessing the platform from one of the regions. The message appearing on the platform states that accessing the website from certain countries will be restricted starting on July 1: “It seems you are accessing www.binance.org from an IP address …