The blackout began without warning, leaving local traders and businesses scrambling to understand whether the move was temporary, technical, or a new phase in Minsk’s tightening control of online finance.
Key Developments
- •Belarus has blocked access to several major global exchanges at the direction of the Ministry of Information.
- •The restrictions appeared inconsistently, with some platforms briefly becoming accessible again.
- •The country is tightening control over digital assets after earlier bans on citizens using foreign exchanges.
Instead of coming from financial regulators, the restrictions originated from the Ministry of Information, a ministry that typically deals with media oversight and internet governance rather than digital markets. The ministry’s order was later reflected inside a national database managed by BelGIE, the state telecom watchdog responsible for policing restricted web resources.
When Belarusian users attempted to access Bybit, Bitget, or OKX this week, their connections were blocked at the internet-provider level, producing notices referencing the national media law — a curious legal basis for action against crypto exchanges. Some users immediately sought escape routes through VPN services, but local tech outlets warned that the exchanges themselves could freeze accounts if they detect access from banned jurisdictions.
An Odd Patchwork of Blocks — With Binance Notably Absent
The situation grew more confusing as the day progressed. Several outlets reported that some of the blocked platforms briefly reappeared online before being cut off again, creating an inconsistent pattern that offered little clarity about the government’s intentions. Among the newly reachable sites were KuCoin and MEXC, suggesting either a technical recalibration or internal uncertainty about which platforms should be targeted.
Even more striking was the absence of Binance, by far the world’s largest exchange and usually the first platform regulators flag during enforcement actions. Officials have not commented on why certain exchanges were singled out while others — including well-known global platforms — were untouched.
A Country Trying to Regain Control of Its Crypto Trajectory
Belarus once positioned itself as a regional pioneer in crypto regulation. A 2018 presidential decree framed digital tokens as part of a broader “digital economy” strategy and gave the country one of the earliest formal legal structures in Eastern Europe. The move encouraged a wave of crypto-related business activity, both regulated and unregulated.
But as sanctions piled up in recent years and financial monitoring intensified, Minsk shifted its tone. President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly urged state institutions to tighten oversight and reduce opportunities for capital to leave the country through crypto channels. Authorities responded last year by banning ordinary citizens and small entrepreneurs from trading digital assets on foreign platforms — a restriction that already pushed thousands of users toward informal trading routes.
New Enforcement Infrastructure Targets Illicit Wallets
The latest measures fit into a broader architecture Belarus has been building to align itself with international compliance bodies. Recently, the state auditing authority introduced a dedicated registry cataloging wallets linked to criminal activity. This database forms the backbone of a new mechanism allowing officials to seize digital funds directly — a system rolled out ahead of the country’s next evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
At the same time, the National Bank of Belarus has proposed creating a unified crypto regulatory model across the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Russia, the bloc’s dominant member, is drafting sweeping digital-asset legislation scheduled for implementation in 2026, which analysts expect will heavily influence smaller member states.