The Belarusian government has restored online access to several major cryptocurrency exchanges that were previously restricted due to advertising practices.
There are reports that crypto trading platforms such as Bybit and Bitget are once again available in the country, days after their websites were added to the list of banned internet resources.
Belarusians take back control of crypto assets on foreign exchanges
Residents of Belarus who recently lost access to their accounts on the main international exchange of digital currencies are now able to access their assets again.
Some of the world’s largest coin trading venues, which were sealed off by the country’s Information Ministry earlier this week, are now accessible, according to local media reports.
The removal of Bybit, Bitget and other platforms from its database of banned pages was first noticed by Belarusian business news portal Banki24, which shared the news on Telegram.
Tochka.by cited the post and noted in its report that BingX and OKX were also among those previously registered. Late Friday, the news agency announced:
“These sites are no longer on BelGIE’s blacklist. In fact, the exchange was reopened in Belarus on the evening of December 12th.”
BelGIE (Republican United Enterprise for Telecommunications Oversight) serves as the country’s telecommunications watchdog, maintaining a list of banned websites.
Onliner.by warned that this positive development is good news for Belarusian traders, as attempting to access an account via VPN could lead to account suspension by the exchange itself.
The main reason for blocking is “inappropriate advertising.”
Access to the cryptocurrency exchange was initially restricted on Wednesday without proper explanation, Cryptopolitan reported.
On Thursday, the Information Ministry issued a short notice stating that it was acting on a request from the Minsk City Executive Committee, the capital’s main governing body.
The announcement cited the presence of “inappropriate advertisements” on the website as the main reason. It was also revealed that weex.com and gate.com were also blocked.
Kucoin and MEXC were also temporarily inaccessible, RBC reported. However, Russian economic news sources pointed out that Binance and KuCoin remain available.
The ministry said it could only provide details to the owners of the affected internet resources and would restore access once the violation was resolved.
These platforms are among the largest cryptocurrency trading sites in the world. For example, Bybit is a leading cryptocurrency exchange in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.
The CIS is a regional organization established after the dissolution of the Soviet Union to promote cooperation between the former republics. Nine of these countries, including Belarus, remain members of the Eurasian format.
Belarus takes the lead in regulating cryptocurrencies
Belarus has established itself as a leader among its regional peers when it comes to creating a comprehensive regulatory framework for activities and transactions related to cryptocurrencies.
The Eastern European nation defined its legal status in a presidential decree on the development of the digital economy, signed by long-time leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2017 and implemented the following year.
Residents will be able to buy and sell what the document calls “digital tokens” on a regulated platform that has acquired the status of residents of Minsk’s High-Tech Park (HTP). The latter provides special legal frameworks and benefits to businesses in the IT sector, including the cryptocurrency industry.
It should be noted that due to concerns about capital flight from sanctioned countries, authorities have banned ordinary Belarusians, including Belarusians registered as individual entrepreneurs, from trading on non-domestic exchanges in 2024.
In September, Lukashenko called on officials and government agencies to update regulations, highlighting the growing relevance of cryptocurrencies, especially in payments under financial restrictions imposed by Western countries.
Russia, the economic powerhouse of the CIS that is Belarus’ closest ally and the main target of international sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine, has only recently begun to seriously consider legalizing its own cryptocurrency market. Moscow officials have now indicated that they plan to introduce the necessary legislation in 2026.
