Belarus Has Seized Millions of Dollars in Crypto – In a recent interview, the head of Belarus’ Investigative Committee claimed that the country’s authorities have mastered the seizure of cryptocurrencies. The state has already taken crypto assets worth millions of dollars, according to the high-ranking law enforcement official.
Dmitry Gora, the head of Belarus’ Investigative Committee, addressed the state-run ONT channel that the country had to deal with the problem of how to seize cryptocurrency when they were first used in drug trafficking and afterwards in economic crimes.
He went on to say that law enforcement officials had to figure out a way to confiscate such digital assets, and that they had previously seized cryptocurrency worth hundreds of millions of Belarusian rubles (millions of U.S. dollars).
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A presidential decree that went into effect in May 2018 allowed numerous crypto activities in the former Soviet republic, which is a close ally of Russia. Within efforts to develop the country’s digital economy, the document introduced tax breaks as well as other incentives for crypto firms operating as residents of the Hi-Tech Park (HTP) in Minsk.
President Alexander Lukashenko hinted in March 2021 that the country’s crypto regulations would be tightened, citing China as an example. HTP officials, on the other hand, later stated that Belarusian authorities had no intention of enacting harsher regulations for the industry. In addition, the finance ministry recommended changes that would allow investment funds to acquire digital assets.
The Ministry of Justice adopted a legislative mechanism allowing the seizure of crypto funds as part of enforcement procedures in April of this year. It follows Lukashenko’s February decree, which mandated the establishment of a special register for crypto wallets used for illegal reasons.
Dmitry Gora then quoted his “advanced subordinates,” who claimed that cryptocurrencies were nothing more than “digital trash.” “I set the task based on this: our state requires money to compensate for the damage it has created. Let’s consider how to make money from trash. I won’t get into specifics, but we’ve figured it out. He went on to say, there are methods that allow us to deal with these challenges successfully.”
Both government authorities and commercial organizations are involved in the process, according to the law enforcement official. As a result, Gora noted, “the amounts that are already in the shape of good, normal money are on the Investigative Committee’s accounts.”
