Belarus Has Seized Millions of Dollars in Crypto, Chief Investigator Claims – Bitcoin News

Authorities in Belarus have mastered the seizure of cryptocurrencies, the head of the country’s Investigative Committee revealed in a recent interview. A high ranking law enforcement officer claims that the state already has confiscated cryptocurrency assets valued at millions of dollars.

According to reports, companies help the Belarus government with crypto seizure

Belarus had to deal with the challenge of how to seize cryptocurrencies when they were first used in drug trade and later economic crimes, Dmitry Gora, who heads the nation’s Investigative Committee, told the state-run ONT channel. Dmitry Gora said that the law enforcement agencies needed to figure out a way of confiscating such digital assets. They have already seized crypto in excess of hundreds of millions (millions) of dollars.

In May 2018, the presidential decree of the ex-Soviet republic (a close ally with Russia) legalized certain crypto activities. The document introduced tax breaks and other incentives for crypto businesses operating as residents of the Hi-Tech Park (HTP) in Minsk within efforts to develop the country’s digital economy.

In March 2021, President Alexander Lukashenko hinted at a possible tightening of the country’s crypto regulations, referring to China’s example. HTP officials insisted that the Belarusian authorities did not intend to adopt any stricter regulations for this industry. What’s more, the finance ministry proposed amendments to allow investment funds to acquire digital assets.

This April, the Ministry of Justice established a legal procedure that allows the confiscation of crypto assets as part of its enforcement procedures. The decree implements an earlier Lukasenko-ordered February 22nd, which established a registry for cryptocurrency wallets that are used illegally.

Dmitry Gora went on to quote his “advanced subordinates,” saying that cryptocurrency was just “digital trash.” “Based on this, I set the task: our state needs money to compensate for the damage caused. Let’s think about how to make money out of trash. I will not go into details, but we have learned how to do it… There are mechanisms that allow us to deal with these issues, and quite successfully,” he elaborated.

According to the law enforcement officer, both commercial and government organizations were involved in this process. As a result, “the amounts that are already in the form of good, normal money are on the accounts of the Investigative Committee,” Gora stated.

What do you think Belarus will do about cryptocurrencies in the future? Comment below.

Lubomir Tatsev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’s quote: “Being a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.