The National Bank has approved bitcoin, ether, solana and 23 other digital assets for use by crypto banks that will offer deposits, loans, staking and token issuance under direct central bank supervision.
Belarus has approved 26 cryptocurrencies — including bitcoin, ether, solana and toncoin — for use by a new category of state-supervised financial institution: the crypto bank.
The details were laid out by Alexander Egorov, Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus, at the Digital Banking 2026 conference on 23 April. Egorov confirmed that crypto banks would be authorised to conduct 11 types of operations: deposits, lending, collateralised borrowing, staking, transfers between individuals and legal entities, exchange, storage, and — perhaps most notably — the issuance of their own tokens. The list, he said, is not yet final.
The framework traces back to Decree No. 19, signed by President Alexander Lukashenko in January 2026. That decree formally legalised crypto banks as a distinct institutional category within the Belarusian financial system, placing them under the direct supervision of the National Bank rather than the lighter-touch oversight of the High Technology Park that had previously governed crypto activity in the country.
The capital requirements are substantial by Belarusian standards. Founders must assemble a charter capital of at least 20 million Belarusian rubles — roughly $7 million — and deposit an additional 10 million rubles in an irrevocable account with the National Bank after registration. Crypto banks must be structured as joint-stock companies and register as residents of the High Technology Park, creating a dual regulatory relationship: HTP for operational matters, the National Bank for prudential supervision.
Belarus has been one of the more permissive jurisdictions for cryptocurrency activity since Lukashenko signed his first crypto decree in 2017, which exempted digital tokens from taxation and allowed the HTP to operate as a regulatory sandbox. The new framework goes considerably further. A crypto bank that accepts deposits, issues loans and creates its own tokens is not a sandbox experiment; it is a full-service financial institution with the ability to create credit, intermediate savings and — through token issuance — effectively mint new financial instruments.
The 26 approved cryptocurrencies are curated but broad. Bitcoin and ether were expected; the inclusion of solana and toncoin reflects the current state of the market, where both chains have built significant user bases and institutional interest. The full list has not been published, but Egorov indicated it would cover the most liquid assets by trading volume and market capitalisation. The National Bank retains the authority to add or remove assets from the approved list as market conditions change.
The first crypto banks are not expected to open before late 2026. The gap between decree and operation reflects the regulatory machinery still being assembled — licensing procedures, compliance frameworks, deposit protection arrangements and the technical standards for custody and settlement all need to be finalised. The National Bank and the HTP are working together on these standards; Egorov said the asset management rules should be approved by mid-year.
For the global crypto industry, Belarus is an interesting test case. It is a small economy — GDP of roughly $73 billion — operating under Western sanctions that limit its access to the dollar-denominated financial system. Crypto banks could provide an alternative channel for cross-border payments and capital flows, which is precisely what makes the model both attractive to Minsk and concerning to Washington and Brussels. A state-supervised institution that holds bitcoin deposits and issues its own tokens would, in theory, give Belarusian businesses a route around the SWIFT network and the correspondent banking relationships that sanctions are designed to disrupt.
Whether that scenario materialises depends on implementation. Belarus has a history of announcing ambitious crypto policies that arrive slowly or not at all — the 2017 decree promised a thriving crypto economy, but the HTP's actual footprint remained modest. The difference this time is that the National Bank is directly involved, which suggests Minsk views crypto banking not as a tech-sector experiment but as a strategic financial priority.
The 26 approved currencies and 11 permitted operations are the architecture. The crypto banks themselves — if they arrive — will be the test.
