After the decree on crypto banks comes into force, Belarus may see not just one but several such institutions. This was stated in an interview with Bankovski Vestnik by Chairman of the National Bank Raman Halouchanka.
“Interest in establishing crypto banks is very high — both from the banking community and residents of the High-Tech Park, as well as representatives of the non-financial sector. To implement Decree No. 19, the National Bank is working closely with potential investors: regular meetings are being held, views are being exchanged, and within a specially created working group, acceptable solutions to tactical issues are being developed. Decree No. 19 can be described as breakthrough even by international standards. The first applications from investors are expected immediately after it comes into force, and the emergence of several crypto banks is вполне realistic,” he said.
Halouchanka noted that the entry threshold for crypto banks is quite high, both in terms of financial costs and regulatory requirements. Therefore, he does not expect a large influx of such institutions. In addition, the National Bank has the authority to limit the number of crypto banks. It should be noted that, under the decree, the authorized capital of a crypto bank must be at least 20 million rubles, and an additional 10 million rubles must be placed on deposit with the National Bank.
“Crypto banks create fundamentally new opportunities for financial management. Citizens will be able to open deposits in tokens, pay with crypto cards, and receive loans secured by tokens, including cryptocurrency. Self-employed individuals and artisans will be able to legally receive income from foreign clients in tokens directly into accounts at crypto banks. For businesses, additional advantages are related to optimizing cross-border settlements and increasing their technological efficiency and speed. Moreover, the ability to hold both a settlement account and tokens within one institution will help reduce the costs of servicing financial transactions,” he said.
