Belarus Legalizes Cryptocurrencies and ICOs

The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has signed the decree “On the Development of Digital Economy”. This gives the crypto-economy in Belarus a very welcome, official green light.

Cryptocurrencies, initial coin offerings (ICOs), and smart contracts are now fully legal in the state and all crypto transactions and related income, including from mining, will be tax-free for the next five years.

“The main goal of the document is to create such conditions that global IT companies would come to Belarus, open their representative offices, development centers, and create popular products in the world,” he explained.

The decree legalizes initial coin offerings and transactions in cryptocurrencies, including their exchange for traditional currencies on Belarussian exchanges, while all trades will be tax-free for the next five years.

This will give Belarussian companies a large advantage over companies based in other jurisdictions, where the governments have been either repressive or simply haven’t made their positions clear yet.

On the whole, this is great news for the crypto economy, because being a distributed worldwide industry, it can stay resilient to local government interference.

While Belarus’ regime may not be everyone’s cup of tea, their support is none the less welcome. As long as there are any safe heavens for crypto, it will be impossible to take it down.

Funny enough, that’s not unlike tax evasion for the rich and powerful.