Belarus wants to ban bitcoin P2P transactions

[_act_]

According to where I read it, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus said thee is high crypto crime rate in P2P crypto transactions while exchange bitcoin with each other. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/belarus-wants-to-ban-p2p-cryptocurrency-transactions

The authority cited a high cybercrime rate in Belarus, stating that local prosecutors have suppressed the activity of 27 citizens providing “illegal crypto exchange services” since January 2023. Their total illegal revenues amounted to nearly 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).

So if Belarusian wants to sell bitcoin which is an asset to themselves, they have to go through a centralized exchange approved by Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP).

Is this not too hash?

There is nothing that can stop P2P trading. It can only be reduced.

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[NotATether]

Bitcoin P2P transactions cannot be banned. There is no mechanism with which to detect that a Bitcoin transaction has been made, let alone detect who has made a transaction[1], since you can broadcast a transaction with a completely different IP address outside of Belarus' authority.

Maybe he wants to ban exchanges or off-ramps or the equivalent.

[1]: Outside of the very obvious and standard blockchain analysis services, but even these require a trail to already have been made that goes through a KYC service.

[DaveF]

According to where I read it, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus said thee is high crypto crime rate in P2P crypto transactions while exchange bitcoin with each other. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/belarus-wants-to-ban-p2p-cryptocurrency-transactions

The authority cited a high cybercrime rate in Belarus, stating that local prosecutors have suppressed the activity of 27 citizens providing “illegal crypto exchange services” since January 2023. Their total illegal revenues amounted to nearly 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).

So if Belarusian wants to sell bitcoin which is an asset to themselves, they have to go through a centralized exchange approved by Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP).

Is this not too hash?

There is nothing that can stop P2P trading. It can only be reduced.

And don't forget the important part....And the government can track it so they can get their tax revenue. It's all about the money. Belarus is a small country with a small budget but a lot of expenses so here is another way to generate funds. Leaving out the political good / bad part of it even now they are asking Wagner mercenaries to train the military while building a large military base. That ain't free. All while more and more people are not doing business there because of their ties to Russia. Now, once again do not want to get political about that but the budget hole has to be filled somehow.

-Dave

[witcher_sense]

Bitcoin P2P transactions cannot be banned. There is no mechanism with which to detect that a Bitcoin transaction has been made, let alone detect who has made a transaction[1], since you can broadcast a transaction with a completely different IP address outside of Belarus' authority.

Maybe he wants to ban exchanges or off-ramps or the equivalent.

[1]: Outside of the very obvious and standard blockchain analysis services, but even these require a trail to already have been made that goes through a KYC service.

The idea is not to ban Bitcoin P2P transactions but to deem anyone found participating in such activities a criminal who may be prosecuted and "legally" deprived of their belongings, including cryptocurrency holdings. Authoritarian government merely wants more leverage to control its citizens, which is why it keeps introducing such ridiculous laws that can't be realistically enforced at a large scale, but that can be used against opposition and other "wrong" people. Needless to say, "a high cybercrime rate" is just an excuse to introduce more prohibitions.

[Nwada001]

Bitcoin P2P transactions cannot be banned. There is no mechanism with which to detect that a Bitcoin transaction has been made, let alone detect who has made a transaction[1], since you can broadcast a transaction with a completely different IP address outside of Belarus' authority.

Exactly, but this is only applicable on stand-alone P2P platforms. I mean, decentralized P2P exchanges. I believe those are what you mean.
 
But when it comes to P2P means of buying and selling that's still under any centralized exchanges, they could still be traced and request account banning of their citizens, and they could still file for restrictions for their citizens not to be able to use the P2P option; it's just for the regulatory to write to the exchange. This is the reason why if one wants to remain anonymous, they should avoid the centralized exchanges and go for any P2P option out there.

[Z390]

I am already dreaming about how this is going to happen, because P2P transactions only happen between two people, you give me your 1000$ and I give you Bitcoin worth 1000$, no one will know that the 1000$ i received from Mr John is for Bitcoin, and no one will know that I get Mr Johns Bitcoin wallet address and sent back the money only in Bitcoin...

Oh yes, unless Mr. John writes "payment for Bitcoin" on the transaction description itself, the bank will know that the transaction that Mr. John made at the so-so time was meant for a Bitcoin purchase.

I wish Belarus good luck on this, .

[dansus021]

Yeah the real answer is P2P is unstoppable no matter what the government will do.
Maybe Belarus wants the transaction transparency from the exchange by introducing some of KYC to its user.  the gov want every transaction happen on desired Centralized Exchange so they know everything.

Tho who are pro about P2P always find the way in my opinion.

the plus is at least the government don't ban Bitcoin

[Z-tight]

I am already dreaming about how this is going to happen, because P2P transactions only happen between two people, you give me your 1000$ and I give you Bitcoin worth 1000$, no one will know that the 1000$ i received from Mr John is for Bitcoin, and no one will know that I get Mr Johns Bitcoin wallet address and sent back the money only in Bitcoin...

This is only correct for true p2p transactions that happens on decentralized exchanges and face to face trades, but if you use the p2p services of custodial platforms, the exchange knows who you are through your kyc data that you gave them and they will give it to the government if they request for it.

It is not like the government of Belarus wants to totally ban p2p tx's, what they want to do is to force everyone to trade only through exchanges that are registered and approved by them, this is exactly what governments are all about, censorship and control, anyway, what they intend to do is very difficult for them to achieve because it is easy to bypass.

[paid2]

Once again, the Belarussian government does not shine in its ability to understand the subject it is tackling...

I wonder how they're going to go about it lol, the concept of wanting to ban anything P2P escapes me completely...

The idea is not to ban Bitcoin P2P transactions but to deem anyone found participating in such activities a criminal who may be prosecuted and "legally" deprived of their belongings, including cryptocurrency holdings. Authoritarian government merely wants more leverage to control its citizens, which is why it keeps introducing such ridiculous laws that can't be realistically enforced at a large scale, but that can be used against opposition and other "wrong" people. Needless to say, "a high cybercrime rate" is just an excuse to introduce more prohibitions.

This will be one more argument they can cobble together in the event of unfair legal proceedings. But I'm hopeful that people will know and have access to documentation that will enable them to avoid such stupid accusations.

In my humble opinion, it's all about getting people to talk about them, and it's not the first or last time that this government has said something irrational to get a bit of international attention.

I sincerely hope for the people of Belarus to get rid of these idiots. I wish them good luck.

[boyptc]

I guess they have the idea on how these P2P transaction works and with the heavy sanction that's been placed on Russia with what they've done, most electronic cash transfers have been disabled and they're resorting out to this type of transfers with Bitcoin.

Just like our friends here said that they can't do anything with it. But, the only thing they can do is to track those platforms for which they've got the record of the users and the transactions being done there.

If the actuality of person to person transaction is being done without any intervention of a platform or any third party, I doubt it that they'll be able to intervene and track any of those.

[Ever-young]

I am already dreaming about how this is going to happen, because P2P transactions only happen between two people, you give me your 1000$ and I give you Bitcoin worth 1000$, no one will know that the 1000$ i received from Mr John is for Bitcoin, and no one will know that I get Mr Johns Bitcoin wallet address and sent back the money only in Bitcoin...

This is only correct for true p2p transactions that happens on decentralized exchanges and face to face trades, but if you use the p2p services of custodial platforms, the exchange knows who you are through your kyc data that you gave them and they will give it to the government if they request for it.

It is not like the government of Belarus wants to totally ban p2p tx's, what they want to do is to force everyone to trade only through exchanges that are registered and approved by them, this is exactly what governments are all about, censorship and control, anyway, what they intend to do is very difficult for them to achieve because it is easy to bypass.

In addition to that, every P2P platform which are under custodial system save History of transaction, time, and amount transacted with whom those was transacted with. Custodial P2P is never to truly safe, it's just another means of privacy protection bridge. Anything can happen and users data can still be released to authorities which will use it against both parties that got them self engaged in the transaction.

[348Judah]

According to where I read it, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus said thee is high crypto crime rate in P2P crypto transactions while exchange bitcoin with each other. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/belarus-wants-to-ban-p2p-cryptocurrency-transactions

The authority cited a high cybercrime rate in Belarus, stating that local prosecutors have suppressed the activity of 27 citizens providing “illegal crypto exchange services” since January 2023. Their total illegal revenues amounted to nearly 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).

So if Belarusian wants to sell bitcoin which is an asset to themselves, they have to go through a centralized exchange approved by Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP).

Is this not too hash?

There is nothing that can stop P2P trading. It can only be reduced.

Taking this into consideration, Belarus is not the only country involved in making use of a p2p network transaction and thet don't also appear to be the most crime rated region in the world, they have to understand that as at this present moment, bitcoin p2p network is the only and most secured digital form of payment and means of making transactions and we cannot regulate the whole system since it's decentralized, the government cannot control the crime rate with the use of fiat currency, why are they trying to achieve this on bitcoin as long as theirs justification in bitcoin network and it's transactions, i will better add this that they (government) should be the one to introduce more means of getting their citizens engaged in qualitative avenue for economical opportunities that could change their lives for good.

[elevates]

They can only ban P2P trade where Bitcoin is converted to the local currency or vice versa. Since local fiat is always under the control of the government, it would be easy to track such transactions. Instead of implementing a ban, they should introduce a policy or regulatory framework for these exchanges. A ban would increase illegal activities, which would not be beneficial for them. I have never witnessed a ban helping any government; it has always made their lives more complicated.

[rat03gopoh]

News snippet:

The authority also noted that it plans to implement a practice similar to the procedure for exchanging foreign currencies, which will make it “impossible to withdraw money obtained from illegal activity.”

I don't really understand if this is related to preventing p2p transactions, does this mean withdrawing cash? I think local banks will have another job to censor a lot of customers.
I appreciate the government officials eradicating this illegal activity, but the methods they employ will only make people laugh at them.

[Supianto]

I suppose they don't really know how Bitcoin works if they want to ban P2P transactions. And those people are making laws and helping to run the country...

[yazher]

This is not good for their citizens that currently holding bitcoins that has been using P2P to trade. Others that are planning to invest in bitcoins probably will cancel their plan and choose different investment instead. They might just want to get some tax from those transactions and since it's seems easy to trade that way, they plan to put pressure on whoever trading that way and force them to trade in the exchanges so that they can get some taxes.

[m2017]

Bitcoin P2P transactions cannot be banned. There is no mechanism with which to detect that a Bitcoin transaction has been made, let alone detect who has made a transaction[1], since you can broadcast a transaction with a completely different IP address outside of Belarus' authority.

Maybe he wants to ban exchanges or off-ramps or the equivalent.

[1]: Outside of the very obvious and standard blockchain analysis services, but even these require a trail to already have been made that goes through a KYC service.

Of course, bitcoin transactions can't be banned, but the weak point is the border between crypto and cash. If the authorities want, they will begin to catch violators at the time of the exchange. Of course, summing up under this legislation. On the positive side, such tightening and bans could spur direct payment in currencies for goods or services between people. That's when it will be most interesting, because it is not known how they will be held accountable. Probably not in any way.

According to where I read it, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus said thee is high crypto crime rate in P2P crypto transactions while exchange bitcoin with each other. 

https://cointelegraph.com/news/belarus-wants-to-ban-p2p-cryptocurrency-transactions

The authority cited a high cybercrime rate in Belarus, stating that local prosecutors have suppressed the activity of 27 citizens providing “illegal crypto exchange services” since January 2023. Their total illegal revenues amounted to nearly 22 million Belarusian rubles ($8.7 million).

So if Belarusian wants to sell bitcoin which is an asset to themselves, they have to go through a centralized exchange approved by Belarus Hi-Tech Park (HTP).

Is this not too hash?

There is nothing that can stop P2P trading. It can only be reduced.

There is nothing surprising in this news. This is exactly how the regulation of crypto spheres occurs when it is impossible to control cash flows. The only solution is when people are forced to go to a centralized exchange, where all information about them, transactions will be stored, and of course, taxes will be paid for any activity with crypto currencies.

The so-called 27 citizens providing “illegal crypto exchange services” are nothing but exchangers. After punishing them, scaring the rest of the exchangers, squeezing them out of the market and freeing up space, the next step is to open a government-controlled exchanger. This is the standard scenario.

Perhaps for some time some exchangers will operate in the shadows, like a black market, but the activity will be complicated, fraught with huge risks, and as a result, there will be nothing left but the only centralized exchanger in the country.

You didn't think the holiday would last forever, right.

[sokani]

Bitcoin P2P transactions cannot be banned. There is no mechanism with which to detect that a Bitcoin transaction has been made, let alone detect who has made a transaction[1], since you can broadcast a transaction with a completely different IP address outside of Belarus' authority.

Maybe he wants to ban exchanges or off-ramps or the equivalent.

[1]: Outside of the very obvious and standard blockchain analysis services, but even these require a trail to already have been made that goes through a KYC service.

You are very correct. I wonder what mechanism they are going to put in place to be able tell if a particular set of bitcoin transactions are from P2P users. Just like what happened in Nigeria, when the apex bank banned cryptocurrency and asked all commercial banks to flag accounts associated with crypto-related activities. Nigerians resorted to P2P trading in order to stay off the radar. In my own opinion, I think this is just a bluff. It's another way to tax it's citizens by forcing them to register and trade on a centralized exchange approved by Belarusian government.

[Woodie]

I thought banning of peer 2 peer exchanges is more difficult to do than a centralized exchange as traders could have moved their services to more personalized platforms like whatsapp for businesses or say a telegram channel which can still be used to facilitate these exchanges...tbh their efforts are appreciated in combating cyber crime but crypto is to big of a revolution to be stopped by a ban.

Btw I think this is a mammoth task the Belarus authorities have embarked on, besides are these guys saying cybercrime will instantly drop once these channels are closed ?? I don't think so as people will always find alternative ways to exchange and what not.

[stompix]

They banned unemployment, then inflation, then war, P2P is easy, they don't need to even enforce it, just a wink and it's done! /s

There is nothing that can stop P2P trading. It can only be reduced.

Yeah, except you're not talking about democracy but a state-controlled communist dictatorship in which you can get picked up from your apartment because you put the wrong smiley in a comment! When facing 20 years in a re-education center, do you honestly think people will keep on doing p2p deals when they already know the state controls every bank and every transaction out there?

Bitcoin P2P transactions cannot be banned. There is no mechanism with which to detect that a Bitcoin transaction has been made, let alone detect who has made a transaction[1], since you can broadcast a transaction with a completely different IP address outside of Belarus' authority.

Yes, it is!
It's called a firing squad and after seeing it in action a few times your survival instincts will actively block you from signing any tx!  
Besides, they don't care about bitcoins going over the border or inside the country, what they care is about the fiat moved, and in Belarus, they can track that easier than you can count pennies in your wallet as nearly all payment solutions are either completely or partly state-owned. And if it's not the state of Belarus that owns it it's either Gazprom or Russia!

You are very correct. I wonder what mechanism they are going to put in place to be able tell if a particular set of bitcoin transactions are from P2P users.

A simple mechanism that will trigger an alarm when you initiate a cash transaction to a guy that is not your family member and who has a few other transactions from his bank account at random hours to different people in different towns. Just invite everyone to the police station for an interview and face them with two choices, either tell your whole history since you've been born or go and volunteer to conquer Ukraine.
Remember that when you send Bitcoin to somebody it's because you want to receive cash, not because you want to receive Bitcoins back!

Guys, this is not the US or Canada or France, when you know, you have things called rights!