The largest Belarusian bank, ASB Belarusbank, has teamed up with local crypto payments firm White Bird LLC to launch a cryptocurrency exchange.
According to local news agency Prime Press, ASB Belarusbank rolled out its crypto exchange services on November 13th, allowing its customers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies through Visa card payments, and exchange crypto assets for Belarusian and Russian rubles, US dollar, and euros.
For now, only citizens of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation can enjoy Belarusbank’s services, but the bank is planning to expand into other countries in the future. Through the joint project with White Bird LLC, Belarusbank will soon expand the list of available cryptocurrencies available for exchange on its service.
ASB Belarusbank chairman Viktor Ananich first revealed the bank’s plans to offer cryptocurrency exchange services in early 2019 as part of its digitalization initiatives.
“We are considering a possibility to establish a cryptocurrency exchange. We are working on it. Digitalization-related projects will be virtually exclusive in nature. However, at present, things are changing very fast and we need to keep up with them.”
ASB Belarusbank began its partnership with White Bird LLC in 2018.
Belarus is known for its healthy approach towards cryptocurrencies. In 2017, Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree that legalized the use of digital assets. In the same year, the central bank of Belarus established a blockchain-based information network.
