The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus has announced that it has established an information network based on blockchain technology. As a first step, the blockchain network was implemented within the banking system of the country.

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The Settlement Center of the National Bank was authorized as administrator of the blockchain network.

The first practical use example was the possibility to transfer information on an issued bank guarantee and the banking guarantee itself. The new mechanism is meant to ensure the mutual access of economic entities from member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia) to government procurement procedures.

At present, the use of the blockchain network in Belarus does not involve transactions with cryptocurrencies. However, the developers say that there are no conceptual restrictions as to the areas of use in the IT sphere.

Going forward

The next stage is planned to be an implementation of blockchain technology in the securities market. The Belarusian Currency and Stock Exchange is planning to use blockchain for the purpose of maintaining the register of transactions involving securities in the stock and OTC markets.

Over the longer term this technology may be used in the banking sphere as well as beyond to tackle any other tasks, including, for example, organization of work with ‘smart’ contracts, the Belarusian central bank explains. Under the conditions of availability in the legislative environment, the information verified within the blockchain network may be further used in different kinds of activities requiring provision of information including records management, medicine, legal support, and many others.