Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed his energy minister to begin developing the country’s cryptocurrency mining industry, signaling a growing intent to generate additional revenue streams from the country’s excess energy supplies.
According to a March 4 report by local media outlet BelTA, President Lukashenko passed on the instructions to the newly appointed minister of energy, Alexei Kushnarenko.
“Look at this mining,” Lukashenko said, according to a translated version of the report. “If it is profitable for us, let’s do it. We have excess electricity. Let them make this cryptocurrency and so on.”
The head of state drew inspiration from the United States, which has vowed to become the crypto capital of the world following the election of President Donald Trump. This includes the creation of a national crypto reserve made up of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and other altcoins.
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“[Y]ou see the path the world is going. And especially the largest economy in the world. They announced yesterday that they will keep [cryptocurrency] in reserve,” Lukashenko said.
The decision to investigate crypto mining was announced shortly after Lukashenko formed his new government, where he prioritized renovating the country’s 5,700-kilometer power grid.
“The most important thing is to upgrade the power grid infrastructure taking into account the growing demand for electricity from households and economy,” said Lukashenko.
Crypto mining in 2025
Although cryptocurrency mining remains generally profitable in 2025, the industry’s margins are squeezed by energy costs, hardware efficiency and regulations. Market conditions also play a role as sustained price drops in the value of mined coins can negatively impact profitability.
Belarus is known for having cheap energy costs compared to the rest of Europe. According to Belarussian government sources, Belarus is among Europe’s three most affordable countries for electricity prices.
Belarus’ cheap and abundant energy has piqued the interest of crypto miners, the Ministry of Energy reportedly said in December.
Government officials have already had preliminary consultations with investors who are looking at Belarus as a potential mining hub, according to former Deputy Energy Minister Denis Moroz.
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