Telegram Ads in Belarus — Decree No. 19 + Cryptobanks + Russian-Language Inventory (2026)
TL;DR
Belarus has two faces in 2026: a legal route for licensed domestic cryptobanks under Decree No. 19, and a state that has shown it will switch off foreign exchanges over their advertising. Both shape what runs on Telegram Ads:
- Telegram publishes no user numbers by country, and we quote none for Belarus.
- Russian and Belarusian are both state languages; most Belarusian Telegram channels publish in Russian.
- Measured on our TON accounts: 0.22 TON per thousand impressions at a 0.32% CTR (347k impressions, 2 accounts, 22 Aug – 3 Oct 2026).
- The Euro reading — €1.05 CPM on about 10,000 impressions from one account — is too thin to quote as a price.
What changed:
- Decree No. 19 (16 January 2026) created “cryptobanks” — joint-stock companies that combine digital-token activity with banking, payment and related financial operations. Admission takes two things: High-Tech Park (HTP) resident status and inclusion in the National Bank’s register of cryptobanks (law.by).
- Foreign exchanges blocked for a day (10–11 December 2025). The Ministry of Information restricted access to okx.com, bitget.com, bingx.com, bybit.com, weex.com and gate.com after finding “improper advertising” on them, under the Law on Mass Media; the sites came off the block list the next day (Onliner).
What runs: Belarus-licensed cryptobanks and fintech, SaaS, B2B, e-commerce, mainstream consumer products, Russian-language education, crypto education that promotes no specific exchange.
What needs care: foreign crypto exchanges advertising to Belarusian residents — the December 2025 episode shows the response — and the niches with their own terms listed further down.
Audience reality
We have no measured audience split for Belarus and quote none. Three working assumptions for planning — test them on your own campaigns:
- Russian first. Most large Belarusian channels publish in Russian, so Russian creative has the widest inventory; Belarusian fits offers built around the language itself.
- No city targeting. Telegram Ads targets by country, language, topic and channel. To reach Minsk, target channels about Minsk.
- Readers abroad. Belarus-themed channels are also read outside the country. Targeting Belarus as a country reaches users there; targeting the channels reaches whoever reads them. We have not measured how the two differ in price or response.
What it costs — measured on our accounts
Most of our Belarus-targeted traffic has run on TON accounts, so the measurement is in TON — single-country campaigns, all niches blended, 22 August – 3 October 2026:
| Metric | Belarus, TON accounts |
|---|---|
| CPM | 0.22 TON |
| CTR | 0.32% |
| Cost per click | 0.068 TON |
| Impressions | 347k |
| Accounts | 2 |
These are TON prices, not euros, and we don’t convert them: a conversion at one day’s rate would turn a measurement into a guess. Two accounts is a narrow base, so read the row as a direction. On Euro accounts we have only about 10,000 Belarus impressions (€1.05 CPM, 0.22% CTR, one account) — one advertiser’s first reading, too thin to quote as a price. We do not publish a per-niche split for Belarus because the base is too thin. The CPM by country guide has the full tables.
The Decree No. 19 / HTP / National Bank framework in 30 seconds
What a Belarusian cryptobank has to satisfy:
- HTP residency. The High-Tech Park is Belarus’s special legal regime for IT companies. Token activity by its residents was first legalised by Decree No. 8 “On the Development of the Digital Economy”, signed on 21 December 2017 and in force from 28 March 2018 (HTP).
- The National Bank’s register. A cryptobank must be entered in the National Bank’s register of cryptobanks and comply with the legislation for non-bank credit and financial organisations.
- HTP Supervisory Board decisions. A cryptobank must also follow the decisions of the Park’s Supervisory Board.
For Telegram Ads:
- A cryptobank ad should state HTP residency and National Bank registration — if both are true.
- A foreign exchange advertising to Belarusian residents risks the December 2025 response. Compliance with Belarusian law is the advertiser’s responsibility.
- If your platform is not licensed in Belarus, do not target Belarus: leave it out of the country list and close the landing page to it.
Compliance copy: examples
Starting points, not guarantees — use a licence line only if it is true for your entity.
HTP + National-Bank licensed cryptobank (Russian):
{Бренд} — лицензированный криптобанк Беларуси. Резидент ПВТ. Регистрация Национального Банка РБ. Работа с BTC, ETH, TON и стейблкоинами в правовом поле. Инвестиции в цифровые активы сопряжены с риском.
Mainstream fintech (Russian):
{Бренд}. Платежи по всей Беларуси. Карта без комиссий. Лицензирован Национальным Банком РБ.
SaaS (Russian, CIS-bridge):
{Продукт}: автоматизация Telegram-операций. CIS-региональные тарифы. Поддержка на русском.
Crypto education (no broker promo):
Изучите BTC, ETH и стейблкоины. Образовательный контент. Не является инвестиционной рекомендацией.
Adsly setup for Belarus
- Euro account on our EU entity — a World account, so the country is set per campaign: country = Belarus, language = Russian. Minimum ad budget €500 (€1,000 for crypto), opened in 2 business days with no KYC, with access to the account on ads.telegram.org and to the Pro Panel. A TON account delivers in Belarus as well — that is where our 347k measured impressions ran — but links to Telegram destinations only.
- Russian creative; Belarusian for offers built around the language.
- Channel list: Russian-language Belarusian channels in your niche.
- Views per user: the campaign form offers 1 to 4. Set it deliberately.
- Hours: we have no hour-of-day data for Belarus. Use the Pro Panel’s hourly analytics on your own campaigns to find your hours.
- Crypto or forex platform not licensed in Belarus: do not target Belarus.
What needs a separate conversation
- Foreign crypto exchange ads targeted at Belarus. The December 2025 blocking shows how the state reacts; the legal risk is the advertiser’s.
- Gambling, sportsbook, casino. Telegram’s public ad guidelines prohibit gambling ads (section 5.6), so this is not a standard-account niche. Through Adsly it has two launch formats of its own — an official gambling account with an ad budget from €25,000, and a test launch on our infrastructure from €5,000 — described in the gambling launch guide. Whether your offer may be advertised to Belarusian residents is a question for local counsel.
- Adult and dating. A separate niche: €5,000 minimum ad budget, 4 business days to open.
- “Guaranteed return” / «гарантированный доход» copy. Prohibited by Telegram’s guidelines (section 5.7) in every niche.
FAQ
Is Telegram Ads available in Belarus in 2026?
Yes. Our TON accounts delivered 347k Belarus-targeted impressions between 22 August and 3 October 2026, and every Euro account is a World account whose campaigns can target Belarus.
Why did Belarus block Bybit / OKX / Bitget?
On 10 December 2025 the Ministry of Information restricted access to six exchange domains — okx.com, bitget.com, bingx.com, bybit.com, weex.com and gate.com — citing “improper advertising” under the Law on Mass Media. The sites were removed from the block list the next day.
What’s a “cryptobank” under Decree No. 19?
A joint-stock company authorised to combine digital-token activity with banking, payment and related financial operations. It needs HTP resident status and a place in the National Bank’s register of cryptobanks. The decree was signed on 16 January 2026.
Should I run Russian or Belarusian creative?
Russian in most cases: most large Belarusian channels publish in Russian, so Belarusian-only creative has a much smaller inventory. We have not measured the gap between the two.
What about gambling — is it allowed by Belarusian law?
We have not reviewed Belarusian gambling law for this guide — take local advice. On Telegram’s side, the public ad guidelines prohibit gambling ads, and through Adsly gambling runs only in the two dedicated formats described above.
Can I target the diaspora outside Belarus?
Yes — target Belarusian-language and Belarus-themed channels instead of Belarus as a country; those channels are read in other countries too. We have not measured what share of reach that adds.
Does Adsly help with HTP residency or National Bank registration?
No — both are handled by Belarusian legal counsel.
What does “improper advertising” mean in the December 2025 block?
The report we cite quotes the ministry’s wording — improper advertising was found on the exchanges’ sites — and nothing more specific. Treat it as a signal rather than a rule: the state is prepared to act on how foreign crypto platforms advertise, so a campaign for one aimed at Belarus carries that risk.
Belarus is the CIS market where the state’s dual mood is sharpest — a legal route for licensed domestic cryptobanks, a quick trigger for foreign platforms’ advertising. Run as a Belarus-licensed entity, or keep Belarus off the country list. Talk to us at @adsly_pro before a foreign exchange campaign aimed at Belarus.
