President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko called on the country's residents to stop working in Poland and Germany, and start instead business in Belarus. For example, mine cryptocurrency.

On August 27, Lukashenko spoke at the opening of the Petrikovsky mining and processing office of Belaruskali. He called the trips of Belarusians to agricultural work abroad as work “on plantations” and mentioned that Belarusians “are not expected anywhere”. According to Lukashenko, it is better to spend time on work inside Belarus, where there are all conditions for running your own business. He added that there is a sufficient amount of electricity in Belarus, including for mining farms.

“You must understand that we are not expected anywhere. And even if someone is waiting for us... then it is only about work on plantations, as Ukrainians often say, to squirm for Poles or Germans, pick strawberries. It's better to cultivate all this at home and do useful work in our free time. We have a lot of sites vacated here in Petrikov. I say to the governor: well, take greenhouses, create something on electricity. Well, at least, start mining cryptocurrency, or whatever it is called. There is enough electricity in the country. "

At the end of December 2017, Lukashenko signed a decree "On the Development of the Digital Economy". The document allowed all cryptocurrencies and operations with them in the country, including mining.