Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, has launched a pilot project accepting cryptocurrency for payment in Belarus.
How it works on Wildberries
Residents of the High-Tech Park in Minsk, a special economic zone with special rules and incentives, will be the first to try the new system.
The project was implemented in collaboration with the Park’s resident crypto platform, Whitebird. This isn’t a direct payment with cryptocurrency: buyers essentially purchase an electronic certificate denominated in Belarusian rubles, which can then be used to place orders on Wildberries.
The user selects the “Pay with cryptocurrency” option on the website or in the app, then transfers digital assets to the Whitebird wallet. The platform converts them into Belarusian rubles at the current exchange rate and issues a certificate, which is immediately credited to the buyer’s account balance. The conversion occurs in real time, and there is no certificate issuance fee.
The system supports several popular currencies: USDT, Bitcoin, Ethereum, TRX, and TON. The feature is integrated into Wildberries’ mobile apps and website, but is currently only available in test mode and is available to a limited number of users.
Interestingly, the launch of this pilot coincides with a trend among global marketplaces to experiment with cryptocurrencies. For example, the Latin American giant Mercado Libre recently introduced its own stablecoin, Meli Dollar, pegged to the US dollar and designed for payments in Brazil.
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