Investing.com - Bitcoin and other major digital coin prices slipped on Thursday in Asia, after trading slightly higher earlier in the day following the news that Belarus is allowing traders to use cryptocurrencies to buy real assets including shares and gold.
Bitcoin slipped 0.06% to $3,591.5 by 1:25 AM ET (06:25 GMT).
Ethereum rose 0.3% to $120.86, XRP slipped 0.4% to $0.32400, and Litecoin also traded 0.4% lower to $30.891.
Belarus launched a platform on which traders can buy shares, gold, and other traditional assets with cryptocurrencies, according to a Reuters report.
“This is the first platform in the world where crypto investors will be able to diversify their investments into real assets,” VP Capital’s owner Viktor Prokopenya told Reuters in an interview. VP Capital took part in launching this platform.
To do so, traders in the former Soviet republic use cryptocurrencies to buy tokens that track the value of real assets both at home and abroad. Currently, there are 150 types of tokens that correspond to traditional financial instruments such as gold, oil, metals and even shares in Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL).
The platform is expected to issue 10,000 tokens in total.
To show its support, the Belarusian government will not levy taxes on such transactions until 2023. Earlier it passed a law on cryptocurrencies, hoping that they could help Belarusian companies attract foreign capital.
Belarus is another small nation that announced it would support the use of cryptocurrencies this week, after the Marshall Islands are said to be spearheading the development of a national cryptocurrency.
Venezuela also issued an oil-backed Petro coin last year in hopes of lifting the country out of hyperinflation.
However, on the other hand, Japan, Denmark and Bulgaria have all announced intentions to regulate crypto trading more tightly this week, in line with a commitment announced by the leaders of the G20 group of nations at their summit in Buenos Aires last month.
In other news, oil giants Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Total announced they had joined blockchain-based platform Vakt. Crypto supporters hope that popularizing the blockchain technology will lead to broader acceptance and use of cryptocurrencies.