Belarus Now Tax-Free for Cryptocurrency & Other Updates This Week

Cryptocurrency and Bitcoin news around the world this week.

• Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies recover after they experienced a major drop in prices on Wednesday night. Bitcoin plunged more than 50% on Wednesday night and has now recovered to a reading of $11,660.80 (12:08 pm IST on Friday as per coinmarketcap).
• Ripple recovers to $1.64 (12:11 pm IST on Friday as per coinmarketcap) from a low of 91 cents on Wednesday night.
• Ethereum, the second biggest cryptocurrency rose from $791.97 a coin to $1,051.10 (12:11 pm IST on Friday as per coinmarketcap).
• Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree that will legalize cryptocurrencies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICO), and smart contracts. This reform will enter into force on 28 March 2018. There will be no restrictions or taxes on cryptocurrencies in Belarus.
• Japan's biggest bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (MTU) will release its own cryptocurrency by March 2018.
• Cryptocurrency 'Mining' is gaining attention as the profits from companies exclusively working on bitcoin, or other virtual currency mining reaches a range of $350 to $400 million.
• Chairman of the South Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that it is "impossible in reality" to ban cryptocurrencies in South Korea as there is no proper legal provision in the country's current law to close virtual currency exchanges.
• British cryptocurrency wallet company Blockchain, one of the biggest in the world launches 'buy' and 'sell' facility of digital currencies in the US.