Cryptocurrency concerns

Faced with the growing influence of virtual currencies (coins), the Government has approved a project to complete the legal framework to manage and handle virtual assets, coins, and cryptocurrencies.

The virtual currency trend is spreading

Management work has just been considered, but in reality, coins and virtual currencies have entered Vietnam more than 5 years ago with types such as: Bitcoin, Onecoin, Gem coin... Since December 2016 until now, the coin market in Vietnam has developed rapidly, attracting more and more participants, because the price has increased "dizzily". For example, from April to August 2017, Bitcoin increased in price 4 times, from 950 USD (April 2017) to about 4,200 USD/Bitcoin (August 24).

In the Vietnamese market, some Bitcoin trading websites are advertising the price of this currency at around 61.9 million VND for buying and 62.3 million VND for selling. The rapid increase in the price of this virtual currency in the past few months has caused the number of people "mining" Bitcoin to increase to hundreds of thousands, most of whom are on a small and medium scale, from 1 to 10 rigs.

“There are two ways to mine Bitcoin. One is to buy a dedicated computer, but this is expensive, so Vietnamese miners rarely use it. The other is to install a PC with a powerful discrete graphics card and install Bitcoin mining software (specifically CGMiner) to “hunt”, this method is more popular” - Mr. Dung, a professional coin miner, shared.

In the world, many places have traded with this currency. People not only get rich and trade with bitcoins but can also spend them, just like swiping a bank card.

In Vietnam, the State Bank has issued a document prohibiting “credit institutions from using Bitcoin (and other similar virtual currencies) as a currency or means of payment. Because according to the current laws on currency and banking, this is not a currency and is not a legal means of payment in Vietnam. In a recent exchange with the press, a representative of the State Bank once again affirmed that this viewpoint remains the same after the Bitcoin Management Project was launched.

Management regulations are needed soon.

Currently, developed countries in the world are still arguing about the legality of virtual currency. Therefore, many experts believe that it is inappropriate for an inexperienced country like Vietnam to recognize virtual currency as a real currency.

“For example, if Bitcoin is recognized as a digital currency, the economy and Bitcoin holders will always face risks. Because the market has witnessed Bitcoin falling from over 1,000 USD to a few dozen USD/Bitcoin. If these price drops happen again, affecting other sectors, the State Bank will certainly not be able to intervene because it cannot regulate Bitcoin supply and demand like VND” - Dr. Bui Quang Tin commented.

However, although not admitted, management is necessary. In fact, the buying and selling of virtual currencies in Vietnam has been taking place vigorously and transformed into many different forms. If banned, these transactions, instead of being public, will go into the underground system, which will be even more difficult to manage.

According to expert Nguyen Tri Hieu, although the Virtual Currency Management Project has been approved, this does not mean that virtual currency will be recognized as legal in Vietnam. Mr. Hieu believes that initially, we should limit the acceptance of all types of cryptocurrencies, even when considering them as commodities. Instead, we should focus on building regulations and sanctions to manage the most popular and influential type such as Bitcoin. After a period of testing, we will continue to consider how it develops so that other currencies can be accepted.

Dr. Bui Quang Tin suggested that the coin market is rampant, so it is necessary to quickly shorten the time to issue a legal framework, otherwise each agency will have different understanding and handling, creating loopholes for many individuals to take advantage of. The time to complete the project that the Government assigned to ministries and branches to propose by 2019 is too long.

According to Economics & Urban