Nghiem Thanh Son, Deputy Director of the SBV's Payment Department (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The State Bank of Vietnam(SBV) has not accepted cryptocurrencies as a legal currency and a legal means of payment, said Nghiem Thanh Son,Deputy Director of the SBV's Payment Department.
In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency(VNA) on September 22, Son pointed to the fact that many businesses havemobilised investment in cryptocurrencies over the past time.
The possession, trading and use of cryptocurrenciesas assets would pose risks to people since they are not subject to legalprotection, he said, adding that the SBV recommended that organisationsand individuals should not invest, keep and conduct transactions relating to cryptocurrencies.
According to the official, under the instruction ofthe Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice has completed a project on thelegal framework for managing cryptocurrencies.
The PM then assigned the Ministry of Finance to studyand devise legal documents on virtual assets and cryptocurrencies.
The Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam on April 13,2018 issued Directive No 02/CT-NHNN about measures to strengthen control overtransactions related to cryptocurrencies in which credit institutions wereasked not to supply some types of transactions related to cryptocurrencies toensure compliance with established regulations about anti-money laundering andforex management.
The finance ministry has also decided to set up aresearch group which would be in charge of studying and proposing policies tomanage virtual assets and cryptocurrencies.
The group had nine members, led by Vice Chairman ofthe State Securities Commission Pham Hong Son. Other members are from the StateSecurities Commission, General Department of Taxation, State Bank of Vietnam'sDepartment of Banking and Financial Institutions and Legal Department, VietnamCustoms and National Institute for Vietnam Finance.
According to cryptocurrency market research companyCrytoCompare, at the end of November 2017, about 80 percent of Bitcointransactions were found to originate from Asia, mainly from China, Japan, theRepublic of Korea and Vietnam. Access from Vietnam to cryptocurrency websitesand trading platforms were in the top five highest in the world, beside the US,Russia and Japan./.
VNA
