At the National Assembly's discussion session on the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry on November 23, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said "currently, virtual life is like real life".
The Prime Minister raised the question "Bitcoin (digital currency) is currently worth nearly 3,000 billion USD in the world and in fact our country still has Bitcoin transactions, but why isn't it under management?".
In Vietnam, up to this point, although digital currency has not been recognized and there are no legal regulations related to the issuance, purchase, sale, and exchange of virtual currency, digital currency, virtual assets, etc., investment groups and digital currency exchanges are still operating busily.
The latest report from the cryptocurrency payment gateway Triple-A shows that Vietnam is ranked 2nd in the top 10 countries with the largest percentage of people owning cryptocurrencies in the world, just after the UAE.
Another report from the Vietnam Blockchain Association (VBA) said that in 2023, Vietnam will rank third in the world in terms of cryptocurrency profits, after the US and UK, with an estimated 1.2 billion USD out of a total global profit of 37.6 billion USD.
The above figures are proof of the fact that digital currency in Vietnam, although Bitcoin is banned, is not recognized by the State Bank in all three aspects: currency, means of payment; virtual assets; and goods when exchanging, transferring, buying and selling.
However, digital currency in Vietnam, despite not being recognized, is still being operated as currency, means of payment; virtual assets; and goods, of course without permission or with permission in the form of "disguising" popular knowledge activities.
This leads to both tax losses and unintentionally creating loopholes for illegal activities related to "chicken herding", capital mobilization, fraud... causing people to lose money and suffer.
Therefore, as emphasized by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, "when the situation changes, the tasks change, the management and organization methods must also change."
Instead of maintaining the prohibition stance, we need to change our management mindset by quickly building legal frameworks to manage cryptocurrencies because reality has been posing many urgent issues.
In fact, from 2017 to present, the Prime Minister has issued at least 3 Decisions related to cryptocurrencies and assigned the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and branches to develop a legal framework for virtual assets and organizations providing virtual asset services.
However, up to this point, no ministry or agency has yet issued a draft legal framework related to cryptocurrencies and digital assets in general.
And the situation of cryptocurrency management in Vietnam is still in the transitional stage from an observational approach to the stage of preparing to build management regulations!
