Vietnam Developing Legal Framework For Crypto

Three government departments and branches – the Ministries of Finance, Justice, and Information & Communications are coming together to assist the State Bank of Vietnam in this project. 

Three Ministries Involved

All three ministries are assisting the country’s central bank under the orders of the deputy prime minister of Vietnam to establish a framework that will regulate the country’s burgeoning crypto market. As per the instructions from Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, the Ministry of Finance has to shoulder the primary responsibility of working with other regulatory bodies and the central bank to identify what pieces of legislation need to be amended, supplemented, and promoted in order to accomplish the goal of establishing a comprehensive crypto framework. They will also determine the time frame of implementation of any changes.

Decision 1255 Back In Action

Back in August 2017, the Prime Minister had issued Decision 1255, which set in place a few guidelines for the development of the legal framework governing virtual assets and digital currencies. Following this, in November 2018, a few proposals were made based on Decision 1255. However, the proposals did not have any concrete outcome due to the lack of a common outlook by the Vietnamese regulators. Therefore, industry experts in the country are hoping that involving the three ministries in the matter will result in a positive outcome.

Government Curious About Crypto 

The Vietnamese crypto market has grown by leaps and bounds in the pandemic years. A recent study shows that around 6% of the country’s population, which is around 6 million people already own cryptocurrency, putting it in the list of top 10 countries with the highest percentage of crypto holders. Despite recognizing and warning about the risks of cryptocurrency, the central bank has always tried to understand the asset class further. Back in July 2021, the State Bank of Vietnam was instructed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to study and carry out a pilot implementation of cryptocurrency. It is evident that the country has been working towards positioning itself as a “digital government” by harnessing blockchain tech to propel its economy. 

Crypto Mining And Gaming Explodes In Vietnam

It also explains the explosion of crypto mining in Vietnam, with mining rig sales tripling in the month of September 2021. However, the most significant use case of blockchain and cryptocurrencies experienced by Vietnam is the growing surge of blockchain gaming startups in the country. Multiple investor-favorite blockchain games have traced their origins back to Vietnam, the most notable of them being Axie Infinity. Other honorary mentions in this list are Sipher, Faraland, Heroverse, Zuki Moba, My Defit Pet, MeebMaster, Theta Arena, and more.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.