At a working session with the Central Policy and Strategy Committee on February 24, regarding digital currency management, General Secretary To Lam emphasized that we must not be slow, not lose opportunities, not create distance or differences with new financial forms as well as modern transaction methods.
Huge transaction value
Since 2017, the Prime Minister has signed a decision approving the project to complete the legal framework for managing and handling virtual assets, cryptocurrencies, and virtual currencies. However, due to the complexity, there is still a legal gap in this field.
Although there is no legal framework to regulate and manage, the digital asset trading market, especially popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, etc., is still bustling. Cryptocurrencies have been bought, sold, and invested heavily in recent years, especially when Bitcoin has had strong price fluctuations. According to Coindesk data, updated to the morning of February 26 (Vietnam time), Bitcoin is trading at 88,748 USD/BTC. Notably, Bitcoin's market capitalization reached 1,750 billion USD, accounting for 58.9% of the total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market.
In Vietnam, individuals can buy, sell, and invest in digital currencies such as Bitcoin quite simply through popular exchanges such as Binance, Remitano, etc. with many different methods. Or recently, after more than 6 years of existence, the Pi virtual currency project has officially switched to Open Network so that players can trade outside the platform.
Currently, major cryptocurrency exchanges in the world such as Binance, Bybit, OKX, Kucoin... all support Vietnamese interface. These exchanges have a trading volume of billions of USD per day. Binance alone peaked at over 100 billion USD (equivalent to over 2.5 million billion VND).
Statistics from the cryptocurrency payment gateway Triple-A released in mid-2024 showed that the UAE ranked first in the world in terms of the rate of cryptocurrency ownership by its people, with 34.4%. Vietnam ranked second with 21.2%, higher than the US - ranked third with 15.6%. According to a report compiled by Chainalysis (USA), in 2023-2024, Vietnam will be the country with the most people applying cryptocurrency assets, with more than 20 million investors and a huge capital of 120 billion USD - ranked 4th. Investors are mainly young people (18-36), concentrated in big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City (50%-54%), Hanoi (25%-30%), Da Nang (3%-5%).
On social networking platforms Facebook, Zalo and X, the cryptocurrency information exchange community is very active. The "Binance Vietnam Community" alone currently has over 1 million members. This shows that the digital currency market is of interest to many Vietnamese people for investment.
Building a legal framework and management mechanism for digital assets and digital currencies is urgent. Photo: LE TINH
Quickly build a legal framework
The current reality requires the management and supervision of digital assets and digital currencies. Early management of this type of asset will bring great benefits to the economy, help control monetary sovereignty, reduce the risk of tax loss as well as prevent money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, etc.
According to the national action plan on preventing and combating money laundering and arms financing, the Government requires the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and branches to complete the development of a legal framework to prohibit or regulate virtual assets and organizations providing virtual asset services, to be completed by May 2025.
The issue of digital assets and cryptocurrencies is also mentioned in the National Assembly's draft Resolution on the establishment and operation of financial centers in Vietnam. In this draft, the Ministry of Planning and Investment proposes a controlled experiment (sandbox), including a trading floor for assets and cryptocurrencies (digital assets, cryptocurrencies), with a business model applying technology in the financial sector (fintech). It is expected that transactions using digital assets and cryptocurrencies in the financial center will be carried out from July 1, 2026.
Notably, in the draft Law on Digital Technology Industry submitted to the National Assembly for the first time at the 8th session (November 2024), the drafting agency, the Ministry of Information and Communications, proposed assigning the Government to specify the types and management of digital assets and organizations providing digital asset services depending on practical conditions; measures to ensure the legitimate rights and interests of organizations and individuals; prevent, stop, limit and handle risks related to digital assets.
Mr. Phan Duc Trung, Chairman of the Vietnam Blockchain Association, said that building a management policy for digital assets and cryptocurrencies is very urgent. In particular, it is necessary to focus on issues such as recognizing digital assets and cryptocurrencies; building tax policies for digital assets and cryptocurrencies; preventing money laundering through cryptocurrencies and digital assets; ensuring information security and personal data when trading digital assets and cryptocurrencies.
According to Mr. Trung, when legalized, transactions of digital assets and cryptocurrencies will be more legal and transparent, strengthening state management. In particular, when the Law on Technology Industry is issued, it will reduce the risk of fraud, money laundering and illegal activities related to digital assets. If an effective management system for crypto assets is built, it will ensure transparency and information security.
vulnerable to fraud
According to Chainalysis' report, in 2023-2024, 35.9% of Vietnamese investors will make a profit, 44.5% of investors will lose money and 19.6% will break even from Crypto investments.
In the past, due to the lack of a management framework, many people participating in transactions of this currency have been taken advantage of by bad guys to defraud and appropriate large sums of money up to billions of dong. Recently, Hanoi City Police have dismantled a virtual currency investment fraud ring called MPX energy coin, causing nearly 2,000 victims to fall into the trap with a total amount of more than 2,000 billion dong...
Mr. Vo Cong Khoi, Deputy Director of AI Innovation Center (Institute of Blockchain Technology and Artificial Intelligence):
The legal system needs to be unified and synchronous.
In civil proceedings, the failure to recognize digital assets and digital currencies as property leads to a lack of legal basis to resolve disputes. In criminal proceedings, this legal “loophole” can lead to the omission of criminals, especially crimes related to money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption.
Therefore, the completion of the legal framework on digital assets and digital currencies is an urgent requirement. The legal system needs to have unity and synchronization in regulations related to digital assets and digital currencies, especially in the areas of anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and prevention of commercial fraud.
Lawyer Dao Tien Phong, CEO of Investpush law firm:
The "key" to opening the door to technology capital flows
Piloting digital asset and digital currency transactions in an international financial center is not only a strategic step in line with global trends but also the "key" to opening up technology capital flows, making Vietnam an attractive destination for Fintech and Blockchain corporations and technology startups.
This requires the rapid development of a legal framework, possibly under a sandbox mechanism for 4-5 years, which clearly stipulates 5-10 criteria for businesses to be licensed to operate. It is necessary to apply preferential tax mechanisms and competitive licensing fees (15,000-20,000 USD/unit). This is a huge source of revenue and creates an advantage in attracting projects even though they are only nominally headquartered in Vietnam.
Currently, many markets are open to digital currencies but regulations are still very strict, causing businesses to look to more potential markets. This is an opportunity for Vietnam to become a center for multinational corporations, bringing in huge revenue.
MSc. Pham Manh Cuong, Founder of Wischain Company Limited:
Pilot implementation needed soon
The proposal to trade digital assets and digital currencies in financial centers can have far-reaching and multi-dimensional impacts on both the domestic economy and international integration. This activity not only promotes economic growth through capital mobilization and investment channels and increases the value of digital financial products and services, but also creates jobs and improves labor skills in the digital age.
Vietnam needs to soon pilot a digital asset exchange to attract global technology capital. Lessons from Korea with the world's top exchanges Upbit, Bithumb, Korbit..., with trading volumes of hundreds of billions of USD/day, show great economic potential if an open legal environment and a systematic digital ecosystem are created. Singapore and Thailand have also succeeded by early building a digital asset legal framework and providing digital asset services with clear licensing, tax policies and support for digital businesses.
M.Chien - Recorded by Le Tinh
Source: https://nld.com.vn/quan-ly-tai-san-so-tien-so-buoc-di-can-thiet-196250226221030392.htm
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