The Ministry of Finance of Vietnam has recently decided to act with a temporary ban on bitcoin mining machine imports. The institution cited reasons that had to do with the overall management of the transactions involving bitcoin. Vietnam has been reportedly working to bolster its control and understanding on how BTC and any financial operations related to it work.
Meanwhile, the country has maintained its relative hardliner stance on the nature of all cryptocurrencies. According to a local news outlet, the Vietnam Plus, bitcoin and similar digital tokens are in fact considered an illegal way of settling any business.
The recent change in the legislation focuses on the previous short-sightedness of the government that didn’t ban the import of gear fit for the purposes of Bitcoin mining. With this legal hurdle cleared, businesses and individuals have been importing a range of hardware capable of supporting both minor operations and large-scale mining dens.
The Answer is in the Numbers
According to the available data, Vietnamese bitcoin business and miners have managed to import over 15,500 machines dedicated to bitcoin mining. Nobody knows what the exact tally of machines in the country already is. However, comparing the most recent numbers with last year’s when only 9,300 dedicated computers were brought into the country, it’s a significant uptick.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has called for tougher regulation and oversight on the entire segment. All cryptocurrency transactions that appear to be done under the table shall be investigated with the full force of the law, as per the Prime Minister’s latest instructions.
What about ICOs?
A notable change in the attitude of the government is the scrutiny of the initial coin offerings (ICOs). Vietnam is taking a rather hawkish approach towards ICO, suggesting to curb the activity which it holds to be illegal. The overall hostility with which Vietnam treats its bitcoin mining operations and now ICOs may either dissuade local businesses or make them seek a safe harbour elsewhere.
A more upbeat outcome of the current intensification of scrutiny may, in fact, lead to a state of affairs where the county oversees all crypto transactions and dealings, but allows local business to push ahead and scale its operations in a sustainable method.
With Asia being the hotbed for cryptocurrencies, the emergence of a champion of crypto rights and regulations would be a well-accepted occurrence. South Korea and Japan along with Singapore have al become bastions of cryptocurrencies operations with China pursuing a rather more deterministic course against traders, miners, and companies. Elsewhere in the world, ICOs have also been considered less popular.
Vietnam to Continue its Crypto Supervision
Vietnam has definitely pursued a rather tougher course of action on crypto assets this year. As early as in April, Reuters reported that the country had issued warnings against trading into cryptocurrencies. At the time there were multiple calls to pursue an active investigation in bitcoin. Whilst the majority of the ominous warnings did not come to a pass, Vietnam is still very much on tenterhooks. And so are investors.
