As a country where cash is still the king of currency, the current state of implementation of Blockchain technology solutions in Vietnam is still very new. A few Vietnam fintech startups have been working on providing basic infrastructure layers in order to enhance the local ecosystem around these technologies, yet there has not been attempts yet to implement any advanced use cases of Blockchain technology in order to improve the efficiency and unforgeability of data & documents in the local economy.
On January 25th , Bitcoin Vietnam Co. Ltd. – Vietnam’s first bitcoin exchange – and Coinify ApS – the market leader in blockchain currency merchant processing – officially announced a new strategic partnership that will bring advanced blockchain merchant processing tools to the Vietnamese market. The cooperation is expected to contribute to the further maturation of the Vietnamese market in order to keep up with the impressive developments in other nations in the greater (South-)East-Asian area.
The Legality of Bitcoin in Vietnam
It is uncertain about the legality of Bitcoin in Vietnam due to local media mixing up the wording between “illegal” and “unregulated”, and foreign media based on that incorrect translation to make the wrong assumption. According to the official statement from State Bank of Vietnam, Bitcoin is not a legal tender in Vietnam and using Bitcoin is not protected by law (same to the other countries). However, that does not mean using Bitcoin is illegal either.
The usage and understanding of Bitcoin in Vietnam is still in its early stage but the community and general interest is expanding at a rapid pace. A few businesses that accept transactions using bitcoin in Vietnam: BitRefill, Expedia, Future.Travel, OverStock, OpenBazaar, Gyft, NameCheap, BitVPN, ASOS, Fiverr
Dominik Weil, Bitcoin Vietnam alleges when talking about the upcoming Blockfin Asia this June 15-16 in HCMC, the first blockchain & bitcoin conference in Vietnam:
“Vietnam is an amazing country with a very young population (70% of the population is below 30 years of age), which is very enterprising and interested towards technological innovations – at the same time, legislative uncertainty is holding back entrepreneurs take the plunge and investors to put serious money behind the financial technology and new businesses, especially related to blockchain in Vietnam.”
About BlockFin Asia
BlockFin Asia 2016 will bring together for the first time in Vietnam to regulators, banks, investors and technical experts to analyze the impact of emerging technologies have on banking systems, finance and traditional legacies. The conference will consist with local experts and innovators in the domain of Asia. Beyond sharing knowledge and experience in planning, deployment and management of new digital technology finance.
>> Sign up now with code FTVNSAVE10 to get 10% discount to attend this unique event, first time ever in Vietnam!
