Regarding the State Bank Statement about Vietnam to illegalize Bitcoin
by Company Announcement October 30, 2017A statement from Bitcoin Vietnam reacting to the recent State Bank of Vietnam press release and various media interpreting this statement potentially wrong.
The State Bank of Vietnam has issued a press release reaffirming that Bitcoin is (1) not a legal currency, and (2) not a legal means of payment in Vietnam.
- With regards to Bitcoin not being a legal currency: This is not a new policy from the government. The payment of exchanges of goods and services within the territory of Vietnam is required to be listed in the domestic currency Vietnamese dong (VND). For example, listing an item in US dollars or Bitcoin is a violation of this law, but listing Bitcoin price in VND is not.
- With regards to Bitcoin not being a legal mean of payment: Because Bitcoin is not defined as a currency, commodity, asset, or a mean of payment, decree 101/2012/ND-CP does not apply to organizations such as Bitcoin Vietnam or its clients. Therefore, although Decree 80/2016/ND-CP has criminalized some economic relations when using illegal means of payment, it will not be applied in this case.
It should be noted that: An illegal mean of payment must be (1)a mean of payment, and (2)NOT included in the list of approved legal means of payments used by the State Bank of Vietnam.
We can use the following example for an easy understanding: Mr. A sold 10 kg of rice to Mrs. B in exchange for 10 chickens. The “means of payments” here are completely outside the jurisdiction of the State Bank of Vietnam because rice and chicken are not means of payment under Vietnamese law.
Bitcoin Vietnam hopes that its customers will correctly evaluate the meaning of this press release by the State Bank of Vietnam. Bitcoin is not prohibited from trading, holding, mining, or exchanging. The Government of Vietnam has given its approval on setting out a road map for legislation on electronic assets in August. Please note: There has never been a Bitcoin-related lawsuit in the world for monetary law violations.
Bitcoin Vietnam always closely monitors any regulatory changes made by the government and provides the highest level of expertise to build a standard, effective legal framework for electronic assets in Vietnam. We will always do our best to protect the legitimate rights and interests of our customers.
This article first appeared on blog.bitcoin.vn
