Crypto Regulations in Vietnam
Le Minh Khai, the deputy prime minister of Vietnam, has issued a notification to the Finance Ministry, asking them to explore and amend laws to build a legal framework for the digital asset market.
The deputy prime minister instructed the Ministry of Finance to assume the prime responsibility for developing the legal framework for the crypto market. The reported list of instructions includes identifying specific legal documents that need to be amended or supplemented.
The Finance Ministry would subsequently work alongside the Ministry of Justice, Information and Communications, and the State Bank of Vietnam to develop a regulatory framework for the digital asset market, reported Vietnam Net.
The new legal framework for the digital asset market will be developed in accordance with Decision 1255, which was issued by the prime minister in August 2017. In 2017, the government passed Decision 1255, which approves the plan to develop a legal framework for “virtual assets, digital currencies, and virtual currencies.”
Source: Cointelegraph
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has tasked the country’s Ministry of Finance with spearheading research for the implementation of a legal framework governing digital assets.
In August 2017, Vietnam’s then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Decision 1255, seeking to establish a legal framework to manage digital assets.
A decision to study and guide policy discussion expands on multiple research mandates that assess crypto’s impact on Vietnam’s shifting digital economy.
It will also assess the requirements needed to develop legislation aimed at controlling risks but in such a way as to not affect other sectors including e-commerce and information technology, according to to report.
Source: Blockworks
Le Minh Khai, the deputy prime minister of Vietnam, has issued a notification to the Finance Ministry, asking them to explore and amend laws to build a legal framework for the digital asset market.
The deputy prime minister instructed the Ministry of Finance to assume the prime responsibility for developing the legal framework for the crypto market. The reported list of instructions includes identifying specific legal documents that need to be amended or supplemented.
The Finance Ministry would subsequently work alongside the Ministry of Justice, Information and Communications, and the State Bank of Vietnam to develop a regulatory framework for the digital asset market, reported Vietnam Net.
The new legal framework for the digital asset market will be developed in accordance with Decision 1255, which was issued by the prime minister in August 2017. In 2017, the government passed Decision 1255, which approves the plan to develop a legal framework for “virtual assets, digital currencies, and virtual currencies.”
Source: Cointelegraph
Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has tasked the country’s Ministry of Finance with spearheading research for the implementation of a legal framework governing digital assets.
In August 2017, Vietnam’s then Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued Decision 1255, seeking to establish a legal framework to manage digital assets.
A decision to study and guide policy discussion expands on multiple research mandates that assess crypto’s impact on Vietnam’s shifting digital economy.
It will also assess the requirements needed to develop legislation aimed at controlling risks but in such a way as to not affect other sectors including e-commerce and information technology, according to to report.
Source: Blockworks
The Ministry of Finance also has established a Study Group on virtual assets and virtual currencies under Decision No. 664/QD-BTC dated April 24, 2020, to conduct research and propose policy contents and management mechanisms. managed according to the functions and tasks of the Ministry of Finance related to virtual assets and virtual money. Thus, if the legal framework on virtual currency is completed, it is likely that virtual currency trading and trading activities will surely be subject to tax. It is noted, in 2019, the Law on Tax Administration No. 38/2019/QH14 was promulgated with a new remarkable principle that was added compared to the old law, which is the “Principle of the nature of operations, transactions that determine tax obligations are principles applied in tax administration in order to analyze tax-paying transactions and production and business activities to determine tax obligations corresponding to the value created from the nature of that transactions, production and business activities.” For corporate income tax, the income from cryptocurrency investment activities can be an “other income” category in a company’s tax return. However, for individuals, it may need guidance from the Ministry of Finance to have guidance on the income tax category, tax base, and applicable tax rate. Currently, under PIT regulations, there is an income category that is subject to PIT at a respective rate:
1. Income from business activities
2. Income from salary and wages
3. Income from capital investment
4. Income from capital transfer
5. Income from real estate transfer
6. Income from winning bonus
7. Copyright income
8. Franchise income
9. Incomes from inheritance are securities, capital in economic organizations, business establishments, real estate, and other assets subject to registration of ownership or registration of users, and
10. Income from receiving gifts as securities, capital in economic organizations, business establishments, real estate, and other assets subject to registration of ownership or registration of users.
Given the above, the income from cryptocurrency investment/trading activities will likely fall in the income category of (i) business activities or (ii) capital transfer. Further guidance from the MOF might be needed to determine the tax payable including tax base, tax rate, or even just a deemed rate on gross income.
Source: Media
Finance expert Nguyễn Trí Hiếu told Việt Nam News there are currently no regulations about the issuance, trading, and exchange of virtual assets and cryptocurrencies nor regulations on an agency to manage virtual assets. Thus, the trading and exchange of cryptocurrencies via international platforms such as Binance, Coinbase Okex, Houbi, Bittrex, Remitano, Santienao, and Kenniex or through direct agreements carry a lot of risks.
Expert Cấn Văn Lực said management agencies should research and create a legal framework for official digital currencies and business models in the new electronic financial environment such as e-wallets and fintech.
At the same time, it was necessary to complete the national identity database with a focus on upgrading information technology infrastructure and network security to protect the interests of consumers and financial institutions, Lực said.
Currently, ministries and agencies including the SBV, the MoF, and the Ministry of Justice are working to implement the Prime Minister’s Decision No1255/QĐ-TTg on the project of completing the legal framework to manage virtual assets, digital currencies, and cryptocurrencies.
Source: Vietnamese News
Vietnam’s Deputy PM has asked the country’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) to develop a legal framework for cryptocurrency and virtual assets. The development is part of Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s ask for the country’s central bank the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) to begin working on a pilot project on cryptocurrency in May 2020. The blockchain-based project is expected to be implemented sometime between 2021 and 2023. Reports state that this is part of the government’s plan to develop a strategy for a digital economy.
Source: Vietnam Briefing
The Vietnam Blockchain Association partnered with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange – Binance – to boost the development of blockchain technology in the Asian country. The two parties will also establish connections with other tech companies across the globe.
Earlier this year, the Vietnam Digital Communications Association (VDCA) launched the Vietnam Blockchain Union (VBU). Its primary goal is to spread the adoption of blockchain technology across the Asian country and support crypto projects.
Furthermore, the organization will work with Vietnam’s lawmakers to design an appropriate regulatory framework for the domestic digital asset ecosystem.
Dang Minh Tuan – Chairman of the VBU – predicted that establishing the union will aid Vietnam’s ambitions of turning into a highly developed tech nation.
Source: Crypto Potato
However, cryptocurrency crime is rife in the country with currency thefts, regular hacks, and cyber scams among the crimes being reported. In 2018, the Vietnamese startup Modern Tech had gone off radars after scamming some thirty thousand people investing in nebulous cryptocurrency projects and initial coin offerings (ICO). Investors lost some US$660 million.
Therefore, implementing a legal device to manage and handle virtual assets is the current challenge in Vietnam. It would also set boundaries for abusive cryptocurrency transactions, which is the government’s main concern.
Source: Asian Briefing
In addition, regulating cryptocurrencies in Vietnam should effectively fight fraud and abuses related to virtual currencies, such as money laundering, hacking, or the anonymous financing of other illegal activities.
Source: Vietnam Briefing
Thus far, the government’s opposition to cryptocurrency has been relatively clear. Under Official Letter No. 5747/NHNN-PC dated July 21, 2017, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) explicitly stated that cryptocurrency in general and BTC and Litecoin, in particular, are not legal currencies or means of payment in Vietnam; thus, any issuance, supply, or use of them as currency or a means of payment is prohibited, and subject to administrative or even criminal sanctions.
Although cryptocurrency is not legal in Vietnam, an interesting case arose in 2020, when the Criminal Police Department proposed the prosecution of 16 defendants in the case of a robbery of cryptocurrency (including BTC and other cryptocurrencies) equivalent to VND 35 billion, under the charge of “theft of assets/property”. This charge raised a contentious debate over whether cryptocurrency should be recognized as an asset/property under Vietnamese law because otherwise, it would be impossible to accuse someone of “theft of assets/property” in this situation.
Source: Mondaq
Vietnam’s government has issued a resolution to create a regulatory sandbox for financial technology as it looks to spur the sector’s development.
Sandboxes allow start-ups and other new fintech-based initiatives to conduct ‘live’ experiments under regulatory supervision. They are becoming increasingly popular worldwide as national authorities look to encourage innovation and competition in financial services provision.
The Southeast Asian nation’s government, which last year launched a digital transformation program, has officially tasked the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) with the sandbox’s development and assigned the central bank ‘prime responsibility, according to Resolution 100/NQ-CP ‘regarding the approval of the proposal to develop a decree on a controlled testing mechanism for financial technology activities’.
The SBV, which will ‘co-ordinate with relevant ministries and agencies to gather input and provide a report to the government in the fourth quarter of this year, already released a draft decree [Vietnamese language] in June 2020 proposing a fintech sandbox framework for public comment. The central bank cautioned that the lack of a regulatory framework could bring about a variety of risks, such as financial exclusion, security and data breaches, money laundering, and financing of terrorism.
Source: Global Government Fintech
