Last week it was Russia. Now, Vietnam is reportedly joining the leagues of countries that will soon legalize virtual currencies like bitcoin.
Vietnamese-language news outlet VnEconomy reported that the government and relevant ministries are working on a proposal for “improving the legal framework to manage and deal with all kinds of virtual property, electronic money, [and] virtual money.”
The government was initially concerned that bitcoin will be used for money laundering activities, or even buy illegal weapons and arms, and enable corruption and bribery. Additionally, state regulators are worried that bitcoin transactions will make it difficult for the government to collect taxes, resulting in losses to the budget revenue due to tax evasion.
Vietnamese lawmakers admitted the country is behind other countries when it comes to defining and regulating digital currencies, which is needed especially now that electronic payments and e-commerce are booming in popularity in Vietnam. The government believes virtual money like bitcoin will be used as non-cash payments in the future.
If this happens, Vietnam will soon join countries like the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Japan and Canada, which have already built legal frameworks and policies to manage business operations that deal with digital currency.
Russia has also joined the ranks of countries that have confirmed the legal status of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The Russian government recently published a document that defined the bitcoin and other forms of digital currencies as foreign currencies, and since trading operations involving digital currencies are to be treated as foreign currency transactions, this means that transfers will not be subjected to financial reporting.
That document is a victory for cryptocurrency users and advocates in Russia, which has had a tense relationship with digital currencies over the past years. In fact, it was the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federations which had been very vocal in opposing digital currency in the country. Ministry officials had been a draft law seeking to punish those who use bitcoins and engage cryptocurrency trade and mining activities.
Current bitcoin price and trade volume
Popular digital currency bitcoin opened Monday’s trading on a high note, trading at $759.56 with a trade volume of $23.31 million.
