Leaving open the management of huge digital money flow

According to data recently released by Chainalysis (USA), the total crypto assets in Vietnam from July 2022 to July 2023 was 120 billion USD, about 5 times the foreign investment capital that our country attracted in the same period. Notably, over 20 million Vietnamese people own virtual assets with a total profit of about 1.2 billion USD - ranking third globally.

Missed a great opportunity

Regarding the huge numbers mentioned above, economic expert - Dr. Le Dang Doanh said that there should be reliable statistics from a domestic agency or organization to fully visualize the picture of Vietnam's crypto-asset market. However, it can be preliminarily assessed that the potential of the crypto-asset market is very large, if not managed promptly, it will cause tax losses, miss out on new investment capital to supplement the economy and pose many risks, especially risks related to money laundering activities.

"Since 2017, we have raised the issue of managing the virtual asset sector, but up to now, we have not issued a legal framework to regulate related activities. Meanwhile, cryptocurrency transactions are growing rapidly every day along with technological advances. It is necessary to quickly conduct a comprehensive review of digital assets, clearly assessing the potential, opportunities as well as risks to have appropriate responses" - Dr. Le Dang Doanh suggested.

The task of building a legal framework for digital currencies is being implemented by ministries and branches according to Decision 194/2024 of the Prime Minister on promulgating a national action plan to implement the Vietnamese Government's commitment to preventing money laundering, terrorist financing and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The deadline for completion is May 2025.

According to lawyer Bui Anh Tuan, Hanoi Bar Association, there is only 1 year left to build this important legal framework, so the assigned agencies need to urgently research and propose management plans.

"We should refer to international practices and experiences to form regulations suitable to the situation in Vietnam, thereby helping to optimize tax revenue, protect users and achieve the goals set in Decision 194/2024. There are still concerns about completely banning or managing crypto assets, but in my opinion, if we ban them, we will miss investment opportunities in the strong flow of technology" - lawyer Tuan expressed his opinion.

Updating the progress of implementing Decision 194/2024, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Tho, Deputy Director of the Anti-Money Laundering Department - State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), said that SBV has coordinated with ministries and branches to assess national risks of money laundering, including assessments of cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The results of this assessment have been reported to the Prime Minister by ministries and branches.

Buying and selling cryptocurrencies is now popular through online trading platforms. Photo: MINH CHIEN

Some popular digital currencies traded in the world today. Photo AI: HOAI DUONG

Adjust your approach

With the strong development of technology, cryptocurrency transactions are becoming more and more popular. In Vietnam, trading and buying and selling digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum... are done quite easily through online trading service platforms. In practice, it is necessary to have a complete policy soon, although this is a difficult problem, requiring the coordination of many agencies and fields.

"Decision 194/2024 focuses on two priority contents: anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and standards for digital asset providers. Meanwhile, two important standards to form a complete legal corridor: tax policy for crypto assets and user protection have not received adequate attention" - Mr. Phan Duc Trung, Permanent Vice President of Vietnam Blockchain Association (VBA), pointed out.

According to Mr. Trung, due to the lack of a legal framework, a number of cases related to cryptocurrency transactions have arisen in Vietnam. A typical case is the case of a Bitcoin player who generated income and was charged 2.6 billion VND in VAT and personal income tax by the tax authority. This person then sued and won the case because cryptocurrency is not yet regulated by law.

Not to mention, the risks associated with cryptocurrency transactions are currently very high. Mr. Phan Duc Trung said that there are some units that regularly organize secret seminars on crypto assets, taking advantage of the image of reputable organizations to mobilize capital from individual investors. Many users reported to VBA that they were scammed through depositing and sending money to trading platforms and digital wallets with unknown information such as Mexc, BingX, Gate.io... Meanwhile, tracing and supporting users is difficult because most exchanges have servers abroad or refuse to work with VBA. For example, a dispute over 100,000 USDT (digital currency) between users and Mexc exchange has so far reached a deadlock.

Regarding the approach to building legal framework for crypto assets, in response to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Cao Dang Vinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Civil and Economic Law (Ministry of Justice), said that countries around the world have different regulations on regulating the activities of this field. In particular, they mainly focus on managing the circulation and transactions of crypto assets. Right in the US, this country is applying current laws to manage and handle each specific case, while at the same time researching a new legal framework. "In reports sent to the Government, the Ministry of Justice has warned of the risks related to cryptocurrencies and expressed the view that it is not prohibited, but that it is necessary to build a legal framework to manage and regulate this type of asset," Mr. Cao Dang Vinh affirmed.

Solving capital problems for the economy

Mr. Tran Viet Hung - former Deputy Chief of the Party Central Committee Office, senior advisor to VBA - said that the early promulgation of a legal framework will help transform the value of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers from the underground economy to the formal economy. From there, it will not only help protect users' rights but also help solve the capital problem for businesses in the context of capital mobilization channels such as stocks, banks, bonds, etc. are all facing difficulties. "Hopefully, after a year, when talking about digital assets and types of assets applying blockchain technology, we will not only talk about the underground economy, about the increase in Bitcoin prices, but will talk about how much capital this type of asset and related service providers contribute to the economy" - Mr. Hung raised the question.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/bo-ngo-quan-ly-dong-tien-so-khong-lo-196240608203529971.htm