In recent years, the development of the digital economy has contributed to the creation of a new type of asset – virtual assets. According to statistics from the Boston Consulting Group, by 2030, virtual assets in the form of tokens will account for 10% of global GDP, equivalent to 16,100 billion USD.
There are many different definitions of virtual assets, but basically, it is a digital value that can be traded, bought and sold. Virtual assets can be cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or can also be tokens, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), or in the form of RWA (Real World Asset) - real assets, items that are encrypted or tokenized.
The virtual asset market is growing rapidly in Vietnam.
At the workshop on providing comments on building a legal framework, managing virtual assets and virtual asset service providers held on the morning of March 13, Mr. Tran Huyen Dinh, Chairman of the Fintech Application Committee (Vietnam Blockchain Association) shared some notable figures about the virtual asset market.
The founder and CEO of Alpha True Technology Company said that by May 2023, the total transaction value of Vietnamese users on just one top virtual asset exchange was about 20 billion USD/month.
“ The OTC (over-the-counter) market for virtual assets in Vietnam is worth no less than 100 million USD per day. These are statistics from mid-2023, when Bitcoin was only worth about 30,000 USD ,” said Mr. Dinh.
According to Mr. Phan Duc Trung, Vice President of the Vietnam Blockchain Association, countries such as the US, Japan, South Korea, and European countries have all had regulations to manage the cryptocurrency market and virtual assets. In the region, Thailand also has its own regulations with the Emergency Decree on Virtual Asset Business, effective since 2018.
In Vietnam, data from the US Department of Justice shows that in 2022, Vietnamese people earned up to 237.7 million USD from cryptocurrencies. Notably, the total value of cryptocurrencies entering Vietnam in the period from October 2021 to October 2022 amounted to more than 100 billion USD, according to statistics from the US Department of Justice and the analysis company Chainalysis.
It is necessary to soon form a legal corridor on virtual assets.
Faced with the rapid development of virtual assets, a challenging issue is how to manage and prevent cross-border money laundering activities, while still promoting the development of this market.
According to Mr. Do Ngoc Quynh, General Secretary of the Vietnam Bond Market Association, with the current scale of virtual asset transactions, making good use of capital from virtual assets will be very beneficial for the Vietnamese economy.
“ Vietnam is currently one of the most open economies in the world. We benefit but will also receive negative impacts. Whether we like it or not, Vietnam still owns one of the largest crypto communities in the world. Without appropriate behavior, the Vietnamese economy will not benefit from the positive values of this, ” said Mr. Quynh.
According to the General Secretary of the Vietnam Bond Market Association, most governments are confused and concerned about how to deal with virtual assets. This is because currency is one of the most important sovereign rights for each country.
Suggesting a policy, the General Secretary of the Vietnam Bond Market Association said that in order to take advantage of foreign capital, Vietnam used to consider USD as an asset. People could hold it, deposit it in banks to earn interest but could not pay in USD. “ We can consider treating virtual assets in a similar way ,” Mr. Quynh suggested.
According to Mr. Nguyen Doan Hung, former Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission, the Government has requested the Ministry of Finance to preside over research and develop a legal framework to prohibit or regulate virtual assets and organizations providing virtual asset services.
“ Recognizing or not recognizing, banning or regulating virtual assets will create conflicts of interest between traditional investment and business groups such as real estate, stocks, bonds and those pursuing digital economic fields such as Blockchain, AI, IoT, etc., ” said the former Vice Chairman of the State Securities Commission.
However, this is also an opportunity for virtual asset service providers to contribute ideas and participate in the process of building and perfecting the legal framework for the Vietnamese market.
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